Sympathy for Villains in Modern Media
As modern media expands, one question is obvious: do villains deserve our sympathy when bad things happen to them? In both Star Wars and The Godfather, there are instances where villains gain the viewer’s sympathy. Before we get into deciding where our sympathies lie, we must first agree upon what it means to “deserve sympathy.” For this article, I’ll be focusing on giving our interest to a character.
This article will examine two criminals in modern media: Michael Corleone in The Godfather and Darth Vader in Star Wars. In both films, the characters gain some vested interest from the audience; people gain a liking for people who commit heinous crimes and sympathize when they suffer.
The Godfather tells the story of a New York crime family, the Corleones. The film begins with a wedding scene, and the audience feels an immediate connection to the Corleone family. The original godfather, Vito Corleone, is having a conversation with a man who needs a favor. Vito questions this man’s loyalty, mentioning that “[he] did not come to me in friendship…[did not] even think to call me godfather.” By valuing continuity in friendships, Vito is characterized as morally sound and gains trust from the audience. This meeting is juxtaposed with the wedding of Vito’s daughter. Through this juxtaposition between joy and crime, the audience normalizes the family’s crimes. When Vito dies later in the movie, the audience feels sorrow in spite of his heinous crimes. This logic is also applicable to Vito’s son, Michael. After Vito’s decline, Michael rises as the head of the Corleone family and must commit crimes to support the family. Yet, when Michael murders a police officer and is forced to exile in Sicily, the audience sympathizes with him.
Akin to The Godfather, the Star Wars saga depicts the transformation of Jedi-Master Anakin Skywalker into the Sith Lord, Darth Vader. In the earlier sections of the saga, Anakin Skywalker is depicted as the next Jedi. In addition to displaying compassion towards his partner, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and his wife, Padme Amidala, Anakin is riddled with deep psychological trauma. After the Jedi Council goes against Anakin’s dreams, he rebels and turns to the Dark Side. By characterizing Anakin as compassionate and troubled, his actions seem justified to the audience. Because he is initially a protagonist, the audience keeps their loyalty to Anakin’s character when he makes his transformation into Darth Vader.
The fact is, when we watch movies like The Godfather and Star Wars, we see fragments of ourselves in the villains. While we have lead different lifestyles, everybody struggles with power and disagreements. Our sympathies are products of our own experiences. Thus, when characters in films react to struggles, we view their reaction as natural and sympathize with their experience.
by AARYA TASHIVKAR