The Year the Villains Won | Narrative

Kevin Wynter, a professor of media studies at Pomona College, says that irrational self-confidence is one of the reasons villains resonate so deeply in culture. “In a repressive society like ours, which advocates conformity to better educate consumers, characters who actively reject the trappings of capitalist fantasy or who operate with their own lavish moral codes against the dominant society will inevitably be attractive to us. Maybe not everyone wants to admit it openly.

Today, traditional notions of malevolence have been replaced by complex, sometimes paradoxical, standards of what different groups consider acceptable or threatening. Wynter believes this has led to a “post-evil world”. Tech tycoons (Elon Musk), politicians (Mayor of New York Eric Adams), podcasts (Joe Rogan)—for many people, they are the main disruptors of our time (and heroes for others). They are anti-establishment. They want to overthrow the “system”.

“There are few, if any, villains who combine clowning, wealth and power as skillfully as Donald Trump,” adds Wynter. “Even his newest parasitic attachment, Elon Musk, is still the perfect villain figure to some, a swashbuckling futuristic cowboy to others.”

That’s the thing about the future, you never quite know how it’s going to unfold or who it’s going to benefit. For some, artificial intelligence was the main antagonist of 2024. Artificial intelligence has shown itself in Hollywood and the gaming industry. more than an existential threatas many workers are worried about job losses.

Others, feeling lost as social media underwent a drastic transition, rightly pointed the finger at digital genrifiers. “I’m mad that everything about the internet that was fun and useful 10 years ago is now broken. this site, obviously,” Tracy Chou, software developer, placed on X. “Opinions are astroturf lies. the search is a hallucination. There is no place to share with friends and family, which does not exceed influencer / meme / polarizing content.

at times like unseen like oursall the hype and agitation, the redirection to the truly transgressive, reads less shocking when you consider it part of a larger societal reframing. Villainy has long permeated the cultural imagination—American lore, after all, was built on the sensibilities of mavericks, vigilantes, and underdogs—but in 2024, it’s gone full mainstream.

Why? Malevolence rather than heroism might suggest another goal closer to reality, one that sees our world as it is now—deeply crushed—and responds accordingly.

I can say with certainty that malice has no particular loyalty. In the end it eats everyone. In December, it was announced that Warner Bros. Discovery was canned Sesame Streetlong-running children’s program. It is understood that the decision did not go well. Currently on social media app Bluesky, @valhallabackgirl responded with the outrage that many people have experienced this year as well. “I think that’s my villain origin story,” he said he wrote.