The film industry has experienced one of the biggest cultural influences of the 21st century as depicted by its massive following across the globe. The growth of internet technology has enabled movie producers to create interesting and highly captivating content that has never been seen before in cinematography. Central to the development of modern films is the introduction of superhero characters modelled on the concept and duality of evil and good. Most Marvel and comic movies have extensively explored the use of villains and heroes as evidenced by movies such as the Transformers, The Avengers, The Dark Knight, The Spiderman and Batman Returns. Most of these movies exploit the antagonism that exists between evil and good thereby making the audiences to decide on what side to lean on me based on their personal interpretations. Individuals exposed to cinematic content dwelling on the evil and repugnant themes such as murder, crime, drugs, rape, and violence tend to resonate with most people within the society. Embracing a villain or a hero in a movie, therefore, depends on an individual's personal intuition on the conceptualization of what is evil or good. It is also important to realise that these movies have significant social, psychological and ethical impact on the respective viewers as most of the themes portrayed in films are based on the realism of modern society and what people undergo in real life. The following paper aims to highlight how informed interpretations can be deduced from these movies in terms of their social, psychological and ethical ramifications to modern society.
Key Words: Ethical, social, psychological, villain, hero, evil, good, society, movies
The Good and Evil Interpreted in Film
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of Study
Since the creation of mankind, actions and behaviours are strictly controlled by societal moral codes which dictate how people behave towards one another. The attainment of highest levels of morality in most instances is perceived as the virtuous living. Morality is multidimensional from a philosophical perspective as it incorporates various ideologies intrinsic with human nature (Krakowiak and Tsay-Vogel, 2018). The very concept of good and evil started with Plato who initially defined the parameters of what constituted good or evil. In his postulations, Plato suggested that good or evil was subjective depending on what an individual saw for themselves depending on whether the parameters around each of the concepts were met. Using the analogy of the son, Plato described the visible world with all the objects, beings and other material things in it to be the creations of the human mind (Chung and Ju, 2016). The sun, for example, was seen as not only providing light for the visibility of objects but was also responsible for generating them as their primary source of growth. In a similar way, how people behave to warrant the description of good or evil comes from within the soul. Many primitive religions for a very long believed there was a close association between the sun and God. The comparison was made because the sun provided light that illuminated the world and in a way embodied good deeds whereas darkness was associated with evil.
Though good and evil can be viewed from a religious, ethical, philosophical and psychological way, it must be understood that whichever perspective is pursued contribute to the understanding of the various dichotomies that illustrate the two elements. Evil, form the biblical view, is associated with Satan with both the Abrahamic and Manichean theorizations indicate that it can be taken as possessing an antagonistic dualism with good. From an ethical standpoint, however, good must often prevail upon the evil and defeat it (Chung and Ju, 2016). In most cultures across the world, conceptualizing what constitutes good and evil must conform to what is unanimously endorsed by the society as dictated by societal doctrines. In Buddhism for instance, people are expected to be of good deeds as influenced by their spiritual strength to overcome sin and achieve a state of emptiness in the senses of recognizing good. Most importantly, people must also learn to overcome evil by opposing its urges and earthly persuasions that result in sin. As with most cultures across the globe, the general feeling of what is wrong, evil, unjust, ominous and unacceptable is often denoted with profound immorality which in most cases, are actions that are below the generally expected norms set by the society either as a product of culture, politics or religion. In furtherance, also widely accepted by various religious groups is that evil is propagated by a supernatural force that informs human motives and sometimes seen as an unbalanced behaviour which borders on expediency, self-centeredness, arrogance, insensitivity and recklessness (Krakowiak and Tsay-Vogel, 2018).
In philosophy, the resemblance in perspective permeates with evil seen as a result of human destructiveness. Evil, therefore, can be seen in more realistic disastrous behaviours such as genocide, terrorism and fraud. Alternatively, a good defines the maximum benefit that individual actions bring to a group of people. The existing literature on evil and good especially in the film industry is not exhaustive as there are several gaps especially in understanding why films are produced within the context of good and evil. The current paper will aim to highlight the phenomena of evil and good within film production and contribute to the existing body of knowledge in understanding the characterization of these films.
1.2 Significance of Study
The film industry epitomized by Hollywood productions have for a very long time employed the use of evil and good as effective phenomena to develop characters for their films. Through the ages, many viewers have been treated to entertaining, educative and thrilling films on various themes with a commonality on the subject of evil and good. Invariably, the concept of villain and hero has also been the sole reason why several movies have done well in the Box Office sales whenever they premier (Bergstrand and Jasper, 2018). Though the villain and hero subjects are commonly used in literature and cinema, the current surge of the norm has resulted in a surge in the development even more complex characters to enhance the quality of film production. The frequently asked question, however, has been on why Hollywood films have extensively used the phenomena of good and evil to define their character construction and what it signifies to the contemporary global audiences. One of the fundamental reason why this study is important is that it will help in understanding the relevance of character construction to the audiences; reception thus increasing the popularity of this structure. Most cinematic narratives tend to often incorporate several antiheroes and heroes in a model that has become part of film production worldwide (Jackson, 2016).
However, a new concept of creating empathy in character creations make audiences to resonate with characters regardless of what role they play in the movie (Chung and Ju, 2016). In most cases, audiences tend to develop a liking for either of the characters based on the narratives they are built upon which could elicit sympathy from the audience in equal measure. Most importantly, the ideology between hero and villain continue to become increasingly contentious especially when the audiences develop a shared empathy, mutual sympathy and resonance with individual characters (Bergstrand and Jasper, 2018). Conversely, emotional responses are founded on moral decisions that the audience takes in an attempt to understand the relationship between protagonist and antagonist characters. The current study will, therefore, aim to resolve the blurred lines between good and evil to make a sense of human behaviour while acknowledging the dark side of human nature and to explore the possibility of whether people can really become true moral beings.
1.3 Research objectives
To understand why film producers use the phenomena of evil and good in film production
To establish the moral ramifications of having hero and villain characters in film characterization during production
To investigate film popularity and success based on the moral, religious, ethical, philosophical and psychological perspective of evil and good constructs
To investigate how audiences relate to film characterization based on hero-villain characters
To understand the social, ethical and psychological influence of good and evil in film characterization
To determine how cognitive theory contribute to the personification of film characters based on the concept of good and evil
1.4 Research Questions
Why do film producers use the phenomena of evil and good in film production?
What are the moral ramifications of having a hero and villain characters in film characterization during production?
Why is film popularity and success based on moral, religious, ethical, philosophical and psychological perspectives of evil and good constructs?
How do audiences relate to film characterization based on hero-villain characters?
What are the social, ethical and psychological influence of good and evil in film characterization?
How does cognitive theory contribute to the personification of film characters based on the concept of good and evil?
1.5 Hypothesis
H1= the concept of good and evil has a significant bearing in film production through characterization of the hero-villain characters
H0= the concept of good and evil has no significant bearing in film production through characterization of the hero-villain characters
2.0 Literature Review
The current literature review was conducted on various film projects and actual publications that had been conducted on the relationship between characterization, theme, production setting and the narrative in the context of evil and good. Most movies have continually explored the villain-hero characterizations hence it was befitting to sample some of those movies and analyse them while comparing theoretical postulations on how they effectively contribute to the existing body of knowledge (Bergstrand and Jasper, 2018). Film production often explores various aspects of production which tend to include social, ethical and psychological aspects that are best brought out by the characters and the storyline. In order to achieve the best market sales and captivate global audiences, film producers have become tactical in their creative development of characters that resonates well with the audiences as epitomized in comic and Marvel movies such as Batman, Avengers, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, Deadpool, the Transformers among others. Most of these movies have the hero and villain character whose characteristics are described below:
2.1 Characteristics of the Good Characters (Hero)
Most contemporary movies have the main character and a supporting cast that help define the narrative to its conclusion. The protagonist character or the hero are used interchangeably though their approach to defining morality is different. According to dramatic theory, a hero in a film has two distinct identities which include their recognition as the main character and protagonist (Eden, Daalmans, and Johnson, 2017). The protagonist in the movie is responsible for moving the storyline forward by creating events. In most instances, the protagonists are the main characters an often initiate revelations and make decisions that dictate the direction of the movie. The protagonists tend to approach life and its subsequent events in a more resolute manner as they always stand for something that is right. The protagonists are typically moral people who are out to restore societal order by bringing change to the prevailing circumstances that make life untenable. In the film adaptation of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Atticus Finch who is the main protagonist has a complementing character in Scout who is the main character (Bergstrand and Jasper, 2018). Consequently, when the protagonist and the main character combine efforts to fulfil the storyline, they become a single identity and are most recognizable for good deeds.
The hero-character is often depicted as full of machismo and unparalleled bravado even in the face of adversity and always combat problems with a lot of ingenuity, courage and determination. In any classic hero-villain movie, the forces of good and evil mostly become entrenched in the narrative with different events revealing the inner truth of their intentions and subsequent actions (Bergstrand and Jasper, 2018). The heroes conduct their activities in search of glory and redemption where honour was lost through evil. Both the medieval and modern times have characters with impressive similarities as opposed to the classical goal of characters seeking self-gratification, pride and fame (Jackson, 2016). The concept of the hero however emanated from classical literature and was celebrated in the ancient times in the form of legends who pursued conquests and fought hard battles to liberate their people besides being exceptional leaders. The heroes embodied societal virtues and lived for the truth and everything that was right.
2.2 Characteristics of the Villain
The villain in most films are portrayed as antagonistic and always out to disrupt the tranquillity and the normal functionality of daily routines. Villainous characters tend to contribute to building up controversy within a storyline to make the protagonist tasked to remediate such circumstances and restore calm. Most villain characters are epitomized by personal attributes such as being rude, conniving, vengeful, the district, nihilistic, jealous, arrogant and full of pride (Gray et al., 2018). Characters playing the villain always tend to have negative energy which is mostly associated with evil and whatever they touch or whatever activity they engage is bound to end badly. They are unpredictable and cannot be trusted by other characters to fulfil the promises. Jackson (2016) however insist that villainous characters help to create the desired suspense that films require to keep the audiences guessing on what course of action will follow next. Most importantly, the villain characters are not bound by any form of decency as they lack even the smallest of whims to care morality (Croley, Reese, and Wagner, 2017). They also go to extreme levels to inflict pain, misery and destitution without any regard or sensitivity for the personal actions. Additionally, they tend to justify their actions as necessary to gain immense recognition especially in instances where they have been largely ignored. Therefore, the concept of evil in movies is thoroughly modelled around characters but are expected to be defiant to the end with instances of villains trying to prevent the protagonist from achieving their goals (Bergstrand and Jasper, 2018).
2.3 The Role of the Villain
The villain is traditionally on the opposition and antagonistic throughout the movie. In modern movie production such as in “Breaking Bad”
which is a TV series, the villain played by actor Bryan Cranston as Walter White and his accomplice Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman best highlight the villain role. They two accomplices are forced to bring out the evil in them by the circumstances that surround them. Not only do they become established drug peddlers and murders but also ruthless in their social dealings that the audience is left transfixed by their sudden change in behaviour (Kleemans, Eden, Daalmans, van Ommen, and Weijers, 2017). Walter White transitions from a beloved chemistry teacher to a feared and murderous drug kingpin who will not hesitate to protect his territory. In the same movie, the antagonist is played by Dean Norris as Hank Schrader who seeks to eliminate the drug syndicate at whatever cost even after realizing the dark force impeding his progress to restore normalcy is in fact perpetuated by his own brother in law. In the movie Grendel, produced in 2007, the character Grendel and his mother opposed Beowulf. In the movie, Grendel's mother is posited as a vengeful monster that is reckless and out to destroy whatever good other people are striving to work for in the society. As such, viewers are disturbed by her illogical demands for a monthly sacrifice from the Danes as facilitated by King Hrothgar and the wife, Wealhþeow whom both agree to the clandestine deal to sabotage justice. Consequently, Beowulf comes to the kingdom to the Danes to purposely to restore order. In the same movie, Hrothgar bemoans the fact that Grendel has become more monstrous than her mother in their reign of terror.
The role of the villain is to instil immense and unimaginable fear and terror to the people surrounding them. Villains also oppose the attempts of the virtuous heroes to restore normalcy in their grand scheme of evil as epitomized by Grendel and his mother who continually opposed Beowulf. Similarly, Calypso intentionally prevented Odysseus from returning home while Claudius went to the extreme length of killing his brother to ascend to the Danish throne. Mostly, however, the villain inflicts a sense of ruthlessness that most people find difficult to ignore and whatever they bring into the movie plot is to provide a real test to the hero (Bergstrand and Jasper, 2018).
Most Hollywood movie productions have long perfected the role of the villain in creating blockbuster movies with the villains defining the role of the hero and other supporting casts in the movie. The villain is expected to elicit tension, suspense, mystery and anxiety from the audience as they push the characters to the extreme end of despair and desolation in what is believed to make a good movie. Therefore, the villain’s defeat would essentially herald the end of the story as an affirmation that the protagonist has triumphed in a spiritual, ethical and physical sense. The crime drama series Breaking Bad best epitomizes this pint by the character of Walter White whose arrest and subsequent incarceration would have effectively killed the narrative. In most movies, however, the killing of the villain or his defeat is often symbolic of the hero's moral consciousness and convictions triumphing over evil depending on the parameters defining evil (Kleemans et al., 2017).
Though it might seem like an oversimplification of roles, the basic place of a villain is to stick to the script which ensures that he or she never stray away from the formula. Naturally, villains tend to tempt heroes or provoking them into action (Bergstrand and Jasper, 2018). They perpetuate evil intentionally to elicit a response from their adversaries and can sometimes be family, friends or serve to highlight some aspect of the hero's character. According to Jean-François Lyotard, the role of characters in narratives are either sequenced as a positive or negative apprenticeship that highlight the virtues and the supposed legitimacy of the current contemporary society that resonates with what is otherwise acceptable or unacceptable (Lyotard, Milner, and Sfez, 1995).
2.4 The social Impact of Villain-Hero Characterization in Film
According to Waldron (2014), film producers tend to incorporate the villain-hero characterization on purpose as they seek to build their narratives. Similarly, for the need of elaborate emphasis on the subject matter portrayed by the movie, the hero-villain characterization provides the desired trajectory to accomplish story development based on philosophical underpinnings from Augustine to Aquinas and consequently to Kant. For Kant, the natural inclination to commit evil is not admissible since evil only occurs out of individual volition as opposed to the influence of nature. The Kantian theory of evil refutes the thinking that man is predisposed to evil due to natural causes but rather insist that man is indeed capable of choosing between right and evil thus the ability of choice implies the need for man to take responsibility of his actions. As such, humans are responsible for their actions and should bear the consequences of their actions. In a social context, audiences realize that they cannot blame evil or good on nature but rather on themselves as they have the intelligible capacity to make informed decisions. The good and bad maxims discussed by Kant highlights the underlying moral law that underpins his theory and that guides the society (Freeland, 2018).
Meanwhile, the society is modelled around norms, doctrines and moral expectations that must be adhered to by its members. Almost every society across the globe have something that uniquely identifies them as they are also governed by societal expectations on virtuousness. Hence, it is plausible to highlight these expectations in cinematography using the villain and hero characters. The society will automatically identify and appreciate the role and dynamism of the hero on returning sanity in a chaotic world of disorder (Mills, 2013). Most audiences, however, tend to learn a lot from these hero characters as they also adopt certain beneficial behaviours they can use in real life situations.
The crime drama “Breaking Bad,” the marvel studio productions, Black Panther and the Avengers highlight the problems affecting the society and the hero-villain characters are highly commended for creating something that the society can pick to aid in reconstructing moral decadence that exists. Lyotard further suggested that the functions of the narratives in films were also essential for the need of fiction that modifies the concept of evil and good in the movie (Kleemans et al., 2017). The concept of evil in the society today is not so detached with expectations across all societies however, it is also true that what is perceived in one society as evil can be good in another hence the attempt by movie producers to bridge this gap and create a standard movie addressing both spectrums of duality (Eden, Daalmans, and Johnson, 2017). Imperatively, not every story as written and produced by movie producers require a physical villain opposing the hero. The fact that people are able to think for themselves and come to appropriate conclusions on what is evil and good has elevated the narrative that makes conflicts dynamic in movie production (Krakowiak and Tsay-Vogel, 2018). For instance, in the movie Into the Storm, produced in 2014 with the lead character by Richard Armitage as Gary Fuller and Sarah Wayne Callies as Allison Stone both contribute significantly to provide the requisite ground for the development of the movie. As the school prepares to graduate, a calamitous tornado wreaks havoc in the town killing people and leading to the destruction of property worth millions of dollars. Initially, as the new day begins in the town Silverton, the residents are oblivious of the potential storm that will change the trajectories of their lives forever. The villain in the movie Into the Storm is Mother Nature that sets the pace and tempo of the movie throughout. As such, the storm hinders the hero's journey and expectations which invariably makes the audience to turn to another entity for answers. In cases where movies are themed on supernatural disasters, the gods of calamities are presumably culpable for the casualties that result. Audiences, therefore, realize that other than evil, there are supernatural occurrences also control the happenstances that face the society (Kleemans et al., 2017).
Consequently, the society we live in has a multifaceted dimension of morality as depicted by Hollywood movies (Eden, Daalmans, and Johnson, 2017). Not every hero possess the good traits as some stories have often featured heroes with questionable characters on morality. Some of these heroes are referred to as tragic heroes who die prematurely when the audience root for them to triumph to the end. Sometimes, villains survive when we expect them to die but hold on until the end of the movie when they receive their just punishment (Krakowiak and Tsay-Vogel, 2018). The society can, therefore, realize that evil also exists in thinly veiled forms that might eventually become realized in the expanse of time. What we typically think is good could be evil in disguise and what is thought to be evil might turn to be good as epitomized by the Transformers: The Last Knight, the character that was considered as a traitor as joining the villain recanted his allegiance at the hour of need and helped the heroes achieve their ultimate triumph. The kind of characters used in the 21st-century film production uses the modern villain to foil attempts of the hero which corresponds with the kind of sabotage that the society can witness in everyday life as promoted by politicians and their surrogates (Croley, Reese and Wagner, 2017).
The current modern movies always have the hero facing the darkest side of the film as exemplified by the movie Jekyll and Hyde where Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde have two different sides to them which also defines the personalities and how they relate with the rest of the characters in perpetuating the evil and good narrative (Gray et al., 2018). In most of the harry potter film adaptations, the same antagonism that exists between the characters of harry potter and Draco Malfoy informs how audiences relate with the evil and good in practical experiences. Alternatively, the movie of Sherlock Holmes and James Moriarty prisoners to their audiences to brilliant thinkers as evidenced by the significant roles played by both characters. Inasmuch as Sherlock Holmes is coldly and very analytical as a certified drug addict, his addiction and demeanour do not necessarily make him a criminal and he also does not seek to hurt others that are close to him.
With the growth of technology in cinematography, more complicated storylines are developed by movie producers who also employ the concept of the foil in the narratives to make it as complicated as possible for the audience to understand the actual role of the antagonist and the protagonist. For instance, in the television series called the Hannibal, one of the biggest protagonists in Will Graham is a talented FBI profiler has developed an uncanny ability to think and reason like the killer so as to produce an outstanding accurate psychological profile of his suspects. Conversely, the fault in this movie, Dr Hannibal Lecter continue to be elusive in this brilliant use of knowledge on human psychology to trap his would-be victims applying the same techniques as Will Graham. The dynamism of modern society has however embraced dark characters because they always embody what they can relate to regardless of their perpetuation of evil and darkness (Eden, Daalmans, and Johnson, 2017). For instance, the character of Dr Hannibal Lecter has been condemned and disliked by the audiences because of its portrayal of brutality and the irredeemable qualities of the evil too visceral to even contemplate.
According to Freeland (2018), the emergence of horror films around serial killers previously repulsed various audiences but have transitioned into what is currently perceived as likeable based on the thrill and emotions these movies elicit from the audiences. The moral lesson that the society pics from this characters is the need to promote good deeds and shun evil whenever an opportunity presents itself to do so in the conquest to establish a highly moral and dependable society (Waldron, 2014). Other than the hero in the movies, tragic character- heroes and villains inform the audiences that inasmuch as someone can try their best to establish a just and morally upright community, failure to achieve such success does not necessarily become a point of judging human efforts as they are vulnerable to error and imperfections (Eden, Daalmans, and Johnson, 2017). Further, the realisation that films are based on imaginations and technology to present industries as real as possible creates relief in the audience upon the realisation that danger and fear presented are not real. However, there are instances where faith and chance conspire to make the hero unable to attain goals that the audience expect them to, which, facilitate ideological realisation that everyone comes short in life and whenever that happens, judging them harshly is never the best thing to do.
2.5 Ethical Implications of Evil and Good in Film
Ethics play a very important role in determining behaviour and personalities of different people within society (Gray et al., 2018). Ethics are built on cultural, religious, and intuitive moral principles that dictate how someone should engage with the other without causing grievous harm hence provide a sustainable environment where harmonious living prevails (Serra, 2010). Moral principles define the purpose of human living on earth and have been a major force in the film industry. Most specifically, moral ambiguity has emerged as one of the most prominent aspects of ethical consideration employed by movie producers to define human relations among the characters. The popularity of morally ambiguous television shows and film productions has created a wedding trend that has led to greater moral relativity in modern society (Sanders and Tsay-Vogel, 2016).
Observers of the current trends tend to believe that modern culture has become too permissive and has therefore effectively eroded traditional cultures that placed elaborate emphasis on morality. The trend of morality and ethics in movies continue to evolve by reflecting reality within storylines and the characters that embody these movies (Hursthouse, & Pettigrove, 2016). In today's world, it is believed that children and young adults who are more associated with you watching have become ethically compromised on how they relate with fellow humans especially in the new millennium.
Movies are currently produced with more freedom to dwell on even sensitive topics such as sex, well, drug use and in extreme cases the glorification of violence as a bit embarrassed by action and thriller movies (Waldron, 2014). Most audiences pick these character traits and build they are personalities around them without worrying about the consequences that those actions pertained to the development of morality (Sanders and Tsay-Vogel, 2016). The freedom of the movie industry to even release controversial films have only fuelled the discontent that most people have towards the content production that negates ethical considerations. The young and evolving visual media of both film and television production effectively reflects the reality about the glorification of the evil and the subsequent polarization of traditional moral principles. It is therefore quite difficult to establish whether modern films are of moral contribution to the society as a whole, other than promoting vile and slanderous depictions of what a morally decayed society is today. Most of the morally ambiguous television shows and films of the current era are popular not because they promote virtues and manners but because of their notoriety (Waldron, 2014). Conflict of interest that arise from the production of evil versus good films is based on how they contribute to cultural erosion instead of preservation and promotion of community values founded on virtuous living and respect for entities.
While assessing the extent to which modern film production appeal to ambiguity, it becomes important to also explore the ethical impact of how these films have iterated or improved social welfare and preservation of cultures. Do the use of the hero-villain characters in reproduction remains central to the realisation of the narratives, the depictions and storylines adopted must, therefore, correspond with the socially acceptable ethics guiding moral behaviour (Hursthouse, & Pettigrove, 2016). In the TV series Breaking Bad, which is also an award-winning and critically acclaimed production, it becomes difficult to accept it as a
