Villians

A forest in Virginia

What makes a villain? Trama? Betrayal? Is it genetic, or is a person made to be this way through life? If we realized that all villains were made by our actions it wouldn’t make a difference. The villain is the scapegoat and is always the problem, always. But isn’t the actual battle not of a single person, but instead shared harmful beliefs? So when we blame a single person for a collective belief aren’t we just as harmful and detrimental? 

How is it that villains are only perceived to be evil by one opposing side? In life, we all have villains in our stories, but we are all villains in others’ stories. Everyone has their reasons, it doesn’t justify evil actions, but it does allow a sense of understanding through reasoning. Villains were once helpless children, just like anyone else. The innocence of a child that is lost through maturity, occurs to everyone. So why are villains blamed for acting upon their beliefs?

Is someone ever inherently evil? Is good a strict box outlined with lines people can’t cross? Good is objective. Often those on the “right side” do just as much evil to others as those on the “wrong side.” So does that make the “right side” just as evil or does that mean our only determining factor of good and bad is who has power? Does good always win because that's how the people will be willing to blindly follow new leadership?

History can be misleading. Societies preach that it is essential to know and learn from the past so we don’t repeat the same mistakes, but how can people truly learn if there is only one side of the story? How can we expect to learn any truth when it is all censored to make the “good guys” look good? Wars are won by murder and deceit. And yet, the villain is always the losing side, despite both sides' contribution to harm. 

There is a desperate call for “doers” in society. Yet the ones who speak up for change are villainized. There is a desperate call for diversity, but any difference in opinion is shut down. If the goal is unity, what kind? There can’t be true unity if there is diversity of thought. There are so many people screaming “their truth” that “the truth” is concealed. Truth can not be both objective and factual. 

Aren’t villains judged and hated because they lie? They are despicable humans who don’t value life or liberties, but it's more than that. They alter reality and twist the way you see the truth. Does that sound like the people we let run our government? Does that sound like social media influencers? Does that sound like teenagers? It sounds like anyone desperate to fit in. 

What defines a villain? An inherently evil individual? No. A villain is an individual with their own set of morals and goals that go against the portrayed norms. Isn’t it strange how in every book you read the villain and hero may have differential views in the beginning, but not in the end? For example, heroes always value life in the beginning, but in the end, the hero is willing to achieve the goal or defeat the villain by whatever means necessary. Does that mean all heroes are unbroken villains or is a villain not defined by actions, but beliefs?

So then, is a villain defined by the winning side? The story becomes twisted so that the opposing side is viewed to be oppressive and evil when in reality they just share different views. This is why labels, when it comes to belief, are so objective because everyone has enemies. In that, we all have a commonality. Have you ever noticed that when someone goes through a break it is always the other person’s fault? A week ago that person was flawless and now they are the scum of the earth. 

If we all go through suffering that changes us, what is a villain’s excuse? What is a bystander's excuse for not becoming a hero? What defines a villain in a world without heroes?