Not many of us remember the early days of the movies with the “Perils of Pauline”. The classic series came out about 1914, and was one of the first silent movies. Because there was no dialogue to carry the story line, the acting was all. Mind you, I am not old enough to actually remember going to the movies to see the weekly episodes of “Perils of Pauline”. Although I am old – old enough to be referred to as a senior citizen—I am not that old. What I know about the “Perils of Pauline” is not much, but I do think the character Pauline was forever being rescued from a multitude of villains. She carries the historic brand as the beautiful but trouble-prone female that always needed to be rescued. (Not my kind of character at all.) However, the series is notable because it started the trek down the screen path to villainous villains that will live forever in our collective memories as wicked characters.
And, this brings to mind another one of the early screen characters who was really the archetype of all villainous characters to follow in the next several decades. You’ve probably heard the name Snidely Whiplash — the most evil of all creative characters. Snidely Whiplash was the arch enemy of Dudley Doright, that stalwart Canadian Mountie who always got his man. Somehow, Snidely always managed to escape capture though his evil plotting. In the episodic adventures, the audience was held spellbound by the conniving that marked Snidely a villain. In fact, Snidely Whiplash probably set the standard for truly wicked characters for at least five decades. In the world of over the top acting, Snidely Whiplash carried the day with his pure unadulterated nefarious behavior. There was no one more cunning, devious, or just plain despicable than good old Snidely. The audiences loved seeing a villain escape justice.
Make no mistake about it though, in those days, good was good and evil was evil. The audience might cheer for Snidely, but it was always clear that he was the bad guy. As Hollywood got more sophisticated, the bad guys wore black hats and the good guys wore white ones. There was no possibility that the audience would get it wrong. There was no “Fifty shades of gray” to cloud our perception with regard to the actions of the actors or judgments as to morality.
Move forward nearly a hundred years, and much has happened. The biggest change is that Hollywood no longer has good guys and bad guys. The supposed good guys have flaws which undermine their characters, and the bad guys are all warm and fuzzy endowed with the milk of human kindness as they engage in cold blooded murder. This is supposed to be provocative and I agree, it is that, but it leaves the viewer disturbed. It is discombobulating to find justice elusive and good blurred into evil and vice versa.
All of this leads me to look critically at characters in books. Have the villains in books become more villainous? And if so, what makes them so villainous? What do readers expect of the anti-hero? And then, I have to ask myself, “What do I lean toward—the nuanced villain, or the Snidely Whiplash variety?” I suppose I like villains that are real life anti-heroes, but that being said, I want my villains to stay in character. I would not expect someone capable of murder to be compassionate, or to empathize with the victim. I look for a type of calculated coldness – a state of unfeeling. Conversely, I would not expect my female protagonist – remember, I like strong female characters – to succumb to the ravages of temptation and fall into the black despair of evil.
I understand that there’s a kind of rogue villain—the one you love to hate because he is likeable even though he is naughty. That’s just it. He’s naughty–not wicked. The rogue is in my mind more like a little boy who manages to tell an adorable lie. However, this type of character will never manage to achieve my standards as a true coldhearted died-in-the-wool villain. The rogues will have to remain on the sidelines in my books. I’m in for black and white – good guys and bad guys.
So where do you put Aaron Rose? Don’t know who I’m talking about? For shame! You need to read Tender Offers –both books — to see about him and how you would classify him. Let me know.
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