Hey everybody time for more Totally Accurate Battle...oh no it's not.
Forgot which channel I was.
This is Storybrain.
In the Joker versus Joker vid I mentioned that Heath Ledger's Joker is probably in the
top 5 movie bad guys ever.
I didn't go further with that but let's do it now.
I'll talk about some others that are really good within some of the measures we listed,
and a few that are REALLY close to being there.
And this is an informal list that can change.
Because for one reason, time can change our emotional reactions.
Alright, so, at number five, let's start with the Xenomorphs from the Alien series.
I think that's that's an example of the power of science fiction as a whole.
And the idea that they embodied, I mean they're called Xenomorphs later on, but really they
have no name.
They perfectly represent this idea that evolution can go an entirely different way.
In some ways you might say that people dominated earth.
Well, that's an example of that causing idea...that a species could evolve to dominate a planet...because
they were so dangerous, so overwhelming just in their bodies...and could end up spreading
like a plague.
It's just fantastic.
And I mean, that's the idea that's at the core of the story.
There's also the nuts and bolts of how the creature works.
The facehugging, which is almost unthinkable, all of that.
You have something fantastic.
Now of course, there is the element of the alien being a little too horrifying in that
regard.
It is so well-fleshed out and so intelligently executed, that it's delightful in that way,
but you almost don't want to let yourself believe it.
So it's a little bit limited in terms of what it can do as horror.
And also, I think there's a problem in that the alien isn't human.
So I think there's a limit in terms of, how much we can emotionally react to it.
You know, when an animal is the antagonist of a movie, you can't really blame the animal
for what it's doing.
You can hope people get away, but that's really it.
The whole idea of moral satisfaction, of it embodying bad traits, gets a little lost.
It has to come totally from the hero.
It's not like the alien can trap Ripley then pull out a cigar and start making a speech
where his arrogance lets her get away.
So you can't really get all the way with that kind of character, but for what it is and
what it does, it's absolutely fantastic and definitely, the alien is at least top 5 in
the best villains ever.
Now, for number four, I'm going with, Hannibal Lecter, from the Silence of the Lambs, Manhunter,
Red Dragon series.
I'm sure everybody knows Hannibal, or at least everybody over a certain age does.
And it's a bit interesting because Lecter is MOST known for Silence of the Lambs, but
really, he was an actual villain, properly, in Manhunter, the movie that came before Silence.
When he actually is a complement to the hero, Will Graham and helps to illustrate how good
Will Graham is at his job, since Graham captured Lector.
By the time Silence rolled around...it's really just a massive put-over for Lector.
Everything is set-up to make him look amazing, tougher, smarter, and more dangerous than
everyone else in the movie.
Including Clarice, who he just mocks and manipulates and even eventually, in the later movies,
brainwashes.
And okay, at the end of it, he gets out.
And as an audience we like it because he's shown to be the most resourceful person.
But I don't think we really get into it since he's so screwed up in so many other ways.
It's kind of a guilty pleasure.
But the movie is so incredibly well-made otherwise.
Later on in the series, these worse parts kind of went overboard, getting ridiculously
gross with people eating their own brains and what-not and the thing with Lector owning
Clarice.
But that first movie shows how well-drawn and used Lector originally was as a character.
Alright, from there, and this was a tough choice, I'm going to put in one of my personal
favorites.
Norman Bates, from Alfred Hitchcock's original Psycho.
And there are a few key things about it that stand out to me.
First, it blows my mind that that movie was made with a character with that amount of...screwed-uppedness,
in 1960.
You know, that was when Dennis the Menace and Spartacus and Westerns were on TV and
in the movies.
And maybe it's not perfectly real, but the DEPTH of it.
The dimension of it, the way they realized that character.
I mean, when you read his biography, from the book also I suppose, it sounds like a
case history of a real person.
And of course, one of the strengths of Hitchcock is that he knew the point of what he was doing.
He didn't overdo it.
Even in the murder scenes, which is one reason why that scene became so iconic.
Probably an underrated reason.
It WASN'T so horrifying that you didn't want to think about it.
The same with Bates, the adrenaline of it was accentuated, the bizarreness, the morbid
fascination with him...all of that hits you the most, without the stuff that would turn
you off.
And...if I can just say this...I don't think anybody has fully appreciated how AMAZING
that acting job was by Anthony Perkins.
Well by him in combination with Hitchcock directing him.
When you watch that movie, if you remember, you actually have to be able to see it TWICE...and
think two TOTALLY different things about Norman.
FIRST, you're supposed to think he's just a walk-on character, a little bit awkward.
Who is only going to be in a scene or two.
You know, Janet Leigh is supposed to be the star.
Of course the movie IS called Psycho so...I don't know how people were supposed to not
notice that.
But you don't KNOW that it's Norman.
It's not until you watch it AGAIN, THIS time keeping an eye on Norman, that you can study
him to see how screwed up he is.
Because really, he's PRETENDING to be normal.
And he's going through that psychological thing where he likes her, while his other
personality is getting threatened by her.
And it WORKS.
You can see it happening.
The way he looks at her, the way he reacts to certain things she says, all of it.
It's just AMAZING.
And of course, he wasn't even nominated for an Oscar, but I have my ideas about that,
it's a different topic.
But he also has a similar situation to where he doesn't have a counterpart.
Part of the impression he makes is that he kills the hero outright.
So...we end up limited.
But his impression is still unforgettable.
Now, another one I need to put in here, that might be a little underrated is...Nurse Ratched,
from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
One of the most plausible, the most believable villain characters you will ever see.
Which really is the strength of that movie as a whole.
She manages to seem like a real nurse at a mental hospital, while being JUST controlling,
JUST unlikable enough that you start to hate her.
And SHE is the one who lets Jack Nicholson's character, be as rebellious as he is in the
movie.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and all the dynamics of that story, does NOT happen without
Nurse Ratched.
And you don't usually see a great hero and a great villain paired off like that.
Usually one dominates the other.
But, a lot of what she does, only works for a certain portion of the audience.
Younger people just won't pick up on the subtleties of it.
Which unfortunately, does matter.
So okay, that's four.
I said top 5, I'm listing a top six, so sue me.
But anyway, based on what we discussed in the video, I actually think the Heath Ledger
Joker works better as a villain then each of those characters.
In terms of what he represents in the movie, the fact that he does have a functioning hero...the
external emotions involved...the way he works for people of a BUNCH of different ages.
Which means that he is going to be either #2 or #1 on my list of the best villains.
In movies I've seen, though I've seen a lot.
But now that raises the question of who the other villain is.
And before I do, let me quickly do some honorable mentions.
People not at the very top who may be in the top 10 or top 20.
Characters like the T-800, Magneto, Venom from the Spider-Man comics, John Doe from
Seven.
Each of them has a fascinating set of strengths and weaknesses.
That maybe we'll talk about later.
BUT...bringing us back to the top of the list.
There IS one guy whose name I haven't said yet.
Who PROBABLY edges out Heath Ledger.
Maybe a bit anti-climactic, but it's Darth Vader.
We're talking about the ability to appeal to different demographics.
The look and design of the character, as visually striking and intimidating, in the right way,
as you could imagine.
The dimension of the character, which you didn't even really need the prequels to show.
The ideas involved, the way he ends up dying.
The lightsaber...merchandising.
The personal depth and large-scale of what he was involved in.
I mean, it's all there.
He doesn't have the EXTERNAL emotions as much as Ledger's Joker does.
Really.
But, he's become so iconic as the face of a franchise that redefined movies, over multiple
films, that he's still competitive.
And, a lot of the actual nuts and bolts of Star Wars...are something we're going to get
into a bit more in these next few months when Rogue One comes out, with Darth Vader in it.
But in the meantime, I think it's enough to say that if Heath Ledger's Joker isn't the
best villain ever, then Darth Vader, definitely is.
That's all for now.
Thanks!