I know this may come as a surprise to a lot of you fangirls out there, but LOKI IS A BADGUY.
Yeah yeah, I get the whole misunderstood thing, how he's just lost and lonely and feels betrayed and unloved and all that nonsense. But the thing is, he's had plenty of chances to get his head out of his ass and realize that (a) his father really did love him, frost giant heritage or not, and (b) everyone would have welcomed him back and tried to work it out if he had given up his "the throne should be mine" obsession back during Thor. But once The Avengers came around and Loki was still trippin from not being good enough to be king of Asgard, I kind of gave up wanting him to turn out okay.
I appreciate good character development. And a huge part of Loki's character development is understanding that he was adopted, and it really has to be a big deal to realize that your kinspeople are The Enemy and no one told you until you were an adult (although Odin chose not to tell him because he didn't want Loki to grow up feeling less important, so I have a hard time feeling TOO bad for his awkward discovery). Plus his brother is good at everything, and said brother used to be an arrogant impulsive jerk. So it kind of makes sense that Loki would be jealous upset when Thor, who fell out of favor (and out of Asgard), regains his father's respect and restores his rightful place as heir to the throne. Especially if Loki doesn't understand the change that happened to Thor on earth, because while us Americans watched him change, Loki only saw before and after shots, and he wasn't really paying attention anyway.
These are all important factors to consider when understanding Loki. He's not just evil for the sake of being evil; the argument could even be made that he's not evil at all, just misdirected and malajusted, and does that necessarily make a person evil?
But people, let's have some perspective. It's not necessarily the fault of Thor or Odin that Loki turned out the way he did. Loki's got a brain; he could have figured out. He could have shut up and listened to what they were trying to tell him, because while he may feel that they have betrayed him, they never actually did. Thor loves his brother, and that's evident through both of the movies. But Thor also isn't a wuss and doesn't just give Loki what he wants so Loki will quit with the temper tantrums. Sometimes people get hurt--that's life. And when people are hurt they react in weird ways, and even that is understandable, because everyone does it. But there comes a point when you just need to GET OVER YOURSELF ALREADY. Life is about making choices. And Loki spends a good deal of his life making bad ones, and somehow this makes him a tragic hipster icon. ~~ooh look at Loki, he's all twisted and has sad puppy eyes and I just want to hug him and make it all okay.
What? Girls, for goodness sake. He isn't even badass enough to get minions--he needs to use mind control. And mind control is never okay. And did you notice the part where he monologues about power... but only to people who are obviously not as strong as him, because they're not even from the same world as he is (and by the way, it was maybe a bad idea to do it in Germany, where they're a little touchy about scary power-hungry leaders). And face it, you've got to be a little unstable to start spazzing out at the Hulk. So tell me, because I must be missing it--which part of this is attractive? He's a whiny brat who probably got that way because his dad felt bad that he was actually a frost giant, and let him get away with some stuff, which is how he turned into a greasy weasel. But once you reach a certain age, you need to start being accountable for your actions. Even IF his feelings of betrayal were justified (which really, they weren't), he still would need to eventually move on and learn to deal instead of throwing a temper tantrum.
I feel a little sympathy for people who are hurt and who go a little crazy as a result. Because we've all been there. But when you go crazy and stay crazy, and refuse to try to work it out with anyone, I don't want to hug you. Even if you do have sad puppy eyes.
THANK YOU!!!!!! Just.... THANK YOU.
ReplyDeletehaha. you are welcome.
DeleteI thought that Whedon made Loki a more slapstick/comic book evil type villain and less sympathetic than Branagh did. I feel like Branagh may have been trying to take Loki in a slightly more nuanced direction, maybe. But it's also true that Loki didn't have a whole lot of competition for most interesting character in "Thor", but there were a lot of other legitimately well developed characters in "The Avengers" (Like Captain America and Hulk). So I don't know. I don't have a crush on Loki persay (though Tom Hiddleston is pretty cute ;), but I wouldn't mind seeing him get another shot at redemption.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind it either, necessarily. Because there is a good story there, and good could be done with him. But in The Avengers, what we see is a Loki who is out of control and with no willingness to go back. Not even in a few brief expressions or screenshots. So I have no sympathy for him, and I think he should be locked up before he should be cuddled.
Deleteto be honest i think more of my rant was at the fangirls who are too willing to look into the hurt nature of people than to see what their hurt has turned them into. and then they try to date these guys and ... bad things happen. i didn't really make that clear though O_o haha
DeleteYeah, I sort of guessed that's what you were going for. My comment below related to that in a sense -- in real life situations girls typically feel like they have one of two options: write the guy off as a lost cause/irredeemable human being, or date him and get abused. When really those are just the two extreme reactions culture tells us we have to choose between. But what an incredibly arrogant way of thinking it is, actually. Either I can redeem this man (through being his girlfriend/wife/whatever), or he can't be redeemed. To which I reply: ummm, what? I think Jesus might beg to differ.
DeletePiera, just out of curiosity, I have to ask: how do you feel about Harry Osbourne, as portrayed by the illustrious James Franco in the Sam Raimi Spiderman films? (I refer only to movies 1 and 2 as I don't even acknowledge the existence of the train wreck that was #3).
ReplyDeleteagreed. and honestly i'd have to re-watch them in order to have a true opinion ... maybe i shall do that just for you :P
DeleteI should watch them again too -- it's been a while. I only asked because I feel something closer to the fangirl adoration you described in your post, but for Harry, not Loki -- probably because I think his character is better developed. However, I still wouldn't date him. ;)
DeleteYour post made me think about movie/book villains in general, and it brought something that bothers me about the stereotypical concept of the villain, especially in Disney movies and such. Everyone loves the villain that you can love to hate, and the twisted logic goes: since hate is BAD, you can only be justified in hating someone who's BAD for NO GOOD reason. But the problem with that is, villains who are evil just for the sake of being evil are typically BORING. Why? Because they're not real people -- there's nothing more you can understand about them. Most(dare I say, all?) people aren't evil just for the sake of being evil. I think that's what our culture doesn't understand about evil/sin, and that lack of understanding is why Loki has such a big fan base. Sin breeds sin. It happens to everyone -- someone sins against you, you get hurt, you take that pain and hurt someone else, sinning against them, and on and on. It's just a vicious cycle. There is almost always something to understand about a BAD person. But contrary to popular belief, understanding does not equal justification. There is no sin committed by a fully cognizant, mentally competent individual that is entirely someone else's fault. If that was the way things worked we'd all just be puppets, completely under the sway of the people who wronged us. But we're not puppets, like you said: life is about making choices. Loki has a choice, we all have a choice. We are all culpable to some extent, and knowing that is actually kind of liberating.
ReplyDeletetrue. and on a theological level, i agree; there is something to be said for understanding a person, and for trying to reach them in spite of their wrongs. and our daily choices to NOT do wrong, even though we are continually being wronged, says something about who we are as Christians--just as our forgiveness of others, and our acknowledgement that we DO sin and still have to deal with the consequences (but are also forgiven for them), also points to God's grace and forgiveness.
Deleteon a more literary level, i find villains who have no motive to be far more terrifying than those who do. i get loki's villainy, and i roll my eyes. but the joker, who is chaotic simply because he wants to be? malificent, who is just plain evil? these villains are scarier because without a real motive, they can't be stopped. and they have no boundaries. so generally speaking i have more appreciation for villains who are just plain evil... it feels less mushy/happy/everyone is a *person*-y.
I guess I get where you're going with Malificent,there is a major creepiness factor there due to lack of motivation, but I'm not so sure about Joker. I think that the Joker is responding to society, as the personification of the chaos that already exists in our broken world (or something pretentious sounding like that which I probably need to spend more time analyzing before giving my professional opinion ;). So while he might not have personal motivation, he's not existing in a bubble of evilness either -- something created him, even if it was an abstract and general something. This could trigger a whole discussion about the nature of allegory, I suppose. :S
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