Movies that make you support the "bad guys"?

Most movies follow a moral code that I suppose reflects and guides popular morality.

However, minority allegiances and political positions may completely reverse the role of protagonists and "evil" characters.

Slasher movies may arouse disturbing allegiances with killers, although that may merely be one way of disarming the terror felt by some audience members, and it's likely to be temporary and ends at the cinema exit.
Sometimes the victims are also so hapless, stupid and annoying that one is forced to root for the bad guy or woman.

However, political rooting can also lead to unintended support for supposed "villains".
For example the Whale Wars documentary series has backfired (especially the Viking Shores series) according to a lot of blogs and reviews.
Similarly I've watched Battle for Seattle with one person who loudly applauded the police whenever an activist got bashed.
I've also seen Westerns and films like the The Mission with people who voiced their support for the Native Americans, and it was good riddance to the missionary that was tied to a cross and booted over the waterfall.
If the Guarani had stuck to that it could have saved them a lot of trouble.

The movie I watched recently that totally backfired was The Eagle, and I rooted 100 percent for the Seal People against the Roman idiot and his even dumber masochistic slave.
Is there any possible reason to sympathize with the Roman, unless one supports empire and colonization as an ideal?
I suppose that's what we're supposed to do - support "Empire", because the hapless soldiers are so brave after all.
Nevertheless, there are anti-war movies where I have also supported capitalist "empire", and which white-washed the crimes of the Marxists, for example.

What movie made you root for the character that obviously wasn't planned to be applauded?

There are two contemporary movies about Roman occupied Britain, and in each one I supported the tribal freedom fighters.

Centurion www.imdb.com...

This film has a narrative that explains the cruelty of Roman rule, and yet it seems we must support these protagonists?
Why on earth should the viewer support the Romans or their mercenaries?
Didn't you wish with all your heart in every scene that the Celtic ninja woman would catch the Roman criminals?

The Eagle www.imdb.com...

Again, why support the Romans? Although the British slave is portrayed as noble, he is essentially a traitor with Stockholm Syndrome or some homoerotic issues.
Perhaps he's brown-nosing to get himself a villa and a chance at the Roman "good life".
A very immoral person and sell-out.

I think there's some part of our nature, the dualistic part, that almost always has sympathy for certain "bad guys". I say certain because sometimes some characters are so absolutely dispicable that they are nearly universally despised. However, absent that, who didn't harbor some love for The Joker in The Dark Knight? Who fails to understnd Magneto's hatred of humanity given his experiences and expectations? Who failed to empathize with The Sandman whose crimes were driven by his desparation to save his young daughter? Ok, other than having just revealed that I'm a gigantic nerd and super-hero movie fanatic, I think you get my point. Peace...

Finding Nemo...

At first I really started to like the sharks, but then one tried to eat Nemo, so I was confused.

reply to post by porschedrifter

Not sure about the sharks, but the dentist and his aquarium were not necessarily evil, and Nemo could have had a better life in the fish tank.

I'm sure he regrets it now.

reply to post by porschedrifter


Well, I suppose sharks will be sharks.
That's in their nature as predators.

Perhaps making them mafia-type characters sends a wrong message on nature, but I don't think kids would really notice.

Of course we do have speciesism where predators in the oceans get their fins chopped off, and they don't have the sentimental value of dolphins and whales (some of which are also predators).

It's quite strange comparing predators between films like Finding Nemo and The Lion King.
In the Madagascar films the lion had some kind of moral crisis about eating meat, and he sided with the prey.
I'm not sure how it was resolved.
I think he ended up eating fish ... he probably ate Nemo!

reply to post by halfoldman


Agent Smith , the Matrix

He just wanted to be free , and everybody to be equal ( looking aswell) lol
That damn Neo had to ruin everything with his " i have a choice" capitalst crap!

The world would be more balanced if we where all equal!

S+F because this a differant kind of post, and i enjoyed your love for the seal people( i felt sorry for them too)

Originally posted by porschedrifter
Finding Nemo...

At first I really started to like the sharks, but then one tried to eat Nemo, so I was confused.

This made me have a snort at work which was complimented by a quiet office of 4 with very strange looks in my direction...


Who didn't want Agent Smith to kick the woodman Neo in the teeth?

The character of Loki in Thor would be another one I'd root for.
Not that Loki represents anything "good" or "political".
But that messed up family needed some rebellion, and Thor was just incredibly annoying.
His stupidity and hyper-masculinity were probably supposed to be endearing, but to me it just seemed like the opposite of a "dumb blonde" female stereotype.

Well, that's what happens when gods get too old for a spanking.

Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode 1.

I pretty much wanted him to kill everyone...yes...it would ruin the entire plot of the original movies...but who didn't want to see him rip through Jar Jar, the annoying little Anakin, the Princess....the entire trade federation....Palpatine.

Yeah...I was a bit peeved when he got cut in half.

Also...

The Dinosaurs in all the Jurassic Park movies.

Darth Vader.

Although I'm more undecided (I haven't seen the final film), but what about the Harry Potter films?

The "good guys" run a a horrific prison, and a fascist dictatorship.

The unfairness of the school and favoritism is apparent from the first movie, where Harry's "house" gets more points for no particular reason at all from a teacher of the same house.

There might also be an element of feeling wronged;as Harry and his fellow Gryffindors tend to win in a lot of circumstances which, when viewed from a Slytherin's point of view, may be considered unfair. Examples of this include the last-minute points awarded by Headmaster Dumbledore at the Leaving Feast, which conveniently put Gryffindor ten points ahead of Slytherin in the 1991–1992 school year, the fact that no points were deducted for the rule breaking that happened during that night and Harry being permitted by Professor McGonagall to have his own broomstick for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, even though first-years are not normally permitted their own broomsticks.

harrypotter.wikia.com...

Malfoy is eventually just bullied (I'd love to read the story from his perspective), and considering his abusive home he deserves far more sympathy.

I'm not surprised the other houses feel bullied and rebel.
And then there's the poor human relatives of Harry, who provided board and lodging for the little weirdo, only to be terrified by a giant and have their lives turned upside down.

The original Sith in the Great Schism. The Jedi exiled them from the republic for merely thinking differently and accepting all facets of emotion.

I recently watched a Christian movie on TBN called Fireproof.
www.christiancinema.com...#

Kirk Cameron plays a fireman who tries to fix his marriage that's heading for divorce.
He uses the advice of his elderly parents, who facilitate some kind of Christian "love therapy" that takes about 40 days. The method the movie promotes is called the "Love Dare", and unlike other punters, Cameron's character gets his copy of the program for free.

Poor Kirk does everything for the arrogant cow, and she just keeps on rejecting him.
He smashes his computer to avoid porn, he cooks a candlelight dinner, and even his heroics don't impress the missus.

Eventually she's impressed when he threatens the doctor she's developing an affair with.
It seems she was just waiting for him to man-up and protect his territory.
Ah yes, the way to a woman's heart ...

Considering Christian beliefs on divorce the ending is a forgone conclusion, and she comes back.

However, one isn't left with the feeling that this marriage will indeed work out long term.
She's a selfish wench with the morals of an alley cat, and he should have kicked her out.

Husband: "I pulled a child's body from a lake today."
Wife: "Oh but you never do anything around here, except for TV and the computer..."
And then the poor dustbin gets it with a baseball bat several times.

Buffalo '66. But I believe it is meant that way. Can't think of more at the moment but I know there have been more movies where I felt that way.

I agree with the Harry Potter idea! Poor Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff

Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon & Hannibal.

Michael Myers from the Halloween series.

Catwoman and The Penguin from Batman Returns.

I saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes recently, and I find the behavior of the chimp unreasonable.
I cannot associate with this simian as the moral protagonist.

The clever chimp bites off a man's finger and assaults him.

Then, just when he gets his chance to go home, he's all spiteful and creates an awkward scene.

There are some minor side-issues about how animals are captured, imprisoned and experimented on, but these never become a central focus of the film.

Instead, the chimp never takes responsibility for his harmful actions (despite his supposed intelligence) and he rapidly turns from spoiled brat-chimp to Spartacus-chimp.

I find the chimp got off lightly for his violence, and compared to human prisoners, he never had much reason to complain (he wasn't raped or stabbed in his "ordeals").

He got all childish when he couldn't choose to go home at his whim, and for that he treated his human parent like dirt.

That chimp needs some serious counseling with his victims to see what physical pain and mental terror he caused.

Of course there's nothing to say the chimp should be good or mature about things (the Planet of the Apes eventually becomes a horrible place for humans).
Perhaps he's a born ape fascist?
But in other scenes he's highly moral, and refuses to kill certain people, but not others.

Some very bad chimps, who might have been better raised with more chimp imafer. from a younger age.
Unfortunately his keeper is an irresponsible liberal pushover, who should also have been locked up.