Unveiling the Secret: Why Certain Movies Soar While Others Plummet
Next time you curse the villain, think again: he might just be the reason you liked the movie so much.
Everyone loves Star Wars. Why is that?
In the original trilogy (episodes 4 to 6), we witness Luke in his journey to become a Jedi. Luke’s story checks all the boxes in the making of a good hero.
He starts off as a boy full of energy who dreams of adventure and yearns for something greater. Then, through a series of trials, he becomes stronger and stronger.
But Luke wouldn’t be Luke without Darth Vader.
A hero is only as good as his opponent
And what a formidable opponent Darth Vader was.
To start, he believes to be doing the right thing, as the Galactic Empire would provide order and peace. Luke also wants order and peace, but in a republic, not in a tyranny.
Vader wants his family back and tries to lure Luke to the dark side. Luke also wants his family back — and tries to convince Vader to redeem himself.
If you pay attention, in a good story the hero and the villain want the same thing, but in different ways.
Anakin was once a good Jedi. But, desperate to save Padime and engulfed by fear and anger, he turned to the dark side. We can empathize with his pain. We feel sorry for him. We miss “what could have been had he remained good”. Heck, we even met him as a lovely kid in Tatooine!
In a good story, the villain is not pure evil. He doesn’t set out to destroy the world just because. He has a defendable reason for that, distorted for sure, but still minimally defendable.
So, sorry Thanos, but wiping out half of the living beings in the Universe just because there are too many of us is not a strong enough justification. Vader is a better villain than you. His lightsaber is much better than your infinite stones. OK, you can kill me now.
Oh, before you end my existence, did you know that Tai Lung, from Kung Fu Panda, was also a better opponent than you? No, I’m not kidding, you simple-minded bastard.
Tai Lung was a great enemy. Once a disciple of Shifu himself, he was sure he would be the next Dragon Warrior. But when Master Oogway denies him the Dragon Scroll, Tai Lung goes mad and is imprisoned. After an epic escape, he fights Po over the same goal, the ultimate revelation inscribed in the Dragon Scroll. His technique being superior, he believes he’s the one who deserves it and, again, his view is defendable. Wrong? Maybe, but defendable nonetheless.
Be it Vader or Tai Lung, the fact is that there is no good story without a good opponent.
So, next time you watch a bad movie, look at the villain. There is a high chance he’s as shallow as a water puddle in the sands of Tatooine.
