While watching Pan's Labyrinth, I was struck by the fact that the villain in this film, Captain Vidal, is a human. This seemed a bit ironic to me because when I watch a supernatural movie, I am anticipating a supernatural being to be the antagonist. The Captain's inherent evil nature is evident in this scene where he kills an innocent man with a bottle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpEqpka8Dws
The only other foe Ofelia faces is the pale man in the room with the feast. However, it is important to note that this supernatural creature resembles a human very closely. In fact the actions of the pale man and Captain Vidal are somewhat paralleled. The pale man presides over a grand feast similar to how Captain Vidal headed his grand dinner party. In addition, the pale man chases Ofelia down a long corridor as she tries to escape the room similar to how the Captain chases Ofelia through the labyrinth at the end of the film. This relates to Freud's idea of double, or doppelganger, in his "Uncanny" essay. This creates some horror element simply because the supernatural is mimicking the evil and violence present in a human. It also makes the viewer uncomfortable because no two horrible people should exist. The clip below shows the chasing scene with the pale man (only need to watch about the last minute) and compare that to the seen where the Captain is chasing Ofelia in the Labyrinth (sorry I couldn't find a clip of that).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSICJJq86ic
It is also ironic in this film that the supernatural/fantasy aspects are often quite beautiful in nature with fairies and flowers, etc. This is starkly juxtaposed by the violence and gore of reality. The war between the fascists and the rebels is taking place, and predominantly shown through the Captain's inappropriate violent nature. It is uncanny, or unheimlich, for the viewer to see the human in this supernatural film being the villain because as humans we are comfortable with viewing ourselves in a better light and thinking the best of ourselves; we do not want to believe that a human could cause so much violence, horror, and destruction which makes the aspect that the Captain is the true villain in this fairy tale all the more horrific.
In addition, the Captain is often times shown in more light than other characters in the film (specifically supernatural ones). This is highly ironic because Captain Vidal is the darkest character in the film. This is drawing light to the fact that reality is dark and humans themselves are evil and dark. This is again something that makes the film scarier because as humans it is hard for us to accept that the darkest character is one of human nature. In this clip, Captain Vidal is seen in more light than the other characters in the room, and it shows once more his completely cruel nature.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1JhTRWqhKc
In conclusion, it is shocking and disturbing for the audience to witness the villain of this supernatural film be human.
Discussion Question: Think back to another film we have watched where the villain was human. At the beginning of watching these films are we expecting the villain to be of supernatural nature or do we expect mankind to be evil?
This harkens most to Frankenstein's monster, who is by all means a "human" (but a reanimated one at that), and the explanation for his existence is evidenced throughout the movie to be a product of science, albeit mad science. Nevertheless,, we see no signs of Frankenstein's monster being "evil" (even with the brain of a criminal) until it is harassed and tortured. Thus, I find the movie Frankenstein's premise that humanity can be the greatest evil to be similar to your argument!
ReplyDeleteTrue!
DeleteThe film that immediately comes to mind for me is Frankenstein. The monster in the movie, Frankenstein's monster, is not the villain. Rather, society is. Because Frankenstein's monster is so typically scary and horrifying, everyone - including both the people in the film as well as those in the audience - expect him to be the typical villain. He's not; he was born pure and innocent and was painted to be a monster by the unforgiving society around him. The evilness of mankind and society is what made him a monster. I think, naturally, we see ourselves as holier-than-thou and put our race on a pedestal, expecting villains to be unlike us, but mankind is the real evil.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if this would really apply, but I would bring back to the movie The Shining where the villain of the film was Jack Torrance, a completely ordinary guy as seen from the beginning of the film, with a happy family and a steady job. One would think that Halloraan, or maybe even Danny/Tony, the ones that have the "shine" could be one with the evil tendencies since they possess this supernatural power. But at the near end of the scene, it was the ones that have the out of normal characters that fall victim to the human.
ReplyDeleteThis presentation prompted me to think about the film Byzantium. Countless vampire movies prime us to think that the supernatural creatures, the vampires, are the heart of evil in the film. However, to me, Captain Ruthven is the true villain of the film. He abuses Clara and rapes her daughter as a form of revenge for losing his chance at immortality. The vampires on the other hand only feed on criminals and the elderly who seek death. We are left with the idea that the vampires have a greater sense of morality than the humans do.
ReplyDeleteI, personally, believe that supernatural beings such as the monster in Vampyr are considered to be evil. Although that might be the case, Frankenstein proves that humans can also be evil. The monster in Frankenstein is considered to be evil because of its criminal mind, but his actions were influenced by humanity's rejection and punishment.
ReplyDeleteIn Freaks, the villains are both human. Early on in the film, the freaks are introduced as lovable characters who merely look different. Two of the normal looking people turn out to be the villains, which is somewhat ironic, because most films that contain disfigured characters usually have them as villains or monsters.
ReplyDeleteI think of Frankenstein. Although the monster does kill in this film, he isn't intentionally doing so. He is in a child state of mind. It is his lack of understanding or being frightened by people that force him to harm others.
ReplyDeleteSince Frankenstein is the obvious choice (and it's been mentioned already in the comments above), I'm going to be a hipster and say something different. I would say The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a good example. Just based off the title of the film, I assumed there was some kind of monster in the cabinet and that monster would be the villain of the film. However, after watching the movie, it turns out that the villain is Dr. Caligari himself, who is a human. He takes advantage of Cesare and uses him to commit crimes against his will.
ReplyDeleteInteresting! What do you think that the fact that Caligari's actions are imagined says about Alexis' argument?
DeleteThe film brought to mind was Byzantium because the real villain in the film was Captain Ruthann who committed horrible acts because he didn't get his way. This shows that humans tend to be greed and commit horrible acts out of anger. Unlike the vampires who are trying to survive and at the same time seeks ways of doing right in the world. This is demonstrated by Clara killing criminals and those who try to take advantage of people.
ReplyDeleteMany of the films that we watched have human nature being the inherent evil, rather than a supernatural force. This makes the movies themselves scarier, because the human nature involved could have been fixed or rather improved, while the supernatural is immutable. Many supernatural forces are expected to be evil, but I wouldn't typify all of the supernatural to be evil.
ReplyDeleteI thought of "The Shining", for Jack Torrence is first seen as a nice man who treats his family well, but turns into an evil man, becoming the villain of the film. I do not, however, believe it is because mankind is evil. I think, in this case, Jack's evilness is due to the supernatural effects that the Overlook Hotel has over its caretakers. Take the previous caretaker for example. He went crazy and murdered his wife and kids, and then Jack begins to act in the same manner, going mad and wanting to kill Wendy and Danny. Therefore, Jack becomes the villain because of the supernatural effect of the Overlook Hotel.
ReplyDeleteThis film lead me to believe the humans were the villains, since the story is centered around the little girl, Ofelia, who is placed in a troubled situation and uses this fairytale imagined world to escape the horrors of the human world.
ReplyDeleteWe have watched many films where the villain was a human, instead of something supernatural. We think that humans are suppose to be the hero and the supernatural are suppose to be the villain, but this isn't always true. The supernatural are not always inherently evil. That's what we want, or have been told, to believe.
ReplyDeleteFrankenstein instantly surfaced in my mind as I thought of this question. While there isn't really an expectation for the monster to be supernatural there is an expectation for there to be evil in him and this is because of the scene which shows Fritz getting the criminal mind for the monster. That being said it doesn't lower the expectation of mankind to act in an evil manner, which they do. So, there was an expectation in the beginning for some kind of villainous act to occur on the part of the monster but there was also an inkling that man kind was going to stir up its own evil.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Darren that Freaks is a good example of a film in which the antagonists are surprisingly the humans. Especially because the freaks' appearances are disturbing to the viewers, the audience expects them to be the "monsters" of the film. However, the humans are the ones who end up taking advantage of the freaks for their own selfish motives.
ReplyDeleteIn the move Freaks, the two villains are human, their actions have no reasoning just the greediness in their hearts. Many stories' villains are non-human because we don't want to believe that humans can be horrid so it is easier to make them non-human or deformed/mutated humans because if they are just normal humans then the villains are closer to ourselves. In the beginning of freaks you think that the villains are the freaks, but then later the audience understands that the ones to blame are the normal humans with rotten souls.
ReplyDeleteWhile Freaks is a good example, I agree with Teilor and would like to discuss more about the film Frankenstein. Although many people argue that Frankenstein is a monster, let's not forget that he is has a human brain, and he was sew piece by piece by Dr. Frankenstein with 'human parts'. The so called "monster" not only functions in a human body but also have a human's (even though evil) mindset.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting analysis, Alexis. I like what you said about the doppleganger. Do you think that this particular double says anything about your argument? (Consumption as evil?)
ReplyDeleteThe most prominent example which comes to mind—an example many other students have mentioned as well it seems—is the film “Frankenstein.” In one of the earlier scenes of this film, we as the audience think that Dr. Frankenstein’s creation will be the “villainous character,” primarily after seeing Fritz (Dr. Frankenstein’s assistant) retrieve what was labeled as “the abnormal brain.” However, we see shortly after that the creation is actually quiet harmless (and in many ways, perhaps even “childish” or rather, child-like). It is actually Fritz who is “evil,” for we see him time after time torment the poor creature in his cellar. In the end, Fritz feels the creature’s wrath, but even then, the actions of this latter character seem justified. After all, anyone would backlash after constant abuse in order to defend his or her own self.
ReplyDeleteThe film The Shining comes to mind when thinking about this question. Many dabs of foreshadowing play into the role giving the viewer the impression that the hotel is indeed haunted. From the beginning it can be easily concluded that the hotel will somehow paranormally haunt the family. However, as we all know, the paranormal hotel took possession of Jack and influenced him to become the antagonist.
ReplyDeleteI also thought of "The Shining". The movie opens with talk of the hotel's mysterious past and of the supernatural powers of "shining", leading the audience to believe that the antagonist will be supernatural in nature as well. This notion is reinforced when the cast themselves witness the strange events within the hotel such as the twins and the women in room 237. However to our surprise the real monster is not the occult, but rather the very real, and now very unheimlich Jack.
ReplyDeleteI compared this movie to Alice in Wonderland because of the uncertainty surrounding Ophelia's perception of reality. There are scenes within the film where the audience is presented with uncertainty of whether Ophelia's interaction with the fantastical elements around her are real, or whether this is simply the result of Ophelia's fragile mindset creating a delusion as to help her cope with the circumstances she finds herself in. The scene where Ophelia's mother burns the "root baby" perfectly exemplifies the film's uncanny element, for we are never sure if the destruction of the root induced the mother's violent labor or whether it was merely a coincidence.
ReplyDelete