Why bad guys are so good …

• Posted in On TV, On Writing

My perusal of new TV shows continues. Watched Smith last night. It’s on CBS and is about a crew of professional thieves. They knocked over an art museum. A woman got tasered. People died. Stuff blew up. And I liked it. 😉

And the show made me think … why do we like to root for the bad guy? We all do it from time to time. C’mon. Admit it. There’s a villain out there somewhere that you secretly want to win. You want Mr. Bad Guy to kick the hero’s ass, thwart the authorities, and convince the heroine to ride off into the sunset with him.

Sometimes, the villain is what really makes a story sing. Just look at the comics. Where would Batman be without the Joker? Or Professor X without Magneto? Or Spider-Man without Green Goblin? Snoresville, most likely.

What about you? Do you want the bad guys to win sometimes? Inquiring minds want to know …

2 Responses to “Why bad guys are so good …”

  1. Jennifer McKenzie says:

    I was looking at some of the blogs on Romancing the Blog and came across yours.
    Awesome blog!! I especially like the sound effects on your links.
    About villians. I agree that there absolutely needs to be a bad guy. No bad guy, no good guy. Makes total sense. But I can’t think of one time that I’ve wanted one to win. I’m usually wanting something really bad to happen to them. LOL.

  2. Jennifer Estep says:

    Hi, Jennifer. Thanks for the nice comments on the blog and Web site. 🙂

    I guess my favorite “bad” guy would be Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean. He’s not a hero, but he’s just so lovable and crazy that you want him to come out on top anyway.

Back to Top