UF Admissions essay prompt 2015 - Why I am the Villain, not a movie hero?

Essay Prompt: If you were offered the role of the villain or the hero in a movie, which role would you accept and why?

Thank you for any advice you can provide!

Essay:

I am faced with a choice, hero or villain? These two words, presenting themselves as titles for separate scripts, are glaring at me, awaiting my choice. With indecision riddling my thoughts, I choose to focus on the aspects of each character's life hoping it will provide some clarity. The villain enters my mind, and I start to visualize his personality and intellectual wealth: beguilingly calculating, independent of society, and happily different. Next, the hero's life flashes into mind, and I see the epitome of society's standards: obsequious to rules and standards and concerned only for each passing moment. I realize that my personality is starkly different from the hero's, so I toss his script aside and start saturating my thoughts with the villain's lines.

After hours of studying my script, I have learned many things about this villain: who he is, what his goals are, and why he strives to achieve these goals. The attainment of this knowledge has showed me that he and I have homologous thought patterns and personalities. We do not have the desire to make decisions based on feelings and emotions. The factors that affect our decisions lie within the facts pertaining to the present situation, and only until every fact is considered can we make a logical decision. The villain and I, unlike many others, are not satisfied with following the common social constructs provided by society. We have inquisitive minds that strive to mold their own models of success, so if acquiring this level of success requires the expense of society's approval or a thriving social life then we will readily discard them.

The script is starting to show signs of wear due to my constant turning of the pages, but its deteriorating state has reminded me of another similarity between the villain and me, pessimism. As I look at the script's condition, I can see that it will never return to its previously pristine state, however, an optimist would attempt to erase the imperfections thereby wasting time and energy. The pessimism the villain and I express is the kind that perceives the truth about an object or situation. Consequently, we can fabricate a strategy to improve what dismal outcome we might be faced with.

My examination of this character has finished when a question reveals itself to me: why did I choose the villain? Originally, I believed the villain's likeness to me was what encouraged my decision, however, the true reason behind this choice seems to lie within me at a personal, metaphysical level. The hero's goals require the public's reverence therefore he is bound to its will and ideals, but the villain can choose between conformity and independence without needing to worry about the judgements of others. The freedom to pursue my own ideologies without the constraint of society's critiques is why I chose the villain. I believe that hindering the freedom of thought and expression will leave the people of society vulnerable to their own destruction.

This is a very good analogy of the roles you were presented with Nicholas. Your reasons for opting to be a villain makes me think that maybe, the villains in movies are the true heroes of the story. After all, don't we encourage people to be different and follow their dreams until it becomes a reality? Yet society never really gives us a guideline as to how to achieve this. So why do we judge someone like the villain, whose only goal is to achieve his purpose in life? You really got me to thinking there.

However, I believe that you should have created a backstory for the script. What was the story that unfolded in it that caused you to pick the villain? Create a short synopsis of the story just to give the hero and the villain a background that will help the reviewer understand the factors that affected your decision to opt to become the villain of the story.

In the latter part of your essay, you explain that the villain will "fabricate a strategy to improve what dismal outcome we might be faced with. ". What if the dismal outcome is a fate worse than death? Would you still consider being the villain? Keep in mind that the villain often fails to achieve his goals in the movies and he meets a life altering destiny in the end. Considering the possible ending in the script, do you really think that being a villain is worth it? The reason I am asking you to ponder this question is because you are championing a cause that society frowns upon immensely. So, you have to consider the outcome of the villain's actions. Is it imprisonment? Is it death? Do you think that the punishment will be worth the crime committed? If so, defend it as part of your choice to play the villain.

Aside from that question that I am asking you to consider representing in the essay, I believe that once the grammar problems are addressed, this essay will be good to go :-) At this moment though, I am not opting to correct the errors, just in case you decide to revise the essay. At least you will just have to revise the essay once or twice instead of twice :-)