What Can We Learn from Movie "Bad Guys"?

 Greetings,

In general, we watch movies to be entertained. This is the primary reason that I watch them, to switch off for a little while and be taken on a journey, to be told a story. Within these stories, lessons can be taught, in much the same way that old fables were told, leaving a moral behind. Movies can have subtext within them about social issues, or other things. They can simply tell us something about our lives, or help us deal with some element of our lives, even give us ideas. It is most surprising that while most people focus on the hero or protagonist of the journey, on the "good guys," there are lessons that can be learned from the "bad guys" as well, if we close enough attention. The "bad guys" that have been selected are some of my favourites, you should consider your own list.

Yes, there are a few plot spoilers, hard to explain this whole thing without them.

1. Hannibal Lecter 

The first movie the character Hannibal Lecter appears in is "Silence of the Lambs" (1991), played by Sir Anthony Hopkins. The same character has appeared again in several movies following his exploits and also a Netflix series. The American Film Institute, or AFI, awarded the character No.1 on their Villains list for the "AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains".

What do we know of Hannibal Lecter? For those who have never seen the films, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, also known as "Hannibal the Cannibal" is a character created by Thomas Harris. A former forensic psychiatrist turned serial killer, and who eats his victims. Throughout the movies we see his predilection for violence of the most outrageous kind. 

What can we learn from such a character? What can we learn from an individual who has turned his back on many of the social mores? That is actually rather easy. His violence has timing. He begins in a cell, he waits until the opportune moment to strike, when his targets are at their most vulnerable. So he has timing and patience. His violence also has precision, it is not directed at everyone, only select targets. He projects civility, he talks with others in a civil manner. When he escapes he gets a job and acts in a civil manner toward people. This relates back to his timing and his precision.

Within the mind of the character there are these lessons that can be learned, that it is useful to be polite to everyone that a person meets, because a person never knows who the other might be. The movies teach other lessons, but I think this is the most telling. Politeness doesn't cost us anything.

2. Jason Voorhees

Jason Voorhees appears first in "Friday the 13th Part 2" (1981) as the killer, not the first movie and then appears in series of movies all the way up to "Jason X" (2001) which takes place in the future, for the strict series. Not to mention the re-boot in 2009. Added to this there is a cross-over movie with Freddy Kruger in "Freddy vs Jason" (2003), making twelve movies. 

Jason does not utter a singe line of dialogue throughout the entire set of movies. He just goes about his business killing off, mostly. horny late-teens who come to Camp Crystal Lake through various methods, his favourite method being with a machete. He is known for wearing a hockey goal-keeper's mask,  carrying a machete, and being relentless in his task. The one thing that is for sure, Jason keeps coming back and that nothing will stop him from completing his goal.

From Jason we can learn tenacity. When something knocks us down, we simply get back up again and keep coming back. With the assistance of his writers he keeps getting resurrected, we can't do that but similar things can be applied to other problems in life, not giving up on them. The single-minded focus of Jason can also be an asset, something that can drive us toward our goal.

The Jason movies mostly teach the watchers that people should not go places where they should not go, and where locals tell them they should not go. If the locals keep away from an area, there is a reason that they keep away from that area, in our normal lives it may not be some "psycho-killer" but it may be an equally good reason. The final lesson, actions have consequences.

3. The Kurgan

The Kurgan is the "bad guy" in "Highlander" (1986) and is played by Clancy Brown. It is said that should he win "the prize" then men would suffer an age of darkness. He only appears in the first of the "Highlander" movies, even though it is said that he is the strongest of the immortals.

There are rules that the immortals follow as they try to claim "the prize". They battle against one another in single combats, usually when one another are drawn together. Eventually when few are left there is a "Gathering" where the remaining few will fight for "the prize". It is mostly this "Gathering" that the movie focuses on and the conflict between the protagonist and the Kurgan. They don't fight on holy ground, that is one of their traditions. 

When the two main characters meet, at the end of the meeting the Kurgan remarks, "I have something to say! It's better to burn out than to fade away!" This is an inspiration to life, more it is an inspiration to live a full life rather than just let it go quietly away. Through the entire movie we see individuals who have lived for hundreds of years, whose lives are decided in duels, their ends are swift. They are not affected by illness or other forms of death, only death by the sword. The entire story of the "Highlander" is to live your life well, before it passes by your eyes and is gone.

4. Emperor Palpatine

Emperor Palpatine is the ultimate "bad guy" from the Star Wars franchise, chronologically, he is first seen in "Episode V: Emperor Strikes Back" (1980) where he is seen as the master to Darth Vader, who is previously seen as the ultimate "bad guy" and main antagonist to Luke Skywalker. However his first appearance as the story goes is as Senator Palpatine in "Episode I: The Phantom Menace" (1999). It could be claimed that the first three episodes or movies are actually the story of his rise to power.

Over the span of three movies he rises from a Senator of a relatively out of the way planet in the Republic, first to become Grand Chancellor of the Republic, and then Emperor. He manipulates the Senate so they would vote him into the position, and give him the power to put him in a position where he can rule the galaxy. He does this by clever dealings and political manipulation, and some personal manipulation along the way. 

The question is he really a "bad guy"? There is much talk about the Light and the Dark side of the Force throughout the movies. Maybe it is a matter of perspective, maybe it is just power and it is the manner in which one uses that decides whether a person is evil or not. It is evident that he has done some terrible things, such as wiping out the Jedi, or at least getting others to do it for him. On the other hand, he brought order to the galaxy as he also destroyed the leaders of seditious systems who were going to divide the galaxy. He did bring order to the galaxy for a period.

We learn from the Emperor about playing the long-game. There are things which do not go according to his plan, but he has patience and waits for things to fall into place before acting. He looks at his long-term objective and sacrifices immediate goals to put himself in a position to achieve his long-term goals. He wouldn't have had Anakin Skywalker, later Darth Vader, as an apprentice if he had approached him early, he had to wait until the time was right.

5. Tyler Durden

Continuing on with characters who are questionable "bad guys" we have Tyler Durden, who is played by Brad Pitt in "Fight Club" (1999) he stands as the alter-ego of the Narrator, played by Edward Norton. The pair of them get along very well for the most part of the movie, but there is a split toward the end of the movie where Jack realises Tyler's intent and goes against it. Jack being the protagonist means that Tyler is the antagonist, thus the "bad guy" of the movie.

The question needs to be asked, just as with Emperor Palpatine, above, is he really a "bad guy"? Yes, he causes the protagonist consternation. Yes, he causes property damage on a large scale, or at least three buildings' worth. Yes, he causes untold financial chaos in the end of the movie, to which we never see the results. He also takes the Narrator out of his boring life and allows him to live a better one, free of his previous constraints. Indeed he frees, it would seem, hundreds if not thousands of others from theirs as well. Through his property destruction he erases the debt, bringing everyone back to zero, would this not be better for everyone?

The greatest thing that Tyler Durden teaches, comes from a line just over half-an-hour into the film, "The things you own end up owning you." Think about this carefully and you will see the truth of it. If you buy a car, you need to fill it with fuel, pay registration, insurance, and licensing fees. If you own a house you need to pay rates, and if you don't own it mortgage; if you don't rent or leasing fees, and bond. Even if you have other stuff, you still have to have a place to keep it, to look after it.

Tyler Durden teaches us what freedom is, what it means to be truly free in our modern society, what means to go against the mainstream. The fight clubs he sets up are against the norm because people in our modern day don't want to fight for the most part, they will avoid it as much as they can. Our modern society has tried to drive our fighting instincts from us. He goes against most things in society; he does not dress conventionally; they live in a rundown place on the edge of town; they do what they have to interacting with society to survive and nothing more. Most people could not deal with this level of freedom for many reasons, but his character reminds us that it does exist.

Watch and Learn

Movies tell us stories to entertain us, but within these stories there are lessons. Sometimes these lessons are stark and obvious, sometimes they are hidden within the context and sub-text of the movie. Sometimes you have to look at characters you might not have expected to learn those lessons. 

Most of the time we look at the protagonist and what they do for the answers, for how to deal with a situation. Sometimes it is helpful to also look elsewhere, at the companions of the protagonist, or maybe even at the antagonists, those who oppose the protagonist. The actions of those who stand against one another can be as useful a lesson, each side being as important as the other.

Look further afield. Broaden your mind, and you will find some interesting things to be learned all about you.

Cheers,

Henry.