Saturday, December 8, 2012

THE PATTERN OF THE NEW HERO: THE (NOT REALLY) BAD GUY


It’s obvious that the audience of the 21st century is already bored by the ordinary heroes that used to dominate in earlier Hollywood movies, popular literature and TV-series. The children and older generations may still enjoy their batmans, supermans and spider-mans, but the new generation of young people needs something more entertaining, exciting and complicated. That’s why the pattern of the New Hero has born.

The (not Really) Bad Guy

To put it shortly, who I call the (not really) bad guy is a character in movie, TV-series or book who is a mysterious and complicated badass, but also not completely evil at the same time. He may be cruel, arrogant, sarcastic and ignorant, but is also good looking and has some nice and attractive features. This whole combination makes him a much more interesting and intriguing character than the good guy who as a character is usually flat and predictable.  

Damon Salvatore










Some of the popular TV series a few years ago still had a good guy as the main male character, and the (not really) bad guy used to be less important. For example, in The Vampire Diaries (TVD) the boring good guy Stefan used to be the dominant male character and the great love of Elena, the main female character, while his badass brother Damon was in Stefan’s shadow. But at the end of the 3rd season the situation started to change. The fans of the series started to show more interest in Damon and demand that Elena would fall in love with him. In the current (4th) season Elena is finally with Damon, and the fans are just crazy about this new Delena (Damon+Elena) couple.  However, let’s not be that sure that he is her new great love. What I predict is that little by little they will turn the good guy Stefan into a (not really) bad guy, and Elena finally comes back to him. Stefan has already started using some irony and being selfish. In other words, he is becoming similar to Damon.

Chuck Bass










I have already mentioned in my previous post Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl as the good guy with a bad vibe. At the very beginning of the series Chuck wasn’t the dominant male character, however now he is definitely the most important and interesting male character of the series. I believe the same situation as in TVD the has happened here: the creators of the series simply saw that their audience is much more intrigued by the (not really) bad guy Chuck than by the boring good guy Nate or the boring good guy Dan. What is more, now both Dan and Nate are becoming more and more bad and interesting: Dan has betrayed all of his friends by exposing their secrets in his book, and Nate gets involved in some dirty business and possibly ends up in prison.

Sherlock Holmes







Finally, let me introduce you the king of all (not really) bad guys. The arrogant, sarcastic, unstable, eccentric, dramatic, disturbing and handsome genius – Sherlock. Just to be clear, I’m not talking about Sherlock Holmes in Doyle’s books or any movies or old TV series that were based on them. I’m talking about Sherlock in the same titled TV series that begun in 2010. This Sherlock is the best example of the (not really) bad guy being the main character while his colleague and friend Watson – quite a typical and boring good guy – plays a less significant role. I strongly believe that this combination is one of the main reasons why Sherlock is one of the most popular series worldwide and is among the ten highest rated TV series in IMDB at the moment.

Playing Safe







There are, of course, some directors and writers who stick to the old-fashioned good guy as the main character of the series. For example, the ex-sheriff Rick from The Walking Dead, who wears a cowboy hat and always does the right thing. However, we have to admit that he is the dullest character of the series and we are much more intrigued by complicated, unstable but not really bad Shane or Daryl.