When the Other Goddesses and I first started this web page, We did it mainly because, well, We love Bad Guys. We certainly didn't expect protracted discussions among the three of us concerning the Nature of Good and Evil. For many of our Bad Guys, the line between Good and Evil is painfully clear. Characters in movies, especially in children's movies ( Harry Potter series, et al), tend to be drawn in broad strokes; the Good Guys are Good, the Bad Guys are Bad and Heaven Help You if you get in the way. There is no question in Our minds that, for example, Colonel Tavington from The Patriot or Hans Gruber from Die Hard, are Bad Guys. And the Badness rating helps us give Our Loyal Readers an idea of Just How Evil a particular character is.
However, some roles are harder to nail down. Every so often We run across a character in a particular movie and We can't decide if they are a Bad Guy. Case in Point: Antonio Banderas as Pancho Villa in ...And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself. I have now watched this movie twice. The first time, it seemed pretty clear. Pancho Villa was a Bad Guy. (Hot was actually more questionable, much to my surprise. Even Antonio Banderas wasn't able to save that dodgy hair situation.) He was kind of a jerk, he killed people in cold blood, he ordered those who crossed him to be killed, he sent small children to their deaths in battle. All of which added up to Bad Guy, right?
Then I watched it again. I tried to focus on what was going on, rather than focusing on Antonio Banderas' various, er, attributes. Pancho Villa was a freedom fighter. He was willing to risk anything to eliminate the yoke of Spanish Tyranny over Mexico, even if it meant working with movie studio tyrants and sending children to be killed, which he genuinely seemed to regret. He even agreed to put on make-up and be filmed himself in order to get more people to be aware of events happening in Mexico, as well as Mexican social and living conditions. The worst part of it all was that Pancho Villa really didn't get to enjoy what his years of hard work and bloodshed achieved, since he was gunned down himself not long after the Mexican Revolution.
So, where does that leave us? Is Pancho Villa a Good Guy or a Bad Guy? Is committing horrible crimes toward a good end enough to make you a Bad Guy? We've already eliminated people who commit crime in the name of Good, a la Robin Hood, but some of the acts done by Pancho Villa seemed to be perpetrated only by a desire to preserve his own image, rather than toward a definable end. Were those individual acts enough to qualify Seņor Villa as a Bad Guy? Clearly, it's debatable. How does one determine whether the end justifies the means? Should one take his Villainous Acts separately or as a combined whole, making up a crucial part of Pancho Villa's character? Could an inherently Good Guy do the horrible things that Pancho Villa does without batting an eye? Is the individual who commits atrocious acts himself a Bad Guy, regardless of cause? Where is the line between committing evil acts in the name of good and being a generally evil person?
And why is it that in some films We are expected to automatically root for one side or the other? For example, in most Robin Hood movies (appalling Kevin Costner Version aside in which Most Rational People root for Hot Bad Guys Alan Rickman and Michael Wincott), audiences usually root for Robin Hood and his Merry Men (Pervy Bad Guy Fanciers are not included in this majority), even though they are rebelling against the legal authority in this matter. The same goes for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The appealing characters to the audience are murderers and thieves, people We wouldn't root for under other circumstances. In the Robin Hood Examples, Our Attachment can be explained away through a dubious affection for Men In Green Tights. The same cannot be said for Butch and Sundance, Alas. How do we determine which side is Right, since there is no consistency? Sometimes the side of the law is Good, sometimes Not.
For now, We continue to debate. I suspect Pancho Villa will not be added to the Hot Bad Guy list in the foreseeable future. Luckily for Us, We can get Antonio Banderas as a Hot Bad Guy for playing Armand in Interview With the Vampire. There's nothing like playing an Evil Creature of the Night to clear up any Good Guy/Bad Guy confusion.
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