I haven't seen anything but the posters for Once, but I see what you're saying. The premise of the show reminds me a lot of the Bill Willingham comic series Fables, which I think is probably conceptually very similar, if perhaps broader.
One the conceits of Fables is the idea that similar characters in different stories were really the same character; Prince Charming, therefore, is a handsome cad who's romanced and then jilted Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and a bunch of others. Among these integrated characters is the old witch from Hansel and Gretal and a number of similar fairy tales, who now calls herself Frau Totenkinder. She's an ally of the other exiled Fables, ostensibly because Snow White, not knowing who she was, saved her after Hansel and Gretal threw her in the fire. However, she's still a rather sinister figure, and there are sometimes indications that she's playing a much larger game of her own. It makes her one of the more interesting characters in the series, because every time she appears, you wonder what she's up to.
I think the point is that a good villain needs to be fun to watch: they're cathartic (like Gordon Gekko from Wall Street or his spiritual antecedent, J.R. Ewing on Dallas), they're funny, they're intriguing, etc. It's okay if the villain (or, for that matter, the protagonist) is reprehensible as long as you're happy to see them on the screen or on the page.
Yes, for me, I think that what you say at the end there is exactly the point.
It makes her one of the more interesting characters in the series, because every time she appears, you wonder what she's up to.
I think the point is that a good villain needs to be fun to watch: they're cathartic (like Gordon Gekko from Wall Street or his spiritual antecedent, J.R. Ewing on Dallas), they're funny, they're intriguing, etc.
One the conceits of Fables is the idea that similar characters in different stories were really the same character; Prince Charming, therefore, is a handsome cad who's romanced and then jilted Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and a bunch of others. Among these integrated characters is the old witch from Hansel and Gretal and a number of similar fairy tales, who now calls herself Frau Totenkinder. She's an ally of the other exiled Fables, ostensibly because Snow White, not knowing who she was, saved her after Hansel and Gretal threw her in the fire. However, she's still a rather sinister figure, and there are sometimes indications that she's playing a much larger game of her own. It makes her one of the more interesting characters in the series, because every time she appears, you wonder what she's up to.
I think the point is that a good villain needs to be fun to watch: they're cathartic (like Gordon Gekko from Wall Street or his spiritual antecedent, J.R. Ewing on Dallas), they're funny, they're intriguing, etc. It's okay if the villain (or, for that matter, the protagonist) is reprehensible as long as you're happy to see them on the screen or on the page.
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It makes her one of the more interesting characters in the series, because every time she appears, you wonder what she's up to.
I think the point is that a good villain needs to be fun to watch: they're cathartic (like Gordon Gekko from Wall Street or his spiritual antecedent, J.R. Ewing on Dallas), they're funny, they're intriguing, etc.
This bit here. Yes. I can't say it any better.
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