We here at Goddess Central have perfected the art of Hot Bad Guy Love –- a love so pure and selfless as to almost seem a tad masochistic. Why do we love bad guys? They’re evil, they’re mean, and they enjoy hurting people –- not the types you invite for Sunday dinner. Yet, we worship at the altar of their cruelty and simultaneous hotness. There is a not-so-subtle strain of perversion in our obsession, one could say.
And that’s why I, Dandelion, feel that including anti-heroes among our delicious bad guys will water down our stable of meanies. I want to preserve our pervitude, unblemished by the inclusion of sympathetic loners with righteous anger in their noble hearts.
Here are some examples of hot anti-heroes who can’t really be called villains. They’re tough and scary, but we understand why and know that in their hearts, there’s a justice we can all understand.
Mel Gibson as Mad Max (way back when Mel was still actually handsome and not just craggy and hanging on by one fingernail to past good-looks. Lay off the booze, eh, Mel?). Max has every right to blow people away. The so-called “people” he encounters are gibbering idiots with a penchant for killing innocents, like his wife and child. Why not get rid of them and ask questions later? He’s hot, but he’s not bad at all. Sure he does hard-hearted things, but we the viewers fully understand and _sympathize_ with his actions. Can we sympathize with Lucius Malfoy when he’s tormenting Harry Potter? I think not. We can dream of removing his wizarding robes for an impromptu romp in the broom closet, but sympathy is right out.
Clint Eastwood as Blondie in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Actually, we could name a bunch of movies made by Clint in the 60s and 70s that fit the general hot anti-hero type. High Plains Drifter comes to mind. Clint doesn’t get any flintier or tougher than that. He kills a lot of guys and scares the crap out of a bunch more, but they DESERVE it. Completely. On the other hand, if Russell Crowe as Hando in Romper Stomper had his chance to blow away a few ethnically impure cowboys no matter how nice and sweet, he certainly would. Boo! Hiss! Yum!
Vin Diesel as Riddick in Pitch Black. Now here’s a tough guy to end all tough guys. He’s even got scary eye implants that glisten silvery-black. We start out thinking he’s pretty evil, but it becomes obvious early on that he’s simply misunderstood. (Aren’t all the best anti-heroes simply ‘misunderstood’??) By the end he’s still tough and gruff, but completely redeemable. As contrast, I humbly submit that Malcolm McDowell as Alex in A Clockwork Orange is about as unredeemable as a soda can tab at the ticket window for the Oscars and we love him for it anyway.
Do you get my drift? Anti-heroes perform cruel or violent actions for understandable reasons. Bad guys simply get off on those sorts of things, no understanding necessary. While I will not knock the hotness of various anti-heroes, I like staying focused on the original concept of the hot bad guy or sexy villain, or what-have-you. We must stand firm in our championing of these much maligned and under-appreciated grade-A (yet so very hot) Assholes!
Go back to Essays, Ramblings and Other Mutterings
Go back to your Home!
Copyright 2003 HotBadGuys.com