Who are you calling
bad?
I admit it. I like a bad guy. I'm intrigued by the man in
black, the saboteur, the bringer of danger. And no, of course I don't mean in
real life, but in fiction - most definitely.
There is something compelling about a Hannibal Lecter type
of character. Yes, he's malevolent, evil and sick but reading a story such as
his allows the reader to safely explore humanity's darkest aspects.
However, that's not really the type of character I have in
mind when I think fondly of fictional bad guys.
Nor is it the classic baddie or anti-hero, whether it's the
moustache-twirling, cape-swirling plotter of dastardly crimes or the
warmongering, power hungry king, dictator, leader of an alien race who is
intent on domination of country, planet or universe. And even less so is it the
perpetrator who is unmasked at the end of a who-done-it.
No, for me, the fascinating bad guy is the tough, flawed,
damaged individual. He could be Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind or the Phantom below the opera house. He's
perhaps aggressive, even violent when he needs to be, but only in the
furtherance of a just cause or in the defence of himself and those he loves or
protects. He may be blinkered and
misguided, but he has an interesting back story, can ultimately be a force for
good, and there's often the possibility of some sort of redemption. Yes, the
ubiquitous maverick cop springs to mind, but it could equally be a rebel
soldier, politician, lawyer, journalist - whatever - bad guy will be a boundary
pusher and bender of rules. And that edge of unpredictability,
unconventionality and danger will make him sexy, intriguing maybe even lovable
- as the Beast was to Beauty.
Bad guy pops up in all the genres, and can be the protagonist
or antagonist or, indeed, both rolled into one. But as long as he's badass
which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as both tough and good, then he'll
work for me.
But, wait a minute, this bad guy thing - it seems all very
male doesn't it? And if I go back to my dictionary I see that the O.E.D.
defines guy (singular) as 'a man' BUT
guys (plural) is defined as 'people
of either sex'. So surely there should be some leeway for the gender of bad
guys?
I must admit, I'm at a bit of a loss to come up with a sexy
and intriguing bad guy-woman who has made any sort of impression on me. I know
the baddies in fairy tales are often women - and boy are they wicked. The evil
stepmother, the wicked queen, the bad witch - scheming murderers all. Then, in
comic-strip superhero world there are the Catwoman types and their cousins the
femmes-fatales and the tarts-with-a heart who appear in spy thrillers and crime
novels. But the bad-in-a good-way female guy - she seems rare if she exists at
all. Why that is - well there's a whole PhD thesis in the answer to that
question.
But male or female, for writers wanting to employ the
services of a captivating bad guy the important thing to remember is
complexity. Yes, bad guy can be on a mission to fight a one-dimensional baddie
be that a person, organisation or demon, but your guy needs to be nuanced,
intriguing and beguiling - just as any
other protagonist/antagonist needs to be. However although my preference is for deepdown-good-bad guys, your bad guy doesn't have to be likeable. The notions of 'bad' and
'good' are difficult to define
objectively and are open to the writers' and readers' interpretation. The truly
irredeemable and entirely wicked individual is rare in life and literature, but
where a writer creates such an individual some degree of subtlety, ambiguity
and credibility is good. As the saying
goes there's a banality to evil, but you don't want your writing to suffer from
the same label.
So how do you like your bad guys?
Hmm, thinking about all of this has given me an idea for a
novel. Main character is a kickass, badass girl-guy, complete with scar, blackbelt,
aggression and a mission. She's afraid
of no-one as she battles through the plot, saves the world, and is ultimately
saved from herself by cardigan-guy.
Watch this space for the publication date of Badass Beauty - I may be some time...
Anne Stormont is an
author-publisher. She can be a subversive old bat but maintains a kind heart.
As well as writing for this fine organ, she writes fiction for adults – mainly
of the female-of-a-certain-age persuasion
– and for children when she goes by the name of her alter-ego, Anne McAlpine.
She blogs at http://putitinwriting.me –
where you can find out lots more about her.
Websites at :
annestormont.co.uk and
annemcalpine.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment