You have not noticed that often in works of art, films or books you feel more sympathy for negative characters than for those who catch them, catch up, neutralize and educate them. Did you ever think that "well, maybe this time the negative hero will win!"
How does this happen and why so often?
After all, the authors of films or books never make the image or personality of their negative characters clearly more stupid, ugly, less charming than positive ones. Often the other way around. Why are they doing this?
Or is it more of a problem of perceiving the forbidden than a problem of creating images?
Here is an opinion:
Very simple. Positive characters should be free from many human weaknesses and shortcomings. The more positive a character is, the more “sterile” he is in terms of feelings and emotions - he cannot make mistakes. So a rather boring image of a righteous person is being formed …
Another thing with negative characters - here you can so subtly exaggerate human flaws, reaching almost to the appearance of a comic book, or make the hero negative by endowing him with a large host of all human flaws, which makes the hero only brighter and more interesting, his emotional experiences are understandable to a much larger number of readers / spectators - after all, they can see themselves in him, and not everyone can see themselves in the righteous.
Nevertheless, both heroes are needed, otherwise there will be no interesting work of fiction, but rather a philosophical treatise.
Promotional video:
e.g. Hannibal Lecter
And they usually answer this question like this:
- Because everyone wants to do what they want, and a good one is always bound by some utopian ideas
- Because all the positive ones are spineless mumbles and I always like negative characters …
- Because negative - a lot more evoke emotions.. somehow
- because everyone is not without sin, if he is not an angel, of course!
- Because they are non-standard, original and their actions are unpredictable, in contrast to the correct positive ones.
- Perhaps this is due to our subconscious …. we secretly want to be like them …
What's your version?
P. S. Although sometimes it infuriates and just offended when positive heroes are always "purely lucky" not according to merit, but negative ones, on the contrary, "stupidly unlucky" where it seems like it should be for their talents and skills. It is very rare when, in works of art, "good" deservedly "triumphs" over evil. Mostly "accidentally" …