True villiany

This has been something that has been an interest of mine for many years. Hollywood has taken it in and explorer it to certain extents over the years, but in the desire to make characters and stories that sell and have a mass audience appeal, the bad guy always ends up with a "reason". Something that grounds him and makes him real or relatable. That is, if the villian is the main character.  If not, they usually camp him out. Make him larger then life and cartoonish and sometimes garish. 

The man with no name. That's a pretty good example of the relatable bad guy main character. Clint was not a good guy in that movie. He was selfish. Didn't care about other people. Only concern was where the next score would come from. And yet ... His moralistic impulses overtook him. He couldn't just leave the townspeople ... Even as he tried to figure out to make things work in his favor. Which he did as well. 

And then there is Francis on house of cards. The exact opposite. There is no moral center to his universe. He honestly does not care for anything or anyone but himself. There are moments that make you feel that he does have a gooey moral center, but the reality is quickly revealed. It doesn't exist. 

Where does the reality fall?  I think more times then not on the side of Francis. Bad guys are bad guys. For a reason.   They don't have a gooey moral center waiting to come out. They may have a wife and a family and they "love" others. But ultimately. What they do is for their own benefit. Decisions that make, if they benefit others, is only happy coincidence. Because it benefitted them first. 

The portrayal i like the best?  While enjoying both (the flawed hero always an interesting character) i relish in the reality. Why?  Because it is painful. Hard to watch. Draws you in. Because it is real.