A Good Fight

Post 1857:

There’s a theme that runs through history that goes something like this: “On such and such day the two armies laid down their weapons and sent over salutations, wishing their enemies good fortune and blessings.”

There were scenes like this at Christmas during WW1 that might be known to a lot of people, but it’s actually not uncommon. Similar accounts echo through the ages.

Okay. Weird place to start. Got it. But I bring it up make a point about bad guys and good guys in stories. I was watching something the other day and an antagonist was so irredeemable it started to bore me to the point of turning the thing off. The writer got the “bad” part right, but they forgot to make them understandable. This is dull and tedious after awhile.

Don’t get me wrong. This is not a call for some newfangled postmodern methodology in which all sides are equal and there’s no good and there’s no bad. However, it is important to understand a villain’s perspective and that they have one. It’s not easy, but there has to be something resembling balance to get maximum drama and keep people interested.

There are exceptions, of course. If done right, an inscrutable evil walking around being evil and eviling can be pretty fun. Just don’t let it go on too long. That shiz will inevitably tire folks out.

Think about it. Those dudes that were enemies took a time out to go and shake hands and acknowledge each other as human beings, small parts of a big story. It’s poignant and lovely and illicits a manly tear. And then they went back to trying to end each other. That’s drama.

Good and bad are simple. Good and bad characters, not so simple. Always make it interesting. You don’t want that deal where people want to skip over certain parts because they’ve grown bored with someone in the story. We’ve all done it. If you’re bored with one of your own characters, that’s another indicator.

Have an interesting day. Also a good one. Cheers and see you after.