The damned, the bad, and the ugly: Our society's bad (and occasionally sinister) habit of using villains to label, deter, and other

<p>As the most dynamic characters within a plot, villains have the ability to initiate change. To demonstrate the effect a villain can have, I have chosen two very different villains of popular culture—Theodora of <em>Oz the Great and Powerful</em> and the Joker of T<em>he Dark Knight</em>—because these characters have a wide reach among the American audience. Theodora is a onedimensional villain whose lack of depth fails to prompt the audience to think critically and perpetuates the patriarchal issues portrayed in the film. The Joker, however, is captivating because he is complex and pushes the reader to think critically about Gotham’s issues. By completing an in-depth analysis of each character through a variety of lenses—such as religious, psychological, sociological—I will demonstrate that these characters provide the audience with very different experiences which have the ability to change or stunt social progress.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Open Access Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English Language and Literature

Year dc:date.available

2014

Author dc:creator

• Hoffman, Lacey Danielle

Contributors dc:contributor

• Ramona Caponegro, PhD, Chair
• Annette Wannamaker, PhD, Second Chair

• children's literature
• popular culture
• villians
• American Film Studies

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.emich.edu/theses/572

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.emich.edu:theses-1946