For me, the antagonist defines the movie. The protagonist is more or less the same in character. Good, strong, always follows the rules, brave and all that. Nowadays the heroes of the movies are shown having inner demons and their dark side... But so far, none of them has ever really explored it well enough. It is always like the "Dark Side" is more of an annoying little bug than an influencing factor in the protagonists actions. The role of the protagonist now becomes boring. It has become cliched now. The background, the backstories change, but the underlying idea, the concept remains constant. This guy will fight for what is good, laughing in the face of death while protecting what he loves the most and yada-yada-yada.
The antagonists, the villain, yes... These are the charismatic guys. You could say that villains are pretty much the same, too. All they want is to destroy and ravage whatever is there of civilization for their personal gains and cause people agony. In a way, this is true. Antagonists do show regular gradation in their ideals, but there will always be exceptions, for evil knows no bounds.
There are two main kinds of villains: Pure and Perceived (the title says it).
I will start with the less complicated kind of villain - the perceived ones.
The perceived villains are the most common and the most predictable ones. There is a reason why they are called "perceived" villains. That is because they are not really evil people. They are the ones who are scorned and want revenge. So basically, a perceived villain is a villain who has his intentions influenced by his sentiment. There are too many examples of such kind of villains. Bollywood prefers such villains for it is ruled by excessive display of unnecessary emotion.
It mostly follows the sentiment of love. Two people fight over something (mostly a girl), one of them gets it, the other gets angry and feels that he has been wronged and yearns for the destruction of his rival and thus obtain said "object". My verdict over such a plot? BORING. This is such a cliched and redundant and repetitive plot... God, my disgust for it must be easily conveyed by the tautology used in the previous sentence. It might be considered as an egregious generalization of the protagonist-antagonist relationship, but it does happen! A villain should be inspired. He should have a clear idea of what he is going to do. Doing evil should be considered as a science which requires study and research. So while planning evil, your head should be boss and not your heart! The root cause of doing evil should not come out of baser emotions, but from higher thoughts and ideas of destruction! I might come out as a sadist here, but what I believe, if there is a villain who desires for destruction for lives, he should not act on instinct and emotion. He must scheme well to assure it. Sigh... I hope filmmakers henceforth do make such villains, because seriously guys, it gets boring...
Now come the more dreaded and most unpredictable kind of villains - the pure ones. These guys do evil because they like to. No other motive in play. Brilliant, isn't it? Do evil because you feel like it... One might consider this to be completely irrational and illogical behaviour, but aren't we always told to do stuff which we like? Why should one require an incentive to pursue a hobby? When we do stuff we like, we can reach the pinnacle of success in that particular field.
I am most inspired by such criminal minds, especially this brilliant man called Prof. James Moriarty. I watch the BBC show "Sherlock" rather obsessively just because of this guy. He acts true to his title of supervillain. What he does in the show is cause evil because he wants to. He doesn't expect anything in return, but just enjoys seeing the world in pandemonium. Now that is classy. You might consider him to be a sadist of the highest order, but it is not the case. He is a simple and brilliant guy, he only does stuff because he wants to. Nothing, not even pain and torture can stop him. But for such brilliant operations and schemes, you do need inspiration. What motivates Jim Moriarty is boredom. He needs distractions otherwise he is left at the mercy of his uncontrollable and self-destructive mind which will consume him. And as a distraction, he chooses the path of crime. This engages his mind very well and thus he excels in it. He is prepared to go to any lengths to complete his operation. Willing to undergo pain and torture just to see his plans completed. Now that is dedication at its finest! Yes, he is a lonely guy with no one around him and is unloved and all that, BUT he is really good at his job, and isn't that enough compensation?
Another one of these pure criminals is The Joker. Another brilliant man. He, too, kills people because he finds it fun. There is a major difference between Jim and The Joker. The Joker simply does things, with no warning and no prior notice whereas Jim plans and schemes to ensure maximum damage. Both of these guys have their own ways of ensuring authenticity to their plans. Jim keeps an eye on everyone in his network to make sure that he has no squealers in his midst. The Joker on the other hand, does not plan much. He simply calls him men, tells them his plans and go. It might be possible for a cop to go undercover into The Joker's camp but the Joker has no sane men with him. All his inmates are mentally unfit people. They have this factor of unpredictability and dangerousness which he finds perfect for crime. He himself is a schizophrenic and experiences all this, and so he knows what really goes on in the minds of such people.
The Joker, like Moriarty, is a loner, but he had a social life, unlike Jim. Although he did lose it, he has been in society and knows its pressure points. He knows what makes people weak, what people fear. The great thing about such villains is that they are above this hoopla. People simply have nothing to threaten them with. They have no pressure points, pain and torture is all fun and games for them. It makes them stronger. Pure villains only desire for anarchy and mayhem. That is all.
There is always a grey zone between two contrasting ideas, kind of like a transition zone. It does not have many occupants in it, but there are a few notable ones. Most prominent among them is Bane and Ra's Al Ghul, both from the Batman trilogy (yes, I am a fan of Batman). The thing about these guys is that they are driven by emotion, not for another person, but for an ideal. Bane and Ra's Al Ghul both want the destruction of Gotham City because it is a breeding ground of suffering and injustice (gotta love the way Ra's Al Ghul says this in Batman Begins). There is greed and corruption bubbling under the seemingly tranquil surface of Gotham.
Such people are CONSIDERED villains, mind you. If you see from their point of view, they are actually helping mankind, but they will destroy many innocent lives in the process. They don't long for mayhem, they want peace and happiness but opt for a more aggressive and violent path - kind of like extremists. If you weigh up the pros and cons of their ideas, the cons outweigh the pros, yes, but it does have pros! If they had got their way, would it have been better? One is left to wonder...
The reason why I love a good villain is that they teach me stuff. Something you do out of goodness might be considered wrong by others. You learn how different people think and react to different situations; and these villains generally have a really far fetched reaction, so you are able to imagine the worst-case scenario, too. You get to know stuff because of them. What I find most wonderful is that pure villains are able to withstand pain and suffering. They don't really care too much that they are being beaten up or abused.
Now come the more dreaded and most unpredictable kind of villains - the pure ones. These guys do evil because they like to. No other motive in play. Brilliant, isn't it? Do evil because you feel like it... One might consider this to be completely irrational and illogical behaviour, but aren't we always told to do stuff which we like? Why should one require an incentive to pursue a hobby? When we do stuff we like, we can reach the pinnacle of success in that particular field.
I am most inspired by such criminal minds, especially this brilliant man called Prof. James Moriarty. I watch the BBC show "Sherlock" rather obsessively just because of this guy. He acts true to his title of supervillain. What he does in the show is cause evil because he wants to. He doesn't expect anything in return, but just enjoys seeing the world in pandemonium. Now that is classy. You might consider him to be a sadist of the highest order, but it is not the case. He is a simple and brilliant guy, he only does stuff because he wants to. Nothing, not even pain and torture can stop him. But for such brilliant operations and schemes, you do need inspiration. What motivates Jim Moriarty is boredom. He needs distractions otherwise he is left at the mercy of his uncontrollable and self-destructive mind which will consume him. And as a distraction, he chooses the path of crime. This engages his mind very well and thus he excels in it. He is prepared to go to any lengths to complete his operation. Willing to undergo pain and torture just to see his plans completed. Now that is dedication at its finest! Yes, he is a lonely guy with no one around him and is unloved and all that, BUT he is really good at his job, and isn't that enough compensation?
Another one of these pure criminals is The Joker. Another brilliant man. He, too, kills people because he finds it fun. There is a major difference between Jim and The Joker. The Joker simply does things, with no warning and no prior notice whereas Jim plans and schemes to ensure maximum damage. Both of these guys have their own ways of ensuring authenticity to their plans. Jim keeps an eye on everyone in his network to make sure that he has no squealers in his midst. The Joker on the other hand, does not plan much. He simply calls him men, tells them his plans and go. It might be possible for a cop to go undercover into The Joker's camp but the Joker has no sane men with him. All his inmates are mentally unfit people. They have this factor of unpredictability and dangerousness which he finds perfect for crime. He himself is a schizophrenic and experiences all this, and so he knows what really goes on in the minds of such people.
The Joker, like Moriarty, is a loner, but he had a social life, unlike Jim. Although he did lose it, he has been in society and knows its pressure points. He knows what makes people weak, what people fear. The great thing about such villains is that they are above this hoopla. People simply have nothing to threaten them with. They have no pressure points, pain and torture is all fun and games for them. It makes them stronger. Pure villains only desire for anarchy and mayhem. That is all.
There is always a grey zone between two contrasting ideas, kind of like a transition zone. It does not have many occupants in it, but there are a few notable ones. Most prominent among them is Bane and Ra's Al Ghul, both from the Batman trilogy (yes, I am a fan of Batman). The thing about these guys is that they are driven by emotion, not for another person, but for an ideal. Bane and Ra's Al Ghul both want the destruction of Gotham City because it is a breeding ground of suffering and injustice (gotta love the way Ra's Al Ghul says this in Batman Begins). There is greed and corruption bubbling under the seemingly tranquil surface of Gotham.
Such people are CONSIDERED villains, mind you. If you see from their point of view, they are actually helping mankind, but they will destroy many innocent lives in the process. They don't long for mayhem, they want peace and happiness but opt for a more aggressive and violent path - kind of like extremists. If you weigh up the pros and cons of their ideas, the cons outweigh the pros, yes, but it does have pros! If they had got their way, would it have been better? One is left to wonder...
The reason why I love a good villain is that they teach me stuff. Something you do out of goodness might be considered wrong by others. You learn how different people think and react to different situations; and these villains generally have a really far fetched reaction, so you are able to imagine the worst-case scenario, too. You get to know stuff because of them. What I find most wonderful is that pure villains are able to withstand pain and suffering. They don't really care too much that they are being beaten up or abused.
You always feel pain, it is always there, but you don't have to fear it!You live through the pain and go on, relishing whatever gets thrown in your way... Because staying alive is so boring, isn't it?! It is just staying...
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