Title pretty much sums it up. That’s how I like my movies and my novels. Juxtaposition should be huge where these two characters are concerned. It adds reality and layers to a novel. A reader needs to get angry at the good guy, and laugh at the bad guy. They should feel guilty when they find themselves screaming, “Yes!” when the villain enters the scene. Characters need to be so three dimensional you can smell them.
A hero needs inner conflict. No prince riding up on a white horse. I want the good guy to be on the borderline of good and evil. Selfish to an extent. Battling some inner demons. I want my hero to take so many wrong turns that he just happens to show up at the right time to save the day. He must have a bad attitude and preferably a love of rock-n-roll. He wants to get around the law, or heck, better yet, break it. Breaking the law, breaking the law, narrator sings in her head.
More importantly, I want my villain to be so delicious that I have a secret crush on him and want to follow him around while he oozes evil. A bad guy should drip in charisma. Why would his cronies get sucked into his web if he was just mean and evil? There was something that made them follow and do his bidding. Perfect example is Joker from The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger took this character that has been reinvented so many times that it’s not even funny and made it such a scrumptious role that it made me question whose side I was on. I want to love my villains. I want to feel sorry for them, and tell the person next to me, “They are just misunderstood.”
Think of who your favorite bad guys. Who are they, and why do you love them? And the hero that rocks your world? Bet it’s not Prince Charming!
I agree with you to such an extent, that I dedicated my blog to his thinking.....
ReplyDelete...I'm not a monster, I'm just ahead of the curve.