Villians

As I dodged and evaded throngs of little people crying for their mommies, fan boys debating the plausibility of the existence of a platform 9 ¾ and an assortment of other adults who still watch cartoons at the Harry Potter exhibit during a recent visit to the Boston Museum of Science, I noticed all of the time people were spending at the Harry Potter and Hermione (or however you spell her name) exhibits and exhibits of the other “heroes“ of the Harry Potter franchise.

Meanwhile, the exhibits for Voldemort (I mean he whose name should not be mentioned), Malfoy and [insert bad persons name here] just weren’t getting any love. As we were leaving the exhibit, I asked my niece why nobody wanted to spend much time looking save to shoot a menacing glare at their statues. Looking at me as though I just crawled out from under a rock, she quickly informed me that they are the “bad guys” and nobody roots for the bad guys.

*disclaimer I did consult Wikipedia, friends and others for some of these details*

Now, this gave me reason for pause. Well, I was paused because I was stuck between a rotund wizard looking fellow and someone who looked like a hastily put together munchkin. As I waited to maneuver between these two fellows, I began to think of all of the assortment of heroes of mine. Very often, these people could just as easily be considered villains. Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Jack Nicholson and Marlon Brando are but a few of the character actors I have always liked. Who couldn’t like them? Everyone knows the bad guys are always cooler, dress better and of course they can drink with the best of them.

Naturally, these are simply actors. Robert DeNiro isn’t really a mobbed up deer hunting bounty hunter in real life. Yet, many of the people who are worthy of our praise aren’t always considered good guys. Nor, should they have to be. Often times villains or bad boys are just misunderstood visionaries. Nicolaus Copernicus, Martin Luther, Socrates and Charles Darwin are only a few of the visionaries of their time whose viewpoints were not readily accepted during their times. Lest I forget Gary Dahl.

So, when anytime anyone accuses me of having some “harebrained scheme” (which is fairly often), I take comfort in knowing the company I keep.

It does give me cause for concern when we follow mob mentality and always root for the squeaky clean guy who is in reality usually merely a goat in sheep’s clothing. Speaking of which, why does the goat get such a bad rap? But I digress. The unfortunate thing is few people step outside of their comfort zones. They root for the home team, like a “good homer”. In short, they never question…anything. They simply follow.

Speaking of being the good “homer”, I could never root against Reggie Miller, even as he stuck yet another dagger into the beloved Boston Celtics. Beyond being a deadly sharpshooter from anywhere on the court, Reggie chastised the crowd, talked trash and, more often that not, delivered in the clutch with a supreme swagger and confidence. He didn't just talk the talk. He walked the walk.

As a youngster I would often spend my summers rooting for Darth Vader, reading Hunter S. Thompson and admiring Tommie Smith’s courage. All of them are villains to some degree. To me, there isn’t any other way to be. How can one always root for the milquetoast “good guys”? They’re predictable, nice, clean and plain. They are dullards.

Everyone thinks they are not conformists and they think independently. The true way to find out if you do not conform is if anyone has ever called you “weird”, ‘wacky” or “crazy”. If so, then welcome aboard.

We often don’t consider that one person's villian is just as much another person's hero. John Adams, Che Guevara and Frank Serpico to name a few were all considered villains by people who opposed their views. Now, many of them are considered heroes. Some so called villains have simply been people with enough courage to think or act differently.

Naturally, we all hate the true evils of the world. There are always group of people we can dislike as a wide group. You know them all by now: the Taliban, the KKK, Nazis and Heidi Montag.

Now, back to the Harry Potter exhibit. After cutting myself short from polluting my niece’s mind with propaganda of rebels and renegades who built this country, I reminded her that her uncle isn’t always a “good boy”.

I always thought youths were supposed to embrace the bad guy. They are supposed to be rebellious and buck the system. A healthy skepticism is a good thing, particularly when it’s against the establishment. It’s fairly disheartening to see that we often stamp out this thought process in younger people in an effort to mold their young minds and make them good citizens (read robotic followers).

Just don’t rock the boat.