#if you can bend over backwards making up a better backstory for kylo you can engage with padme’s character | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

kalinara · 6 years

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I decided that I wanted to expand on an idea that I brought up in a reply to a previous post.

There is a difference between being a fan of a villain and being an apologist.

I’ve said that before, I know, but I think I’ve never really explained myself clearly. When I say that there’s a difference between being a fan of a villain and being an apologist, I’m not saying that you have to necessarily be a fan of a villain as a villain. I’m not saying you have to delight in the misery caused by this villain, or be amused by the havoc that they create.

It is very possible to like a villain as a person, to sympathize with a villain, and even to believe that a villain deserves a second chance or redemption without being an apologist for them.

But there are some key things to keep in mind.

Motive doesn’t matter. Not really. I mean sure, we’re more likely to sympathize with someone who fell because he wanted to save his family as opposed to just wanted to become more powerful. But in the end, that stops mattering the first time they murder a group of small children or decide to help blow up a planet.

The fact of the matter is that history is full of people who commit massively evil acts while believing that they’re doing good.

But what difference does that make to their victims? Do the children of the Jedi Temple really care that Anakin really loved his wife?

Backstory doesn’t matter. Sure, we all want to know how a good villain gets to where he is. It’s fun to see a character grow and develop over time. But there’s a point where it stops being relevant.

Many villains come from an abusive background for example. Others may have been neglected or manipulated. Others may have had a perfectly pleasant childhood. It is easier to sympathize with the former than the latter, sure. But there’s a point where it doesn’t matter anymore.

Fans debate endlessly about whether or not Kylo was abused by Snoke. Maybe he was. But it’s hard to say that it matters when Kylo has shown over and over again that, as a grown man, he’s capable of choosing right or wrong, when he had any number of opportunities to NOT hurt or kill innocent people. And especially when Snoke is laying there dead and there’s literally nothing stopping him from calling off the assault and leaving with Rey.

And it invariably dissolves into a “my favorite is more abused than your favorite” argument. “Anakin was a slave! Kylo had it easy!” And honestly, that’s a bullshit argument. Go ask Captain Antilles if he feels better about being strangled by a man with a sad backstory versus a man who grew up in privilege.

I’m sorry, but I doubt these villains’ victims are comparing notes in the afterlife going “well, at least I was killed by someone with a legitimate reason to hate their dad.”

In the end, actions matter.

Now look, let’s get one thing straight right now. No matter how likable or sympathetic a villain is, they’re generally not going to be better people than the hero. Don’t even try to argue that. You end up with fucking ridiculous shit like “Finn grabbed Rey’s HAND! What a sexist!”

But sometimes villains do things that make you genuinely think “maybe there’s a good person in there.” Or at least a seed of one.

Darth Vader did a lot of terrible shit. No question about that. But when he found out he had a son, he did reach out to him for a genuine connection. He was harsh and brutal about it, but there was something real beneath it. There’s a reason that Luke thought that there was still some good in his father even before Anakin made the ultimate sacrifice to save him.

Loki stood beside Thor when Asgard fell. He came back to help save what was left of his people. That matters.

Snape is still an asshole, but he did leave the Death Eaters and join Dumbledore to try to stop Voldemort.

My current addiction is the Julian May series I’ve blogged about, and my favorite character is a villain who went down in history as “the greatest mass murderer humanity has ever known.” He killed four billion people during his Rebellion. (...2 billion of them were kind of a reckless accident. But he should have known better. And the other 2 billion were definitely deliberate.) In a lot of ways, his list of crimes is very similar to Kylo Ren. And yet, I truly believe the character is capable of becoming a better person and maybe even finding redemption. I believe this because of the way, even now, he still loves his brother/former enemy. I believe it because he has a goal that he’s willing to kill for, but he does look for other ways to force compliance first. (...baby steps.) I believe it because at one point he realizes that his expertise can save a sick child, and he’s bored enough and intrigued enough by the child’s ailment that he’s willing to give it a shot. He’s not motivated by kindness or compassion, not yet, but there might just be room for it to grow.

I think that the trap that fans get into when they discuss villainous characters that they like, find sympathetic, or find redeemable, is that we get so caught up in the evil that they’ve done, that we bend over backwards to try to explain it away.

But it can’t be explained away. That’s why they’re villains. Mass murder is unjustifiable whether you are a poor person or a rich one, whether you’re an abuse survivor or someone with a perfectly ordinary childhood, whether you think the ends justify the means or you just want to watch everything burn. Someone who knowingly, intentionally, and freely commits mass murder has committed an inexcusable crime.

So stop trying to excuse it. It happened, it’s done, and unless you’re dealing with the kind of reality-warping story that can actually undo that sort of thing, it’s a moot point entirely.

Loki, Kylo Ren, Darth Vader, and my favorite from the book series have all committed the same crime. So has Hux, Palpatine, Vandal Savage, and the Joker. Mass murder is mass murder, no matter how we dress it up. The victims don’t care about motive or backstory and nor should we.

Mass murder is what they have in common, so let’s focus on their actual differences. Because that’s what really matters.

Loki fought at Thor’s side, trying to save Asgard’s people as it fell. That’s different.

Darth Vader sacrificed his life to save his son. That’s different.

My favorite saved a few kids (the cure turned out to be applicable to more victims). That’s different.

Kylo Ren...eh, well, maybe next movie.

#I feel like I should have a villainy meta tag

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