vil-lain
[vil-uh n]
noun
a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel
a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot

We all have the devil inside of us. The question is, who of us lets the devil out to play?

A STORY

I always enjoyed being the bad guy. You know, making myself as evil as I wanted to be, taking on that dark role. It was really the only time I was allowed to be mean. It may or may not have3 been the only time I was mean.

When I was maybe 7 and my brother was 5, we’d play Monsters and Heroes in our front yard, in the shade of the jacarandas. The idea was to become a monster or a hero, describe your powers, traits and abilities and then on the word FIGHT we would run at each other from either end and wrestle—or, as we called it, “destroy each other”.

I can’t quite recall how the winner was determined. Other than it was probably me.

I would  make my brother stand near the left side of the house with the neighbours who had the great big labrador that sometimes got loose,to the dismay of my younger brother who would almost always be tackled, dry humped and licked to near death.

While we were preparing for our next battle, I saw the neighbours arrive home, so I stalled just a bit, just long enough that the dog was loose before we ran at each other. Seeing my brother run towards me, the dog became even more excited at the moving target, I held my ground, waiting for the moment of takedown.

My brother’s face and the fear that escaped via a high-pitched scream as the dog launched at him and pinned him to the ground was glorious. A moment I will never forget.

It sounds mean, right? A little nasty? Well, yeah—he’s my brother. And I was in character. It is what my Villain would do.

Yes, I am a method actor.

THE HERO’S ANTITHESIS

We hear the Hero story and glorify it. We base whole stories around structure of the Hero’s journey. We hear their tales and we endeavour to write our own. However a Hero is rarely a Hero without the contrast of the evil that lurks nearby.

So what about the Villain and his story?

When do we take the time to explore what it means to be the Villain? When do we acknowledge his presence and importance, and the role he plays? Understand what a villain is and what motivates them?

Can you look at the Villain and try to understand those parts of ourselves that make us human?

Maybe they are just Heroes on the wrong path. Maybe the Hero is just lying to us all, hiding away the truth. A pretender.

Maybe the Villain is truth and honesty. Or uninhibited impulse. The part of us we don’t reveal—or at least, not readily.

Or maybe we look up to the villain, because they are doing exactly as they wish, and in some ways we admire that because we inhibit and censor ourselves. We rarely live 100% free—we are constrained.

Then again, maybe they’re just some jerk, that wicked and evil person who makes life harder. Commits the original sins. Is the asshole in all of us.

PROFILE OF THE CRIMINAL VILLAIN

A few years ago I worked as an art teacher in a prison. This gave me a unique insight into the dynamics of human nature and the not-so-cut-and-dry image of what a Villain is.

Time and time again I would get asked if all the guys were big, bulky, covered in tattoos, aggressive, threatening “biker types”. Pretty much your stereotypical criminal (aka thug), missing teeth and all.

The fact is, if you let the men I taught walk into a shopping centre one day, in plain clothes, amongst the free, you would rarely be able to choose between the two.

Villains come in a plethora of guises.

Far from the days when the villain was a sneaky, dark-haired man, with a moustache he twists as he ties women to a train line, real criminals are less obvious, more grey-area. So as much as we may have the hero inside of us (or the ability to be the hero) there is always a darker side. Sometimes kept hidden, sometimes shown and sometimes dragged from within by the events of our lives.

This is the first in a 3 part series exploring the idea of villains. Look out for the next instalment next week where we discuss our perceptions of villains.