As an avid reader, a film fan, and a writer, I’m obsessed with quirky and interesting characters. More specifically, I am drawn to deeply damaged characters whose occupation and actions reflect their past experiences.
Situations in life are rarely black and white. The same is true of people. Heroes often have a dark side, or an ugly past. Villains often have some redeemable qualities, or a past history that provides insight into their character.
I prefer my heroes rough and a bit gritty, and my villains with a vulnerability that allows me to feel some compassion for, or insight into them. Skyfall, the most recent film in the James Bond franchise provides both.
Daniel Craig portrays Bond with a raw vulnerability that we haven’t seen before. I’m a long-time fan of the franchise. Yet I much prefer my Bond bleeding and broken, than polished and nearly perfect.
Dame Judi Dench’s character, M, is a heroine in the Bond movies, but in this film we see glaring fissures in her character, and their tragic consequences.
Silva, the villain brilliantly portrayed by an ultra creepy Javier Bardem, is a complicated mess of a human being who manages to be irredeemably wicked, yet deserving of compassion.
Each of these characters reminds us that the line between good and evil is rarely delineated with an electrified fence. Sometimes the line is barely visible. We don’t realize we’ve crossed it until we’re on the other side. What classifies us as being in one camp or the other is whether we choose to return to the other side.
It’s no secret that I love deliciously-flawed characters. Such intricate, layered characters escalate the level of another important C, conflict. With each character waging a war internally, it’s no surprise that Bond and Silva are embroiled in an external conflict of epic proportions, leaving carnage in their wake.
What about you? Are you a purist who prefers a knight in a shining armor–hold the chinks? Or do you like your heroes and heroines with a hardened edge?
I love characters who are fun– especially in my reading. If they’re too morose or too hard to like, I can’t get into them. I don’t mind gritty if I can also see they’re vulnerability. I don’t like gritty for grittiness sake. I can handle a bit more of that in the movies, especially if it’s a nice looking male lead. Then really, who cares. 😉
The more handsome the character, the more grit we accept, I suspect. LOL. It is difficult to like a character who is too far gone. The tipping point for me is how he treats other people in his life. In the case of male characters, I am particularly affected by how they treat the women in their lives.