Movie Moral Dilemma

Forums: Movies, Philosophy, Films, Antihero Dilemma, Evil Protagonists
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So this is just me thinking on things as I sit around.

I was recently watching "Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog" And it acured to me that I was rooting for the bad guy.

But then I started thinking about it: Was Dr. Horrible really the bad guy? He is everything that society says a villain is. He does illegal things. In his plan to rule the world he cares not about laws that govern man kind. He wants the girl the "Good Guy" has.

Is Captain Hammer the good guy? Again in the story he is portrayed as everything society says is a good guy. He is good looking. He fights the "bad guy". He has the cool super gadget. He gives off the good morals.

But as the story progresses, the moral gray area seems to blur itself more and more. It shows Captain Hammer as getting the girl only for sexual desires and that Dr. Horrible really loves her. (what you would feel should be opposite.) Dr. Horrible wants to rule the world because he truly that the way the world is, is horrible and that he can make it better. It seems as Captain Hammer is only in it for the glory.

Now I am sure this was written like this for a reason. But I guess, the question is: Do you ever find yourself rooting for the bad guy?

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@Seed,

That's the power of a good story teller, that being Joss Whedon, to make the viewer care for the antihero/protagonist.

Dr. Horrible does do bad and criminal things but like most human beings, he's not a purely caricatured black and white character. He's far more complex and thusly has traits (personality and analogy wise that make him a sympathetic character to the viewer).

I'm fascinated with the intelligence and cultured nature of another infamous doctor, Doctor Hannibal Lecter.

If you ever watched a thriller of a heist film, it is likely that you would be rooting for the criminal/aka society's deemed bad guy.

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@tsarstepan,

But then again like the Dr. Horrible Sing-Along Blog, heist films put a not so evil group or people up against a not so clean good guy.

And a lot of times those movies make the people being robbed more of a bad person then those ripping them off. Never do you watch a movie about a guy stealing from a homeless shelter and rooting that he gets away with it scott free.

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@Seed,

Now those films are really rare. I think one example is ... that Woody Harrelson movie:
Natural Born Killers (1994) .... Mickey Knox and his female accomplice, Mallory Knox, played by Juliette Lewis. Malicious violent characters with no apparent sympathetic traits. A lot of people love this uberviolent film because of the the chemistry between the couple. Personally, the senseless violence and the personalities of the two protagonist characters? I find them repulsive and I couldn't find a single sympathetic character in the film. Thusly I hated the highly overrated cult film.

For me? That is a necessary mandate for liking or loving a film. I MUST find a singular character in which I can sympathize with in a film. It doesn't have to be the main character. But most of the time, if I can't stand the protagonist, I usually end up not liking the film at all.

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I did not like Pulp Fiction for very similar reasons.

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@Seed,

Seed wrote:

I was recently watching "Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog" And it acured to me that I was rooting for the bad guy.

Never heard of it. Is it any good?

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Have any of you watched Dexter on Showtime?

I mean c'mon, what's not to like?

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@rosborne979,

I think it is. It's a 3 segment thing that was put out about a year ago (?). It totals only about a 45 min showing total. But within the time you become invested in the characters. I have watched if numerous times. I believe you can watch it on hulu.com if you are in the states and even on Youtube as well.

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@chai2,

I have seen a few of them. Love of the vigilante, another moral gray area.

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@chai2,

chai2 wrote:

Have any of you watched Dexter on Showtime?

Dexter is fantastic. Although I think I enjoyed the first few seasons more than the last one. Still, a great show.

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@Seed,

Dr. Horrible RULES

Cycloptichorn

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@Cycloptichorn,

that he does in deed. Though the last scene makes me ask the question. "is he happy with what he has, now that he had to go down that road."

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