Heroes and Villains
Published June 04, 2003
Yet another AFI film list - this one the 50 top screen heroes and villains:
- ATTICUS FINCH OF "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" PROCLAIMED #1 HERO AND DR. HANNIBAL LECTER OF "THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS" DECLARED #1 VILLAIN
Indiana Jones, Norman Bates, James Bond, Darth Vader, Rick Blaine, The Wicked Witch of the West, Will Kane and Nurse Ratched Top the Much-Anticipated List Revealed by AFI
The American Film Institute (AFI) revealed the top 50 heroes and top 50 villains of all time in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes & Villains three-hour television event hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who earned both a hero and villain honor for his portrayal of the "Terminator." Deeply principled and idealistic attorney Atticus Finch (portrayed by Gregory Peck), from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, was chosen as the greatest hero in 100 years of film history, while the greatest villain was revealed as the brilliant, cunning and psychotic Dr. Hannibal Lecter (portrayed by Anthony Hopkins) from THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and HANNIBAL.
Rounding out the top 10 heroes in ranking order were Indiana Jones, James Bond, Rick Blaine, Will Kane, Clarice Starling, Rocky Balboa, Ellen Ripley and
T.E. Lawrence. Joining Dr. Lecter's circle of top 10 villains, also in ranking order, were Norman Bates, Darth Vader, The Wicked Witch of the West, Nurse Ratched, Mr. Potter, Alex Forrest, Phyllis Dietrichson, Regan MacNeil and The Queen (in SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS).
- Heroes and Villains
- Published: June 04, 2003
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- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: News
- Writer: Eric Olsen
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I watched the programme last night, and the cheesy intro aside (well not really, it was really cheese, plastic wrapped slices), I had a couple of quibbles.
Obviously, putting Terminator twice was because Ah-nold was hosting, and T3 is opening soon.
Second, while the heroes list doesn't have a lot to challenge, the compilers obviously don't have an understanding of what a villain is.
What makes a villain or a hero, and what distinquishes between them are the choices they make.
If the antagonist doesn't make a choice in what they do, they are not a villain.
In Jaws, the villain isn't the shark, it is the town officials who refuse to close the beach (and Robert Shaw for dragging his fingernails across the blackboard).
In The Exorcist, Regan isn't the villain, could it be ... SATAN!!!!!
In the Alien series, the alien isn't the villain, it is the Corporation which sends the crews to recover it at any cost.
And so on.
One other thing was that the entire focus was on the actors, with almost no mention of the writers and directors. Surely Paul Schrader and Martin Scorcese deserve more credit than Robert Deniro for the creation of Travis Bickle.
And George Lucas should get a wedgie for trying to talk about the Godfather series and implying his dreck is equivalent.
I watched it also and I agree with you wholeheartedly. Good points.
Jim, fine distinction of villains. Maybe they should have used a word like "heavy" or something like that to imply malevolence toward the hero as opposed to true villainy.
Thanks for this post and for Jim Carruthers's comments. It got me thinking, and my take on the problem is in my review of The Italian Job: http://www.blogcritics.org/archives/2003/06/13/182416.php#006167
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They should do one of those for literature, except someone lame like Harry Potter would win. Lousy kid!