Villains then vs. Now.

Episode 3: Villains Then vs. Now

What happened to great villains?

In this episode of Mostly Me, Occasionally Wise, I take a fun look at how villains have changed from the classic bad guys we grew up with to the darker, more complex villains we see today. From the over-the-top personalities of the past to modern characters like The Grabber and President Snow, villains aren’t just evil anymore—they’re layered, calculated, and sometimes even a little relatable.

Along the way, I share some thoughts, a few laughs, and maybe a couple of slightly wise observations about why these characters stick with us.

Are today’s villains better… or do we just miss the simple days when you knew exactly who the bad guy was?

Grab your coffee (or whatever gets you through the day) and let’s talk villains.

🎧 Listen now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and more.

 #Podcast #NewPodcast #Villains #MovieVillains #Storytelling #PopCulture #MostlyMeOccasionallyWise #PodcastEpisode #FilmDiscussion 

Thanks for listening to Mostly Me, Occasionally Wise.

If this episode meant something to you, take a second to follow the show, leave a rating, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. That’s how this podcast grows.

Join the group on Facebook by clicking the link below!

https://www.facebook.com/me/

Have a question, story, or topic idea?
 Email the show at mostlymecontact@gmail.com

(By emailing the show, you agree your message may be read on a future episode unless you request otherwise.)

Until next time — stay mostly you, and occasionally wise.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Let me ask you something. Why is it that sometimes the villain is the most memorable character in the entire movie? And why do we sometimes remember the bad guy over the hero? Growing up, I didn't just love the heroes in the movies, but I adored the villains. They had the best lines, sometimes they had the biggest personalities, and to be honest with you, sometimes they were just more interesting than the hero. I mean, think about it. Majority of the movie, the hero spend most of the time battling some sort of moral dilemma. They're trying to survive, and of course, at the end of the movie, they win. But during the whole movie, the villain is calm, confident, probably somewhere on a beach, usually explaining their evil plan like it's some sort of PowerPoint presentation. And over time, I started to notice something. Villains I grew up watching feel very different from the villains we see in movies today. So in this episode, I thought it would be a lot of fun to take a trip through movie history, if you will, and talk about the villains then versus the villains now. If we're going to talk about iconic villains, we have to start in the 80s because the 80s just might be the greatest decade ever for horror villains. Now I'm not going to get too deep into this because this is going to be an episode later down the road because I love everything about scary movies from then until now. But like I said, we can't we can't just talk about the 80s without at least mentioning some of the great horror icon. Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddie Krueger. I mean, Michael Myers might be the perfect example of simple horror. He barely speaks, he moves slowly, but somehow he catches you. And then the white mask became one of the most recognizable images in movie history, in my opinion. And then you have Mr. Mommy Issues himself, Jason Voorhees. The hockey mask of honor makes him legendary. I mean, Jason Voorhees, and I always I always chuckle about this, he survives everything, just like Michael Myers. But I mean, you got explosions, you got buildings collapsing, you have getting set on fire, none of it matters. Because at the end of the day, Jason's coming back, and Michael's coming back. But with that said, you cannot forget Mr. Freddie Krueger himself, because he might be the most unique villain in that entire in that entire era because Freddie talks. He jokes. I mean, he insults his victims while attacking them in their dreams. I mean, to be honest with you, sometimes he almost feels like a twisted stand-up comedian. I honestly laughed more than I did getting scared in the nightmare on Elm Street series because the humor was was so funny. And that personality made him unforgettable. But the 80s didn't just give us horror villains, it also gave us some of the most incredible villain in action movies. Hans Gruber, in my opinion, from Die Hard, might be one of the greatest action villains ever. Alan Rickman did such a fantastic job with Hans Gruber. And if you don't know who Alan Rickman is, watch Harry Potter. He is the gentleman who portrayed Snapes. Hans Gruber and Diehard is calm. He's intelligent. He always seems like the smartest person in the room. And that confidence makes him incredibly intimidating. And also, like he wasn't the most physically intimidating person. But psychologically, he was a genius. I mean, therefore, most of Die Hard, he had Bruce Willis thinking that he was a hostage. Although we know at the end of Die Hard, Bruce Willis, the action star, wizened up, and then Hans Gruber, you know, fell to his death. But to me, that's the biggest, that's one of the biggest reasons why I'm so big on Hans Gruber because he just he had it all. And then there's Johnny Lawrence from the Karate Kids, the classic rival, the classic bully, confident, cocky, and absolutely convinced that he's the best in the world at what he does. And to me, Johnny Lawrence portrayed the best kind of villain as far as someone that you loved to hate. And I absolutely despised Johnny Lawrence and the Karate Kid. And nothing made my heart more full than that beautifully executed crane kick by Daniel LaRusso at the end of Karate Kid. Movie Magic. Loved it. Then there's the Predator, an alien hunter who literally collects trophies from the creatures it kills, usually humans. But of course, like in all action movies in the 80s, the biggest action hero at the time was probably Arnold Torsenager. He comes in with his group of mercenaries, and of course, Predator takes out all the mercenaries, but then he goes one-on-one with Arnold. And of course, Arnold wins, like always, and there's a sequel to The Predator, which ends up being one of the worst sequels of any action movie I have ever seen or witnessed. And I wish I could take that time back. But maybe we can talk about that in another episode. But in the 90s, villains started to change. Villains became smarter, they became more psychological. We became more invested in their backstory. Hannibal Lecter might be the best example of all of this because he didn't chase anyone. He simply sat across from you and somehow still feels terrifying. If you haven't seen Silence of the Lambs, Paul Paul is this podcast, just do it. And go watch the movie on your favorite streaming service or wherever you can find it and enjoy this piece of cinematic masterpiece. Because Silence of the Lambs has it all. There's some humor in it, some dark humor, but Anthony Hopkins is so good as Hannibal Lecter. In my opinion, it was probably his best role. And I've seen a lot of Anthony Hopkins movies, but by far, his representation and his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter, mmm, Chef's Kiss. Agent Smith from The Matrix represents another kind of villain. And I'm not going to go too in depth with Agent Smith because I'm going to be real with you. I didn't really care for The Matrix, but I enjoyed him as a bad guy because he was one that genuinely believed humanity itself was the problem. And he was so hell-bent that he was going to prove his point. Of course, he didn't succeed because Mr. Cool Keanu Reeves, you know, bent backwards and dodged bullets and all that good stuff. But let's not let's not talk about the Matrix anymore. Moving on to a gentleman by the name of Kaiser Sose. Kaiser Sose is the villain from The Usual Suspects. Another masterpiece. The Usual Suspects to me started the whole plot twist and danger, you know, that you see in a lot of movies nowadays. Because honestly, through the whole movie, you you you spent time trying to figure out if he even exists or if he's real. And by the end of the movie, mm, your mind is blow. And then last but not least is one Mr. Shooter McGavin from Happy Gilmore. Now, Shooter, he wasn't very complex, he wasn't very deep, but he was hellbent on beating Happy Gilmore in a golf tournament. And to me, I love Adam Sandler. I like a lot of his movies. There are some that are questionable. But Shooter McGavin, I spent more time laughing at his antics than I did Adam Sandler himself, and that's the truth. Now the 2000s have arrived, and villains got much darker. And the the first villain I can honestly think of is Jigsaw from the movie Saul. But what made Jigsaw so interesting is the fact that he didn't see himself as a villain. The man was dealing, I believe he had cancer, and he was dealing with it. He was going through all the trials and tribulations of someone that had cancer. He was essentially dying. But he saw all these other people around him neglecting life and not taking full advantage of it. So he took it upon himself to teach people the lessons about appreciating life. And it was twisted. There were some contraptions that he made in this movie that were cringeworthy. And they were so beautifully executed. I mean, the whole movie was great. And again, this is another plot twist movie. This is another movie that had an ending. You were just like, what? But with him teaching lessons about appreciating life, that twisted sense of mortality is what made him so disturbing. Because villains who believe they are doing the right thing are oftentimes the most dangerous. And to me, nothing is scarier than someone who believes that they are in the right and you are in the wrong. And that brings us to modern villains. So modern villains sometimes feel more realistic. They're not necessarily the monster that's chasing you in the woods, but the one working behind the scenes. And there is no better example than one President Snow from The Hunger Games. I love President Snow. He is one of my favorite villains of all time. And the way he is portrayed in the books and in the movies, the guy has it all when it comes to being a villain. Because not only is he terrifying because he's violent, but because he controls an entire system built on fear. Physically, he will never touch you. He will use his resources to make your life awful. Of course, you see it in the movies with Katniss, but this is one of the moments where I implore the people listening that if you want to get a better sense on how evil President Snow is, you need to read The Hunger Games books, Sunrise on the Reaping, and The Ballad of Solemn Birds and Snakes. You will despise President Snow, if not get angry when his name is mentioned. My wife. She doesn't hate anybody, but President Snow kind of pushes it. And that's what I love about it, because he gets his point across by being, he comes across almost sweet and kind and gentle, but once you realize what he's all about, you're like, dude, you are crazy is an understatement. The next villain I can think of in the modern era that's really, really realistic is The Grabber from the Black Phone. Now the Black Phone is a horror movie, but with the grabber you get more of a psychological aspect of things. He does get violent with you, but you find out more about his backstory, and then he starts messing with you mentally. There towards the end, you know, there's there's some fight scene. But it's what makes the Black Phone a decent movie is the fact that it it can be real. It's and it probably it can it probably is to an extent. It may have not exactly happened in the way the black phone has occurred, but there's there's a sense of realism with it, and that's what makes that movie so terrifying and kind of make you uneasy. So after thinking and talking about all these villains today, I started to wonder something. If I had to build a Mount Rushmore villains, who would make the list? And I honestly thought this was going to be a lot tougher than it should have been, but it wasn't. Because when I really thought about it, I can only think of four that came to mind that really just stood out, you know, when it comes to thinking about a villain. And my number one, and I can feel my wife's eyes rolling right now, is the one, the only Michael Myers. I love the Halloween franchise. Yes, I know it's cheesy, I know it's repetitive, I know it's all these things, but I love it. I have seen every movie on uh multiple times, and to this day it holds a special place in my heart. It's what started my love for horror movies in general. And the reason Michael is my number one is because he's simple. Like I've said before, there's not a whole lot to him, there's not a whole lot of background, but what he did on screen with just being determined, being, you know, being quiet, not saying anything, is scary to me. Because if I don't know what you're thinking or feeling, especially when you're coming at me with a butcher knife, it scares me to death. And so that is the biggest reason why Michael Myers is number one on my Mount Rushmore Villains. Number two is Hannibal Lecter. Now, like I said before, Hannibal Lecter wasn't intimidating physically, but psychologically, he could turn your brain to mush again before you even knew it. And Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Hannibal Lecter is I think he won an Oscar for it, actually, and he deserved it because yeah, Hannibal Lecter is a monster. That's the best way to describe him. My third person that would make the Mount Rushmore is Darth Vader. And I really shouldn't have to explain this because Darth Vader is pretty well known for what he's done in Star Wars. But the reason he's there for me is simply because he was evil. And he had reasoning for doing what he did. He wanted to take out all the Jedi. He wanted absolute control, and he didn't care who was in his way. He was going to try his best to achieve that. Granted, at the end, he got a little soft, but he was a dad. I mean, I'm a dad too. So I get it. I get why he caved and let Luke do what he had to do, even though I don't like Luke Gowalker. I get it. So number three, Darth Vader. Number four, and this may surprise you out of all the villains we've talked about, and yes, even for my love of Hans Gruber and Die Hard, President Snow is on is my number four on the Mount Rushmore. Just because of everything I've covered with the modern movies, he's he's he physically never kills anybody with his hands, but he uses the tools around him. You know, he's built a society of fear, everyone fears him. And that is the kind of power that is scary. It really is. And I can't I can't express this enough to better understand President Snow. It goes beyond the movies that you've seen on screen. Read the books. Oh man. Like I'm I might even go back and read, you know, I'm read them. I'm really looking forward to, you know, the The Sunrise on the Reaping, which comes out later this year, because what Snow does to Hey Mitch in the book is just unspeakable. Man, it's just rough to even talk about. So there you have it. Four completely different villains, but every one of them unforgettable in their own ways. The villains we remember often reflect the time they came from. In the 80s, they were larger than life. In the 90s, they became smarter and more mysterious. And then, of course, in the 2000s, they got darker, and today they often feel more psychological, and you can oftentimes sympathize with them. But maybe the biggest change isn't the villain. Maybe, maybe it's us. Because when we were kids, stories were simple. Heroes were good, the villains were bad, but the older we get, the more we realize the world it's a little more complicated than that. And I really hope you enjoyed this episode. It's been a lot for me to do. Villains are a big part of my life. I promised I'm as sweet as a teddy bear, but there's nothing wrong, you know, with loving a good bad guy. It seems like in a lot of aspects, whether it's movies, books, series, or even in wrestling, the bad guy tends to have a lot more freedom and a lot more fun with things. Second of all, I want to thank everybody for the love and support you've given me when I've, you know, since I've started this podcast. It truly means a lot. And I I am going to continue to do this because I want to, but because I want to make a difference in someone's life in some way, shape, or form, whether it's to get a smile, whether it's to relate, whether it's to just, hey, no, you're not alone in something you know that you're dealing with. So with that said, remember to love your favorite bad guy. Remember to stay you and occasionally wise. See you next Wednesday.