The Importance of Villains

by Miss Cellany

The definition of villains as it goes is –

1.A person guilty or capable of a crime or wickedness.

2.The person or thing responsible for specified trouble, harm, or damage:  Eg-“the industrialized nations are the real villains”

And if we sort out and place the gun toting grievous harm causing “types” in a category titled Evil- Pure Evil,  then the ones that are left within the purview of the definition of villains can be safely labeled as -A necessary evil – for the society. Well at least for the psychological balance of the same .

But first  I would like to clarify how I  define grievous  harm as-

It is the harm resulting in physical injury or a financial injury of an individual , community or a nation; financial because I believe money has become almost equivalent to life in today’s times.

Coming back to villains, why would I term them necessary? Why such a sacrilege you might wonder?  But aren’t they really? Cast aside your traditional reservations and try to see it through my eyes. I will of course not bully you like a villain, but rather put forth my arguments, which need not be agreed with, if you do not wish too.

I believe and you may disagree. Yes, I believe they are necessary in any society, community because it helps  maintain the psychological balance of the group as mentioned above.

Do you think the concept of paradise is a very tempting one?

A concept of eternal bliss, – eternal monotonous bliss which has no end to it -sounds tempting because we really are always in rush for time. We never can have enough of joy, bliss – but imagine there is never an end, never an aberration, never a twist in the tale.. .

Well not for me. Monotony had never been my cup of tea, and I am sure many will agree to it. Somehow the idea of eternal bliss is something too limitless and out of bounds for my mental capacity.

Even mythology has a story on it which goes thus – Once after a stretch of peaceful period, the Devas had approached the Prajapita Brahma Dev for a solution to the monotony of their peaceful existence. All the charm of the somras, apsaras , revelry eventually faded  with endless time.

Hence we need villains to break the monotony. We need villains to gossip about, to crib about, complain, condemn and also condone helplessly.

Half of the conversation, men and for that matter women have is all about how the other person is wrong. It is a twisted way of projecting yourself in a better light. Almost all of us hide under a false sense of modesty and do not blatantly advertise ourselves, but the option of being good by dint of being best among the worst? What a beauty!

This is nothing to be ashamed of though. We are human beings. We are programmed to be so. We are build to think that way.

From a saint to a shaitan, you will find a similar thought process in the minds of every man and woman…almost (let me add that to be in a safe side)

Think of a life where you have no one to bitch about- a colleague, a neighbor, a maid or even inanimate and abstract things like Facebook, television, department, the government- the so called social villains, and you will find, you have nothing to talk about, nothing to look forward to rescuing the world from.

No conversation, no complains, no cribbing, no arguments, no discussion- a complete mute world.

A depressed and deprived silent, glum society shrouded in an apparent state of bliss and peace where everything is perfect. You are perfect. Your life is perfect. You are perfectly in time. No hitch. No aberrations, no spice and hence no soul. Yes you are perfect, your life is perfect and you lack a soul…

Can man be perfect? No, only robots come close to it …for a period of three years maybe.

So we cannot exactly desire for a Utopia. It would be catastrophic. It would be hell.

Villains give us a purpose in life. They provide us the much needed stimulus to be alive and kicking and tell us what we should not be.

We are in a constant war with ourselves to become better. The presence of a villain helps in that challenge.

Villains finally keep our souls alive and aware and make us believe in our principles and ideals. We emerge stronger only because we have villains in our lives.

Glory be to our villains. Viva la villains

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