Why are we fascinated with ‘Bad Guys’?
So many current TV series feature anti-heroes. Why?
Why are we fascinated with Bad Guys?
How can we find ourselves rooting for them in TV series like The Wire, The Sopranos, Dexter, The Shield, Sons of Anarchy, and Breaking Bad?
After all, they’re… you know… Bad Guys.
Hell, every single main character in Succession is pretty much despicable… well, except for Greg, but even he is starting a descent down the slippery slope of greed and narcissism.
Here’s my quick take.
People find the Dark Side fascinating. For the most part, we don’t live like that, so stories are a safe way to indulge our more negative impulses. And…
We all have a shadow per Carl Jung. Generally, because of societal expectations, laws, upbringing, and so forth, we try our best to repress, suppress, avoid, and ignore these instincts, but they are there nonetheless.