00:10 Villains Michael loves / Heroes he dislikes

02:16 Why this topic? 

03:24 A well-written villain needs a good backstory / Villains often express hidden truths about ourselves

06:03 Goodness can be a bore / We’re in a battle with good and evil constantly  / Villains can reveal our own wrong thinking

08:23 Why do so many people dislike Superman? / Parallel to our false view of heaven as a “boring place”

11:03 Well-written villains allow artists to reflect real-life dynamics

14:03 Both heroes and villains must be well-written / Chris offers a comparison between cliched disasters and badly written villains

17:34 Who are some of Michael’s favorite bad guys? / Why are we still talking about Darth Vader in the 21st century? / Michael recalls a hurtful character in Dickens’s ‘Great Expectations’ / The newest Joker film / How Darth Vader reflects our own Christian walk / Why we are drawn to redemption stories / Brief mention of ‘Tale of Two Cities’

23:13 At the turn of the century, darker flawed heroes became more in vogue / Is the 21st century shift in our collective moral values responsible for what we see in modern stories?

25:47 The perils of modern anti-heroes / Amazon's ‘The Boys’ / Christians can use evil characters to depict absolute evil / Rise of Skywalker is a good example of modern use of pure good and pure evil characters

29:50 Ravi Zacharias had a good illustration for absolute evil / Characters, whether good or bad, must face hard struggles

32:03 Warning for writers when they move into morally murky waters / The 21st century has ushered in a more mainstream acceptance of anti-heroes and flawed heroes / Why Christians have to work hard to write honest bad guys / We may lead folks astray if we’re not careful

36:03 Michael is a big fan of ‘No Country for Old Men’ / Christians need to take a hopeful spin on the modern anti-hero tale / The evil committed by Joseph’s brothers (when they sold him into slavery) is a warning to us: we the audience aren’t always intended to be aligned with the hero of the story

42:07 Chris weighs in on the filmed version of ‘No Country For Old Men’ / The end of the film is misunderstood by many believers who dislike the story / Similar conclusion in a film called ‘Jindabyne’ / Why Chris likes films where the villain gets away in the end

47:10 When we acknowledge right and wrong in our storytelling, we can further expose absolute truths

47:46 Michael mentions the film ‘A Simple Plan’ where the main character who turns bad realizes the change / When bad guys realize their evil—even if they don’t turn from darkness—it can be useful to reveal honest sinfulness / Stories that depict true evil can help us prepare for the temptations

52:11 Paul warned us that we are always in a battle against our flesh / Characters both good and bad must wrestle with their flesh and soul

55:02 Chris addendum: Superman and traditional good characters have a place in modern storytelling / We must show the moral dilemmas that purely good characters face / Superheroes do have weaknesses: the normal humans they love who cannot defend themselves

59:46 The modern film anti-hero is rooted in the 20th century, not merely the turn of the 21st century

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Video essay: The de-mythification of heroes (WARNING: May contain R-rated language):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT75YHqlD9k

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https://michaeljoelgreen.wordpress.com/