Lead Me Into Temptation...
March 29th 2009 07:13
Danger is an alluring thing. I know I’m not alone. Why else do people have sex in public, surf trains and/or wear six-inch heels? I tell you, it’s the irresistibility of a risky situation.
It should be no surprise then, to find that villains are quite regularly more appealing than heroes. It’s a given for the ladies – femme fatales like Bond’s Xenia Onatopp and O-ren Ishii of Kill Bill are by definition attractive and overtly seductive. With the men, it’s not always so obvious. Is it simply that evil often seems to be paired with wit and charm, or is the danger of wickedness itself enough to tempt us to the dark side?
Let’s consider: John Malkovich in Dangerous Liasons, Gerard Butler in The Phantom of the Opera, Guy Pearce in The Count of Monte Cristo, Christian Bale in American Psycho and Alan Rickman in… just about any role you care to name. Would they still be so good if they weren’t so bad?
What about someone with less aesthetic appeal, like Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs. He’s occasionally effeminate and might eat your face off, but he’s also forceful and daring, compelling and intelligent, and has a warped, incongruous sense of honour. In short, he makes Prince Charming look more than a little dull.
So who does it for you? The hero or the villain, the angel or the demon? If you were enchanted by the snake, would you bite?
Michaelie Clark
It should be no surprise then, to find that villains are quite regularly more appealing than heroes. It’s a given for the ladies – femme fatales like Bond’s Xenia Onatopp and O-ren Ishii of Kill Bill are by definition attractive and overtly seductive. With the men, it’s not always so obvious. Is it simply that evil often seems to be paired with wit and charm, or is the danger of wickedness itself enough to tempt us to the dark side?
Image courtesy of stockillustration.com
Let’s consider: John Malkovich in Dangerous Liasons, Gerard Butler in The Phantom of the Opera, Guy Pearce in The Count of Monte Cristo, Christian Bale in American Psycho and Alan Rickman in… just about any role you care to name. Would they still be so good if they weren’t so bad?
What about someone with less aesthetic appeal, like Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs. He’s occasionally effeminate and might eat your face off, but he’s also forceful and daring, compelling and intelligent, and has a warped, incongruous sense of honour. In short, he makes Prince Charming look more than a little dull.
So who does it for you? The hero or the villain, the angel or the demon? If you were enchanted by the snake, would you bite?
Michaelie Clark
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