There have been a lot of charismatic villains in media. However, to pick a villain over a hero, the hero has either got to be incompetent, upholding an unjust system, or some other ridiculousness. A story with a hero is usually upholding the hero as the one you should be rooting for unless it is a subverted story and I love those. For this post, I am going to focus on a story where you are supposed to feel for the hero or lead character.
First up is Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Even as a child this story did not sit right with me. This girl was all about wanting to explore the world above. Then a boy walks in and she gives up her very soul at a chance to hook up with him. It is absolutely bizarre. I was totally on her side and maybe could have been behind her doing the whole swapping her tail for legs thing if she had not given it up for a man. So there is our main character.
Eric is technically the hero of the story. This guy longs for a voice. Absolutely no other characteristic. He is not very bright. This girl appears at the same time that you wash up on shore. Nothing odd about that. No connection whatsoever. Then the witch lures him to marry her and he has to be saved.
Meanwhile, Ariel signed a contract with Ursula. Without reading it! She signs away her life. Not even making sure she is anywhere near the surface to breathe before the transformation. Absolutely no thought is put into this decision.
Do not even get me started on what we learn in the sequel.
Another fairy tale, Rumpelstiltskin. This guy held up every deal he made with this woman. It is supposed to be a story about pride and greed. However, Rumpelstiltskin covers for the dad who lied to the king about his daughter being able to turn straw into gold. This guy helps them out. And does it again. Then she agrees to give him her first born child. So her father is a liar and she reneges on the deals she makes. The guy even gives her a chance to keep her baby.
Technically, Rumpelstiltskin did not do anything wrong. He did what he said he would and was upfront about the price they had to pay. If anything, the miller and his daughter should have lost everything for lying to the king and then defrauding the kingdom.
Nothing happens to them. It is very strange. At any time they could have come clean about their lie. They might have died, but they would have died had Rumpelstiltskin not intervened in the first place. It is a bonkers story. In the end they get lucky because someone overhears Rumpelstiltskin gloating. So I guess you could say the story is about Rumpelstiltskin’s pride about making great deals and outing himself, but really the father is the villain to begin with. He put them all in this position in the first place.
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