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Films are not solely intended for you to evaluate morals of the characters (lemmy.ml)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by haroldfinch@lemmy.ml to c/unpopularopinion@lemmy.world
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Many people enjoy discussing and judging the morals of characters in films, but that's not the main point. Very few characters are entirely good or entirely evil, which tends to result in dull and poorly made movies. Regardless of whether viewers resonate with the story, they should show compassion for the characters. It's important to interpret their motives and circumstances to understand what led them to make certain decisions and to reflect on ourselves.

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[-] Krauerking@lemy.lol 1 points 4 days ago

Yeah lately there has been a lot of "in grouping" with film and media characters. They are right cause they agree with me, kinda thing. But I'd say that's never how most people handle movies. They just want the fun of a good story.

But I think the stories don't feel as fun if the characters don't feel like they have a whole person with ups and downs behind them. And I think people would agree with you and me on that even if they can't quite place what makes an aggrandizing pandering film lame.

[-] Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world 23 points 1 week ago

That's not unpopular, it's wrong. Movies are criticized when the characters are one dimensional and lack moral nuance.

[-] Kowowow@lemmy.ca -5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Why do characters need moral nuance though?

[-] RayNASCAR@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago

Because it makes them more interesting. If I kick puppies just because I'm "evil" and I like to kick puppies, thats a boring one dimensional character.
If I kick puppies because I genuinely believe that will cure cancer, then that's more interesting.

[-] Vilian@lemmy.ca 6 points 1 week ago

Like Thanos, his argument is stupid, but he genuinely believed in that, and was powerful enough to do it

[-] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 7 points 1 week ago

I think that's why he worked as such a good villain, because you understood his reasoning, which was terrifying. He was wrong, but you understood it, and you as the viewer knew that made him so much more dangerous.

If he just wanted to wipe out half of everyone that'd be boring and I wouldn't feel invested.

[-] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 6 points 1 week ago

Watch "The Dirty Dozen."

Every character has one objective; to get through the mission alive. The way the Major goes about manipulating each man's desires is what makes it a great movie.

[-] Kowowow@lemmy.ca -2 points 1 week ago

But how do not find "justified" evil boring at this point, not every bad guy should be macbeth or dr.frankenstein

It's like that new stupid wicked witch movie that's cooming out just because they are an antagonist doesn't mean they can't just be a villian, there can be decent characters that don't need much back story or deep motivation like the joker or judge holden

[-] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

The Joker has a motivation though, his worldview is that everything is chaos and he needs to prove it to everyone else. Especially Batman.

[-] Kowowow@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 week ago

But for the joker motivation adds almost nothing

[-] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

It means that when he does things, they feel like things the Joker would do. In the Dark Knight he takes all the mob money and burns half of it, because that is a Joker thing to do. Two Face wouldn't do that, because Two Face has different motivations.

That is the reason to have motivation. It doesn't need to be complex, just nuanced.

[-] Kowowow@lemmy.ca -1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Couldn't two face just be written to have flipped a coin and ending up burning half the money as a result

[-] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

He flips the coin to decide people's fate, not to deatroy money.

But you also just gave another example of a character's nuanced motivation and morals. That is what makes Two Face an interesting character in a different way than the Joker!

A villain that burns the money for no reason other than moving the plot forward would be boring.

[-] Kowowow@lemmy.ca -1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Ooh everything is motivation and what does plot have to do with anything

[-] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

No, they are two parts that interact with each other and both are necessary for the whole thing to work well.

In Alien when the guy is brought back to the ship, the captain cares about the individual and wants him taken to sick bay. Ripley is thinking about the whole crew, not the individual, and refuses to skip quarantine proceedures. This is made clear in dialogue. The plot is the alien being brought onboard the ship. They interact with each other, but without the conflicting motivations and moral nuance of how each character sees the balance of one person vs the whole crew the scene would have zero tension.

[-] Kowowow@lemmy.ca -2 points 1 week ago

No sorry that's not how that should work

[-] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

To be interesting instead of one note.

They don't need to have extremes or even contradictions, just some kind of nuance other than good/bad. Spiderman's moral code being based on not stopping the guy who then killed Uncle Ben in the early 2000s films is nuanced. Captain America standing up for doing the right thing based on his personal experience is nuanced.

It doesn't have to be moral nuance though. But that is one that gets a lot of criticism because it stands out so much for heroes and villains.

[-] Valmond@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

You're correct IMO, but the examples are quite tame, again IMO.

[-] glimse@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago

Is "films are solely intended for you to evaluate morals of the characters" the popular opinion?

Honestly I'd wager there are more people who dislike thought-provoking films than those who have to the opinion you've described. The most popular films in the world were intended to be fun

[-] HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club 9 points 1 week ago

I feel like that is more of a reflection on how audiences can critique a film beyond which parts were good and bad.

Critique of cinematography requires an understanding of visual arts. Critique of sound design and scoring requires an education in music. In contrast, methods to critique characters and plot are taught in every high school literature class.

[-] JubilantJaguar@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

This (supposedly unpopular) opinion could have used a couple of concrete examples.

I would go further still: it is generally a bad idea in life to evaluate people's morals. Make clear what your own are, try to live up them, and leave it at that.

But that is another "unpopular" opinion altogether.

this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2024
15 points (68.3% liked)

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