FilmCouch

Last Film Couch...

Re: Last Film Couch...

I like how Porcupine mentioned that occasionally a one-dimensional villain is executed very compellingly, ie Darth Vader.  It got me thinking--for me those great one-dimensional character performances practically imply back-story.  For example, if Episode IV: A New Hope was the only Star Wars movie I'd ever seen, I believe I couldn't avoid asking myself, "What does this Vader look like underneath his armor?  What was the cause of him becoming like he is, physically and psychologically?  And since he apparently has little regard for human life, what makes him revere his Emperor?"

 I don't know if I would classify the aliens of the Alien series as "villains," but it strikes me how terrifying they are despite their somewhat unremarkable motives--"reproduce at whatever the cost."  I just so happens they can't reproduce without killing something, which is a simple enough idea--but wow, what a monster!  What do you guys think, are they villains?   

Re: Last Film Couch...

An interesting concept. I, however subscribe to only one caveat being required of a villain, Free Choice. ..  A Villain quite simply must have 'free choice' and have chosen to act a certain way, proceed in a certain direction, and that direction is one or more that is/are contrary to 'Life'. Unless that is present they are no more a villian than a tidal wave is.

In my view then Aliens are not villains, for Aliens do not, that is, they do not seem to have free choice, because their motives seem biologically driven, at least the reproductive ones. Although in the Alien 3 and  Alien Resurrection Ripley was not killed because she was with 'alien' and was one of them...so they do seem to have choice in somethings.

I guess we can now go on to just what in the hell 'free' or 'free choice' means...see A Clockwork Orange...although from what I am reading these days, free choice or our actions,  may well be just another illusion; see some of my other posts in other groups.

Re: Last Film Couch...

Very interesting stuff Puhnner.

I love discussing free will.  And Clockwork Orange is probably one of the best movies to reference in regards to the issue.

But first I am wondering if the Aliens are not considered "villains", how do you classify them as their role in the narratives?

Re: Last Film Couch...

Nice touch! The narrative role is as a Villain, or is it, instead a Monster?  

I see the Aliens as a Monster, not as a Villain; and what in the world is the distinction one from the other a Villain, the free choice maybe??? 

Ah, but I see according to some references, that I just looked around and saw, here is a definition of Villain...

A dramatic or fictional character who is typically at odds with the hero.

a Monster

An animal, a plant, or other organism having structural defects or deformities.

Re: Last Film Couch...

I like where this is going.

 "A dramatic or fictional character who is typically at odds with the hero."

So the aliens are monsters and villains!

But here's maybe a better way to look at it. The alien's desire for reproduction is natural, and therefore not evil. But all living organisms exist within interconnected biological webs, where a checks and balance system eventually pervails. The evil about the aliens is the fact that they are aliens, that they are trying to live out a natural process in an unnatural environment. In this way invasive species, like zebra mussels in Lake Michigan, can be considered evil, because it's a twisting of the natural order. So I guess the question is, if we can't blame the zebra mussels for just doing what they do, who gave them that opportunity?

Man, I really need to see alien again. 

Re: Last Film Couch...

next stop....xenophobia, here I come...Just my personal view, but I just do not see 'evil' in the Aliens ( in fact, I have a damn difficult time seeing or believing in a concept of  'evil' at all ); an Alien just has got to do what an....

it is like that great line in Men in Black where

Edgar/Bug: Y'know, I've noticed an infestation here. Everywhere I look, in fact. Nothing but undeveloped, unevolved, barely conscious pond scum, totally convinced of their own superiority as they scurry about their short, pointless lives.
Zap-Em Man: Well, yeah. Uh... don't you want to get rid of 'em?
Edgar/Bug: Ah... in the worst way

Re: Last Film Couch...

Puhnner:

A dramatic or fictional character who is typically at odds with the hero.

Now we are investingating a defiintion that is contingent on the defenition of "hero".  So how do we define that?

Re: Last Film Couch...

One simple Word: 

Walter Mitty

Mr. Limpet

Re: Last Film Couch...