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Folks Need Villians - 5/24/2014 11:58:48 PM   
CobaltRose


Posts: 246
Joined: 11/10/2013
Status: offline 		People say folks need heroes. I agree, but they also need villains. Villains have a way of uniting people, not only with them, but against them. You make a horrible enough villain and you can bring bickering neighbors together, uniting against a common foe. Take the infamous Westburo Baptist "Church" so much hatred they spread and it unites people against them, brings people together. Folks need villains, lest we start hating ourselves. Sometimes I cheer for the monsters, just enough so they become threatening, so we can band together to bring them down. We need folks like Hitler, like Bin Ladin, like all those other monsters. They unite us, against them.

What are your opinions (im not sure if this belongs in Off Topic or P&R)?
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RE: Folks Need Villians - 5/25/2014 12:13:40 AM   
AthenaSurrenders


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Status: offline 		I think if disease, famine, natural disaster and running out of natural resources aren't enough for humans to band together against a common enemy, the last thing we need is to add another Hitler to the history books. Life provides enough adversity without needing the villain to take human form.

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RE: Folks Need Villians - 5/25/2014 12:20:14 AM   
CobaltRose


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quote:

ORIGINAL: AthenaSurrenders

I think if disease, famine, natural disaster and running out of natural resources aren't enough for humans to band together against a common enemy, the last thing we need is to add another Hitler to the history books. Life provides enough adversity without needing the villain to take human form.


Thats the point. They arent enough. Humanity doesnt want to band together against a problem unless a human is making the problem. They ignore it, or sometimes they become the villain. Im usually not cynical. Heck, the villain doesnt even need to exist, take the Devil, Lucifer, Satan, The Beast, whatever (i know im probably offending some Christians, im sorry, but i also dont care) people unite against it.

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RE: Folks Need Villians - 5/25/2014 4:07:02 AM   
PeonForHer


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Status: offline 		There's an ongoing argument against the bowdlerisation of children's literature that follows the same theme. One of the points is that all the monsters and other baddies in fairy stories, for instance, act as 'lightning rods' for children's fears. Thus, if a child grows up believing that ogres are nasty, that doesn't matter, because ogres don't exist. Where does children's fear go if there aren't ogres or other mythical nasties? 'Onto foreigners, other races, people who look and sound odd' is one answer.

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RE: Folks Need Villians - 5/25/2014 4:13:47 AM   
CobaltRose


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quote:

ORIGINAL: PeonForHer

There's an ongoing argument against the bowdlerisation of children's literature that follows the same theme. One of the points is that all the monsters and other baddies in fairy stories, for instance, act as 'lightning rods' for children's fears. Thus, if a child grows up believing that ogres are nasty, that doesn't matter, because ogres don't exist. Where does children's fear go if there aren't ogres or other mythical nasties? 'Onto foreigners, other races, people who look and sound odd' is one answer.

Thats why i prefer human villians. Not based on race, but on acts. There are bad people out there. And there are good people. Children need to be taught that there are dangerous people out there. But they also need to be taught to stand against it.

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RE: Folks Need Villians - 5/25/2014 6:08:48 AM   
Kaliko


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quote:

Folks need villains, lest we start hating ourselves


I think folks need villains because they look for something to point their fears at; to say "Look, the reason that happened is because ___________ did it. Thank goodness that can never happen to me!" And then they rally, which does much of nothing, because it makes them feel better about their inability to protect against the dangers to themselves.

Yes, a villain does unify groups of people against a common evil. But it makes me sad to think that we only unify and react when we feel threatened. So much bad shit goes on all over the world, all the time, every day. But we are only called to arms when the threat makes its way to our doorstep (or our televisions).

This is a little off topic, but maybe related. Last night I was watching Louis (Louis CK) and he was saying that every day he gets into his Infinity and drives around and that by doing that, he is ignoring people who are going hungry and dying. He said he could easily sell his car, buy a perfectly good Ford Focus, make a profit of $20k from the sale, and give that money to people who are hungry and save lives. But he doesn't do it. Every day he drives his car, he doesn't do it. He makes a choice to ignore those that are dying.

Why is he able to do that? (We. Why are we able to do that?) Because they're not our children, in our neighborhoods, in our families. We can so successfully distance ourselves so we're able to forget - every day - that we are the villains. And then a really, really bad guy comes along. Somebody who starved a bunch of kids in his basement or something. And we all rally and post ribbons on Facebook and write long diatribes on message boards. And then we get into our cars and live a life of incredible fucking luxury. Even those of us with the simplest of means lives a life of incredible luxury compared to those who are merely trying to stay alive. But, having a villain to point a finger at comes in handy. It's them. Not us. It's him. Not us. He's the bad guy. Let's string him up. Whose Caddy are we taking to the hanging?

Sorry. ...I digress. (No more coffee for me.)


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RE: Folks Need Villians - 5/25/2014 8:47:29 AM   
DesFIP


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From: Apple County NY
Status: offline 		Look at how many people supported Hitler. People don't just rally against villians, they also rally with them.

Being a Jew, my history is filled with people who view those of my religion as villians. People who rallied against us with pogroms etc.

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RE: Folks Need Villians - 5/25/2014 9:36:06 AM   
Musicmystery


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quote:

ORIGINAL: CobaltRose

People need villains. Villains have a way of uniting people.

Only when those people lack ideals and vision.

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RE: Folks Need Villians - 5/25/2014 12:27:44 PM   
CobaltRose


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quote:

ORIGINAL: Musicmystery


quote:

ORIGINAL: CobaltRose

People need villains. Villains have a way of uniting people.

Only when those people lack ideals and vision.

And sadly, most people do. Or some people have the ideals and vision, but lack the charisma.

Anyway you all probably think im an idiot.

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RE: Folks Need Villians - 5/25/2014 12:32:11 PM   
PeonForHer


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Status: offline 		No, we think you're a villain.

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RE: Folks Need Villians - 5/25/2014 4:48:09 PM   
TheHeretic


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From: California, USA
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Musicmystery


quote:

ORIGINAL: CobaltRose

People need villains. Villains have a way of uniting people.

Only when those people lack ideals and vision.



Defeating "x" in the name of "y" is very much an ideals and vision activity, Muse.

Just because we get presented with a lot of manufactured villians by pretty much anyone looking to manipulate us does not mean there are not real villians, with truly bad aims to contend with.

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RE: Folks Need Villians - 5/26/2014 11:54:06 AM   
DesFIP


Posts: 25191
Joined: 11/25/2007
From: Apple County NY
Status: offline 		But how often do we rally against real villians, whom everyone agrees is wrong? And whenever has everyone agreed that the person really is a villain?

When Mussolini was in power, there were people still supporting him because despite what else he did, he made the trains run on time.

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