Hero or Villain? The Good and Evil of Human Intention
Our world is rife with the archetypes of good and evil. In the storytelling universe, this battle rages on so much that many of the themes, concepts, and story arcs have become trite and overdone in their delivery.
Human beings have always been clever, complex creatures, fully capable of justifying their own evil or getting credit for all the good things they do. This is what makes heroes and villains in our eyes.
But more and more, the difference between the two extremes has become subject to interpretation, based upon our personal viewpoint and the portrayal of these characters in books, films, games and other types of entertainment. Like Old Bill Shakespeare said in Hamlet, “Here is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
So, are there really any heroes or villains anymore?
In a recent lecture on Tragedy vs. Evil, Jordan Peterson shared his perspective:
“Evil is the conscious attempt to make the conditions of existence more pathological than they have to be, motivated by conscious intent. These motivations arise from the frightening, self- awareness of the vulnerability of our own existence.”
Peterson is arguing that evil arises when we intend to control everything around us, denying the fact that at some level, we are all at the mercy of an unknown, unpredictable universe.
If you believe this, then intentions become the driving force that make someone heroic or villainous.
As heroes and villains move out into the open waters of society, the issue of good and evil becomes even more complex.
There is a book by Charles MacKay (over 150 years old) that is part of the financier’s canon entitled, “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Maddening of Crowds”. This book reviews famous cases of crazy investment schemes and crashes throughout history. The common theme through all of these stories is the power of suggestion and the ability of human beings to abandon reasonable thought in certain environments.
Evil has a field day in these “mad” business environments where social structures break down and the darker side of human behavior (like ego, selfishness and greed) takes hold.
Dr. Philip Zimbardo (famous for the Stanford Prison Experiment of 1971) speaks about this in his book, “The Lucifer Effect,” identifying seven environmental factors leading to human evil in a group setting. Notice how these factors are all driven by the way people act both as individuals and within a community. The slippery slope of villainy begins by:
1. Mindlessly stepping into a new or strange environment
2. Dehumanizing others
3. The De-Individualization of Self
4. The Diffusion of personal responsibility
5. Blind obedience to authority
6. Uncritical conformity to group norms
7. Passive tolerance to bad behavior through inaction or indifference.
People with bad intentions are prone to doing bad things when their environment changes and the moral and ethical compasses disappear.
So, for both heroes and villains, I would argue that good and evil all begins with intent. The results of good intentions are dictated by the hero’s ability to demonstrate their good will with actionable results that benefit society as a whole.
Famed filmmaker and actor Harley Wallen once said to me, “You know, only good things can happen when people start with the right intentions. Things might go wrong at first, but the world has a way of righting itself, so long as the good intention is there.”
Conversely, the bad guys begin with ill intent, focusing on selfish concerns like power, control, fame, world domination, etc… at the expense of the greater community. Even JK Rowling’s purposeful villain, Voldemort, weighed in on this concept in The Sorcerer’s Stone, pointing out that, “There is no good and no evil, but only power and those too weak to seek it.”
The play between good, evil and intent is fertile ground for modern storytelling as the lines between the three are never clear. Joaquin Phoenix noted is current film portrayal of The Joker:
“There are times where you’re going to feel yourself connected to him, and rooting for him, and times when you should be repulsed by him. And I like that idea of challenging the audience, and challenging myself to explore a character like that. It’s rare to explore characters like that in any movies, but specifically in the superhero genre.”
Ultimately, the battle between good and evil will continue in both fantasy realms and the real world we live in. There will be heroes and there will be villains.
And there will be you and me, trying to decide which side we’re on.
