madymonzon
Aug 15, 2015
Undergraduate / Movie role choice question - University of Florida 2016 Undergraduate Essay [3]
If you were offered the role of the villain or the hero in a movie, which role would you accept and why? Remember to keep within the 500-word maximum length.
I am a villain. How can I say that about myself when, to the casual observer, I am a quiet, introverted girl? What makes me such a bad person? As someone who has been known to fight for others, how does that make me a villain? I want to see the best in everyone, and advocate for those who are lacking advocates. So, how is that villainous? Well, in order to fight for others I try to see others' perspectives. I can the duality in all aspects of life. I understand dichotomy in character and crisis in judgment. I was that kid that empathized with the bullies and "bad guys" because I understood even then, there was a story behind their choices. Something made them change. Villains, as cliché as it sounds, are misunderstood. Thus, began my interest in these true tragic heroes. For example, why did everyone hate Scar in Lion King? As I saw it, he was an outcast, stripped of his royal title and, frankly, with a name like Scar, you can't expect much. While, his murderous actions should not be condoned, one cannot ignore the obvious questions: was he ever given a fair chance? And, most importantly, what caused him to make poor decisions and fail to follow the rules of society?
Society has been facing a restructuring of sorts, rebranding heroes and villains as stories evolve and perspectives shift. We have been taught at an early age that heroes were the ones that we turn to and can trust. A classic example of a rebranding of heroes lies within the recent upheaval of police brutality. How is that we have come to regard our childhood heroes as immoral villains? They are human and, as such, can make emotional decisions or take the wrong course of action. Villains always get the bad rep, but what about heroes? Why is it that no matter how hard some people try, they are often seldom received as the hero they truly are? Heroes can harbor malignant thoughts in the same way that villains can be upstanding citizens who were just caught on a bad day. This sheds only a miniscule light on the harsh judgments we harbor towards anyone who doesn't possess the classic heroic attributes. Who are we to distinguish who is "good" and who is "bad"? Perhaps we all have a little bit of a villain inside of us, just dying to be released?
If you were offered the role of the villain or the hero in a movie, which role would you accept and why? Remember to keep within the 500-word maximum length.
I am a villain. How can I say that about myself when, to the casual observer, I am a quiet, introverted girl? What makes me such a bad person? As someone who has been known to fight for others, how does that make me a villain? I want to see the best in everyone, and advocate for those who are lacking advocates. So, how is that villainous? Well, in order to fight for others I try to see others' perspectives. I can the duality in all aspects of life. I understand dichotomy in character and crisis in judgment. I was that kid that empathized with the bullies and "bad guys" because I understood even then, there was a story behind their choices. Something made them change. Villains, as cliché as it sounds, are misunderstood. Thus, began my interest in these true tragic heroes. For example, why did everyone hate Scar in Lion King? As I saw it, he was an outcast, stripped of his royal title and, frankly, with a name like Scar, you can't expect much. While, his murderous actions should not be condoned, one cannot ignore the obvious questions: was he ever given a fair chance? And, most importantly, what caused him to make poor decisions and fail to follow the rules of society?
Society has been facing a restructuring of sorts, rebranding heroes and villains as stories evolve and perspectives shift. We have been taught at an early age that heroes were the ones that we turn to and can trust. A classic example of a rebranding of heroes lies within the recent upheaval of police brutality. How is that we have come to regard our childhood heroes as immoral villains? They are human and, as such, can make emotional decisions or take the wrong course of action. Villains always get the bad rep, but what about heroes? Why is it that no matter how hard some people try, they are often seldom received as the hero they truly are? Heroes can harbor malignant thoughts in the same way that villains can be upstanding citizens who were just caught on a bad day. This sheds only a miniscule light on the harsh judgments we harbor towards anyone who doesn't possess the classic heroic attributes. Who are we to distinguish who is "good" and who is "bad"? Perhaps we all have a little bit of a villain inside of us, just dying to be released?
