Meta: Evil and Fisk
Meta Post on Evil in Our World
Fandom: Daredevil
Character: Wilson Fisk
Word Count: 350~
Wilson Fisk is a perfect villain.
Not because his plans succeed, or because he has powers. Not because he is ruthless, even. Rather, he’s the perfect villain because he embodies and facilitates the types of horrors that people face today, so his particular brand of evil is both extremely hard-hitting and cathartic at the same time.
And what is the scariest thing, perhaps, is Wilson Fisk never once thought he was a villain. Not when he killed his father - understandable, but still murder - not when he killed Anatoly, and not when he killed Ben. No matter the depravity of his sins, from human trafficking to drug trade to embezzlement, everything he did was justified and right. “I want to make this city something better than it is,” he says, and his vision of making the city beautiful, better, is something people can look outside their window and see.
He’s the consummate politician, promising that things will be better while building off of the suffering of the unnoticed. Hiking the rent to force out ‘undesirable’ tenants in order to gentrify the area, seeing reason to capitalize on crime to create a good chunk of wealth, spinning words in front of the camera - these are all things that we see were we to turn on the news. Our world allows us to closely identify the level of depravity that Wilson Fisk represents, while showing us how these kinds of people grow up thinking they have the right to force the world into whatever shape they choose.
There is little sympathy to be found for Fisk, because he has no excuse for his behavior. Regardless of whether his mother never taught him how to deal kindly with others, regardless of whatever reason he had to never learn murder and suffering was wrong, as an adult he knew that his actions would be seen as wrong, and so kept it from the cameras. He was not above using others for his benefit, and what made him the perfect villain, what perfected his ‘villainous persona,’ was his unerring and deep-seated belief that he was creating the best future for everyone. He knew he was right, and he wasn’t going to let anyone get in his way.
Fandom: Daredevil
Character: Wilson Fisk
Word Count: 350~
Wilson Fisk is a perfect villain.
Not because his plans succeed, or because he has powers. Not because he is ruthless, even. Rather, he’s the perfect villain because he embodies and facilitates the types of horrors that people face today, so his particular brand of evil is both extremely hard-hitting and cathartic at the same time.
And what is the scariest thing, perhaps, is Wilson Fisk never once thought he was a villain. Not when he killed his father - understandable, but still murder - not when he killed Anatoly, and not when he killed Ben. No matter the depravity of his sins, from human trafficking to drug trade to embezzlement, everything he did was justified and right. “I want to make this city something better than it is,” he says, and his vision of making the city beautiful, better, is something people can look outside their window and see.
He’s the consummate politician, promising that things will be better while building off of the suffering of the unnoticed. Hiking the rent to force out ‘undesirable’ tenants in order to gentrify the area, seeing reason to capitalize on crime to create a good chunk of wealth, spinning words in front of the camera - these are all things that we see were we to turn on the news. Our world allows us to closely identify the level of depravity that Wilson Fisk represents, while showing us how these kinds of people grow up thinking they have the right to force the world into whatever shape they choose.
There is little sympathy to be found for Fisk, because he has no excuse for his behavior. Regardless of whether his mother never taught him how to deal kindly with others, regardless of whatever reason he had to never learn murder and suffering was wrong, as an adult he knew that his actions would be seen as wrong, and so kept it from the cameras. He was not above using others for his benefit, and what made him the perfect villain, what perfected his ‘villainous persona,’ was his unerring and deep-seated belief that he was creating the best future for everyone. He knew he was right, and he wasn’t going to let anyone get in his way.