Sméagol/Gollum
Posted by Marcus on February 8, 2008
My last post on dragons got me thinking about my favorite villain in all of film and literature: Gollum of “Lord of the Rings“. In the title I included his other name which reflects his fair nature. As a person he is conflicted (mostly apparent in the film), he doesn’t know if he wants to be good or evil. I also like to think of the Iraqis in “Three Kings” as humans we sympathize with. Or Doc Octopus in the second Spiderman film. Villains who don’t want to be villains.
In my opinion this makes the best villain ever. I like Gollum because he makes me feel conflicted and confused. Like going to a horror movie to feel scared or a romance flick to feel warm and mushy. I enjoy these characters because in life bad people are three dimensional too. A story is no good if it only affirms what you already think.
So a good guy does good and you feel good. So what?
To wish for simpler characters is to wish for a tepid world. I do not wish for a tepid world.
