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Will Klein @ketchiklein.bsky.social

I feel like a lot of media has "right-wing" antagonists who are later revealed to be cynical masterminds who only used the bigoted organization for their own goals, but don't actually share their bigoted views. I'm ready for villains who pretend to be bigots because they really are one.

sep 13, 2025, 9:10 pm • 3 1

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Will Klein @ketchiklein.bsky.social

Captain America 1 had this. Also the HBO Watchmen show--that was especially disappointing. Now that I think about it, though, it even goes back to Raiders of the Lost Arc, where Belloc is merely using the Nazis to his own ends.

sep 13, 2025, 9:10 pm • 0 0 • view
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Will Klein @ketchiklein.bsky.social

I guess it would be boring or predictable to have the antagonist never reveal a true motive. But maybe writers could learn from Glass Onion, which kind of does this in reverse: the villain SEEMS like a canny mastermind, but actually he's just an idiot who got lucky.

sep 13, 2025, 9:10 pm • 0 0 • view
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Will Klein @ketchiklein.bsky.social

I'd love a villain who's in charge of the Klan and everyone's like "What's his secret goal? What's he plotting?" and then at then end they're like "Oh...he's just a bigot." That seems much truer to real life to me.

sep 13, 2025, 9:10 pm • 1 0 • view
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Will Klein @ketchiklein.bsky.social

The Peacemaker show actually did a pretty good job with this, although I guess the clan-allegory villain wasn't the main bad guy. My memory is hazy.

sep 13, 2025, 9:10 pm • 0 0 • view