TV/Movies Megathread

[Syt]

Lawrence of Arabia?

[frunk]

Buffy and Angel had some heel turns.

[Valmy]

Can't really think of many examples when this has been pulled off well in movies/TV. Michael Corleone?

That is a really good example....presuming you ignore the 3rd movie...which you should.

[Habbaku]

Walter White is definitely the most recent, believable example that comes to mind. Ditto for Saul Goodman.

It needs something intrinsic to the character to be believable. Rey doesn't have anything like that, or at least nothing that's been showcased to any real degree.

[Berkut]

Is Rey supposed to turn out to be a bad guy now?

I so....don't care.

[Habbaku]

Seems more likely they'll pull a fakeout, or have her go "bad" for maybe half the movie and be pulled back by...mumblemumble. Disney doesn't have the balls to make their main character a villain, even for one movie.

[Oexmelin]

Can't really think of many examples when this has been pulled off well in movies/TV. Michael Corleone? Walter White?

Both of them good examples, and Corleone the only one taking place arguably over the course of a single movie.

I think it may be linked to our difficulty at showing how corruption works. We prefer our vilains already corrupt, or to have been corrupt all along before the big reveal (Or pathologically insane). But corruption is erosion. It takes time to show, and it must be tied to a system that validates, in some way, corrupt action.

Interestingly, the Star Wars prequel had a great setup to show this. It was just stupidly wasted.

[celedhring]

Lawrence of Arabia?

It's not a villain turn, he just falls to his hubris.

[viper37]

Can't really think of many examples when this has been pulled off well in movies/TV. Michael Corleone?

That is a really good example....presuming you ignore the 3rd movie...which you should.

It ain't that bad.

[viper37]

I think it may be linked to our difficulty at showing how corruption works. We prefer our vilains already corrupt, or to have been corrupt all along before the big reveal (Or pathologically insane). But corruption is erosion. It takes time to show, and it must be tied to a system that validates, in some way, corrupt action.

Harvey Dent in the Dark Knight.

[Oexmelin]

Meh.

[The Brain]

Like I said the lastest (?) Rey movie, she should have gone bad then. They set it up so they could have easily gone that route, but sadly they did not. A strong female villain would do Star Wars good. But then again so would retirement.

[Malthus]

Can't really think of many examples when this has been pulled off well in movies/TV. Michael Corleone? Walter White?

I think both are great examples.

Though I think the Walter White example is maybe slightly different, in that it starts with his corruption (I mean, making meth is pretty corrupt to begin with), but what changes over the course of the series is that he goes over a moral event horizon - when the show starts you think maybe he's a tragically corrupt character (like Michael Corleone) who becomes corrupt under the press of circumstances: a guy who can engage your sympathies, even if you deplore his choices. However, as the series goes on, it becomes clear he's doing what he's doing out of pride, not necessity, and he gradually ceases to be at all sympathetic or tragic; the question them becomes whether he can redeem himself in any way. 

The Corleone case is somewhat different - he appears to have genuinely wanted to avoid the criminality of his family, only to become convinced that his father's philosophy was correct (under the pressure of tragic circumstances) and that you are either an oppressor or oppressed.

[Syt]

Prediction from the trailer: Rey gets possessed by the spirit of Palpatine and Kylo Ren is redeemed in the end by destroying Reypatine.

[Valmy]

Can't really think of many examples when this has been pulled off well in movies/TV. Michael Corleone?

That is a really good example....presuming you ignore the 3rd movie...which you should.

It ain't that bad.

It has its moments. If it was just a standalone film about a mafia boss trying to go legit then it is alright. It just sucks as a sequel to Godfather Part II.