Why Do Villains Need To Be Bad People?!
It's hard to believe that something like this still needs to be said. I thought this was 2017. I thought we were enlightened. I thought this was America. So why is it that Hollywood is still writing villains that do things that I find deplorable? What happened to villains that were lovable? What happened to villains that cared about the rights of women and people of different colors, nationalities, and sexual orientations? When did our villains become bad guys?
I find it abhorrent that big movie studios can get away with putting out films like The Terminator, Nightmare On Elm Street, and Halloween. Can you guess what they all have in common? That's right, the antagonists are all men that are trying to hurt women. I mean, it's 2017 people! Don't you think our bad guys should be a little bit more progressive and enlightened?
Remember this?
WTF?!?!?!
When did that become okay?! For those that don't know, the picture above my shocked words is a reference to The Killing Joke, a famous Batman comic that depicts Batgirl (a woman) being shot by the story's main villain, the Joker. Why does he (the Joker) need to hurt Batgirl? The story would enhance greatly if the Joker had instead told her alter ego (Barbara Gordon) that she was an amazing super hero and that her father should be proud of her and that he would be honored to be arrested by such an accomplished womyn.
By shooting Batgirl, the Joker is sending the message to millions of comic book readers that he does not care about women's rights. He is not a feminist and he is in favor of violence against women. Why isn't this villain being more empowering? What kind of example is he setting as a bad guy?!
Long live the animal abuse.
Disney has recently announced a live action remake of The Lion King. Perhaps this time the villain won't actively promote animal abuse. Maybe in 1994 it was acceptable for an antagonist to hurt and kill animals with no remorse, but modern audience are a little bit more savvy.
If you need a refresh, The Lion King's story has the villain, Scar, killing his brother, Mufasa (who was voiced by a black man). The twist? Mufasa was an animal.
I can't believe that in 2017 we still find this acceptable. What Scar did was clearly cruelty to an animal and not a single review called Disney out for it. If Scar was a real villain he would have told Mufasa that he was proud of him, that he loved him, that he would always be there for him. Instead, he promoted animal misogyny and influenced millions of children to do the same.
This is just a fraction of the problem but I think that it's fairly evident that modern villains don't seem to show any compassion and love for humanity. These hero-killers give our children nothing to look up to and are a far cry from being politically correct.
Please share your thoughts in the comment section below. Do you agree? Are villains being written as bad people? How would you fix the problem?