Year: 2016

What was the most groundbreaking American animated series since Steamboat Mickey? Another Disney classic: GARGOYLES! I may be biased, as it’s my favorite series of all time, even now that I’m an adult. In fact, it’s even better now…

Gargoyles’ villains are dynamic. Antagonists in Gargoyles change throughout the series, and not just because sometimes they work with one another and sometimes against. One villain lost a signature part of her nature. One of the main antagonists even got married (to another antag) and had a son.

The carnival is all about thrilling the senses. Tastes, sounds, and sights wash over you as you walk down the lanes. Right now you’re probably remembering what that soggy fried Snickers tasted like, what that carny called to make you drop $10 on a stuffed animal, and how gaudy but intriguing and exciting everything looked.

All those thrills are a facade, albeit one we happily accept. Hey, it’s fun! We can rationalize spending big on “cheap” thrills and eating garbage. It’s the fair. It’s the carnival. It only comes once a year. It’s all fluff, but we know it, so we’re willing to go along for the ride.

Imagine going through your whole life looking like him!

Depending on the context and inflection, that statement can mean two very different things. At its heart is a question: What is normal? In the X Files episode Humbug (S2:E20), Mulder and Scully find themselves on the other side of normal.

What’s your deepest desire? Would you trade your soul for it?

When Cooger & Dark’s Pandemonium Shadow Show rolls into town at 3 am, its mysterious leader Mr. Dark will force the locals to answer. Two 13 year olds named Will and Jim learn that getting what you want has a cost when…Something Wicked This Way Comes.

What can this tale of darkness, danger, and despair show us about succeeding in life? Let’s take a walk through the carnival and see.

Shakespeare called Puck “that merry wanderer of the night,” but this fae is far more than that. Though the”shrewd and knavish sprite” was court jester for Lord Oberon, lord of the fae, Puck also acted as Oberon’s servant in the mortal world outside Avalon. Puck is among the most powerful and versatile of the Children of Oberon.

When Oberon exiled the fae from Avalon in order to teach them humility, Puck passed the time by interacting with the humans. But he didn’t become truly interested in them until he saw Queen Titania, Oberon’s wife, marry scientist and businessman Halcyon Renard. What was so fascinating about these mortals? He had to know. So he had the brilliant idea to play a part he’d never played before: the straight man. He chose a character nearly the exact opposite of his personality: Preston Vogel. Renard’s personal assistant and “the most wooden man on the face of the planet.” The new character? Owen Burnett.

With August comes summer swelter and…the carnival! Yes, scruffy carnies preparing food-like products, assembling death-trap rides, and running rigged games. Good times. Then there are the side shows with their giant rats and bearded ladies. And those are just the employees! In honor of this poor-man’s amusement park, we’re looking and villains and antagonists who are associated with the carnival. I might take liberties with the association, but ‘s all good, man.

Moving from the refined lord of strategy and crime Ra’s Al Ghul, we meet Killer Croc. Change is the spice of life, right? We’ll be focusing on Batman: The Animated Series, season 3 episode 10: Sideshow.

We wrap up independence/dystopia month with a look at one of the villain greats: Ra’s al Ghul. He’s one of my favorite Batman villains, and not just because he can keep the Dark Knight shirtless for long periods. His intellect, skills, and longevity make him one of the most independent villains around. He manipulates people and circumstances to suit his ends. He runs his own secret society. He’s practically immortal. He goes toe to toe with the Batman. Why? All to free nature from man’s destruction and to free man from its addiction to technology.

But what really makes him independent? What makes anyone independent? Hint: it’s not unlimited data or mounds of money, though Ra’s has both.

A month theme of independence and its villainous opposite, dystopia, wouldn’t be complete without an examination of two classics in the genre of warped worlds: Brave New World by Aldus Huxley and 1984 by George Orwell. Both are stark worlds that offer a vision of what our life could be like if we swung to one of extreme of the spectrum or the other. In Brave New World, people’s pleasures keep them peaceful and pliable. In 1984, people’s pains and persecutions keep them plowed under. Toys vs torture. They can both work.

It’s July, a month were the United States celebrates its independence with explosions! But what would life look like with the opposite of freedom? Or perhaps too much freedom? Or freedom in the wrong things? What happens when the villains’ plans for world domination work? And how could they have done a better job spreading their…benevolent dictatorship over the world?

Dystopian movies, books, etc explore these questions. We look at four of the classics today.

We American’s celebrated our country’s independence from tyranny yesterday. It’s an old victory, and one that’s grown to mean less and less as our elected leaders over the decades have become our masters instead of our servants.

Independence doesn’t mean just freedom from a king. It’s not just the ability to speak our mind and worship how we like. It’s freedom from paralyzing anxiety, nagging doubt, draining fear, burning anger. It’s freedom from stagnation and boxed-in thinking. This isn’t an exhaustive list, either.

Today we see what villains teach us about power and independence.