Heroes and Villains- Words That are Commonly Misunderstood -Ryan McEllen

    The terms "villains" and "heroes" are antonyms that describe characters seen in movies, television shows, books, plays, and everyday life. Heroes are seen as pure, good, humble, strong, kind, and selfless. Villains on the other hand are seen as mean, dark, manipulative, evil, and spiteful. Yet, these character traits are cliche and predictable, they do not allow audiences to see the whole picture.

    Villains are typically misunderstood and looked down upon because of their portrayals and associated connotations. In entertainment, villains at first are dehumanized as beings or creatures that don't care about humanity and only wish for chaos and hatred. However, there are always two sides of the story and people should not be judged solely on stereotypes. For example, in class we read the book Beowulf, and in this story, one of the prominent villains was Grendel. Later we read part of Grendel's story which presented the "monster" as intelligent, curious and mistreated by humans. The only reason Grendel was seen as evil during the time of Beowulf was because humans treated him terribly first. This scenario can also be recognized in many traditional and famous stories, where the villain was not bad from birth. No one is born evil, there is usually some kind of trauma that occurred to them in their lifetime that brought them to be deemed as a villain later on.

    Heroes can also be misrepresented as characters who are genuinely kind, humble, and care for society. While most heroes are good people, there are some that have two sides to their personality and motives. Again if we look at the story Beowulf, Beowulf is known as an incredibly strong, brave, and heroic character. He saves populations and kingdoms from evil and is beloved by everyone. However, Beowulf also has a huge ego and brags about his heroic deeds. This makes you wonder whether or not he committed acts to help the community out of kindness, or out of greed for fame and wealth. People have to be careful fully trusting some heroes without knowing their stories and true motives.

    While this is not the case for all villains and heroes, it certainly makes one think about how the terms "villains" and "heroes" may not in fact be polar opposites, and also how they could be misunderstood. This relates to both heroes and villains seen in entertainment and in the real world. Someone could depict another person as mean or bad, but they could have had a hard childhood or a terrible day. Another person could act nice and do something for the community, but their intentions could have been for fame, rather then doing a good deed out of the kindness in their hearts. Even in battles and wars, each side always sees themselves as the heroes, while the group they are fighting are the enemies. But if both sides believe this, how can they both be the heroes and the villains? Therefore, before judging someone based on their actions, look at their motives and pasts as well to understand all sides of the story.