Villainy

Well, spring has finally sprung here in my hometown. And far be it for me not to enjoy the evenings warmth than going outside this evening and enjoying a nice stoggie while watching the Harleys rumble by and viewing a big beautiful orange moon over the lake.

As I enjoyed this evening's end of the week relaxation ritual I started to contemplate on something that has been rotting around in my noodle for quite some time. What makes a really good genre based villain? After all, every good fictional hero has to have an equally decent bad guy. Bond had Blofeld, the Jedi have The Sith, The Doctor had the Master, Batman has the Joker, the list goes on and on.

But I think that what makes a particularly good nasty-ass is one that has issues that we, ourselves, can relate to that seem to take over and make these villains what they are or have become.

One of the greatest villain origin stories that I have ever read was in a one shot, Batman comic written by famed comic scribe Allan Moore called "The Killing Joke". It is a reworking of the Joker's origin story. It stays true to the original story where a low life criminal named Napier, falls into a vat of chemicals during a botched robbery (foiled by Batman), turning him into the pale faced, green haired clown prince of crime, freak of humanity we all love to hate. Yet, it's slightly different than the story of Napier being this chronic low life who's always had his hand in organized crime as many of Batman's writers have always envisioned him. Instead he starts out as a very down on his luck stand up comedian who is doing the best he can to follow his dreams and provide for him and his wife. He is a character that is doing the best that he can, but never seems to get a break in life. Society is always kicking him when he's down and kidney punching him when he's not looking. Once he's at the bottom of the barrel and reached the end of his rope he is led to take drastic measures and team up with a bunch of thugs who are going to break into a chemical plant. The rest is comic history. He was at one time just an honest guy, trying to make a place for himself in this world.

Of course I can't talk about great villains that start out on a decent path and our led down a dark well of evil without talking about Star Wars' Darth Vader. Once a young Jedi who wanted to do good for the galaxy becomes frustrated that he's not moving up the Jedi ladder as quickly as he wants. Add to this his slightly warped ideology of how the galaxy's government should work, a personal love life that seems to tear at him and a diabolical mentor who manipulates him and, in time, you get a biomechanical Sith lord.

I find these baddies far more intriguing than the average' "I want to rule the world" supervillains. Mainly because there's a small piece of us inside them before they succumb to villainy.

Real life villains are what are real scary. A real life villain may be motivated by greed or revenge or sadism, but don't see that they're evil. Most fool themselves into thinking that backstabbing, manipulation, destroying the lives of others to better themselves is perfectly acceptable and are just stratagies to try and survive. Do you really think that the CEOs of Corporate America wake up one morning and say to their trophy wives at the breakfast table, "I think I'm going to lay off thousands in my company so we can afford that house in the Hamptons."? Of course not. They truly believe that they are doing good for their company and the economy of this nation, when in reality they're just trying to save a buck for themselves and their board members.

On a smaller note, I think everybody has that one friend that is wonderfully talented in self promotion and manipulation. They also have that distinct talent of making you feel small and worthless by giving underhanded compliments so that they can feel better about themselves. They seem to feel that they're still being really good friends. In reality, their just villains.

I guess I prefer the crazy, fictional masters of crime rather than the real life sucubi of the human species.

Well, I don't have much to comment on. It's been another slow week in the realms of geekville. But I do have another edition of.....

ZANGZ'S BLOG OF GEEKDOM'S WEBSITE OF THE MOMENT

TAPS: The Atlantic Paranormal Society
"Dude, RUN!"
I know we're nowhere near Halloween season, but I thought it would be fun for you all to take a peek at the official website of TAPS. TAPS is featured in the reality based Sci-Fi Network's TV series, "Ghost Hunters", a personal favorite of mine. These aren't the usual song and dance psychics who shill people with real unearthly problems. These guys are a non-profit organization who investagate and also debunk hauntings around the East Coast region. If you haven't watched the show you need to check it out on Wednesday nights. In the meantime check out their website, it's fun and informative and you will see what a really closed knit group of down to earth folks they are also.

That's another week and another $30 out of my pocket and into my gas tank (speaking of villains, someone is getting rich off of that.)

I'm Zangz and I'm outta here.