Are the foot soldiers of villainy the people of their boss… or not? The underlings are expendable either way but there are distinct connotations to consider.
Humans are social creatures. We are more apt to get along with the people most like us. We understand each other if we are alike. There are inevitable misunderstandings if we are unlike. Our goals are different if our values are different.
The villains are nasty if they expend people of different races and ethnicities… but they are especially villainous if they expend their own. Our feelings for strangers are impersonal, no matter our compassion. Diversity is people as strangers. If the lives of our own are cheap, the lives of others are worthless.
A boss may be viewed with suspicion if he is of a different race or ethnicity than his underlings: A Jew hiring Catholics for a heist or a German commanding Ukrainians in the SS, as examples. He may be revered instead, however: A dark elf commanding orcs or a demon commanding human cultists, as examples.
It does matter whether a villain is of the people of his underlings or not, for better or worse. It does color their relationship. It should factor in the story.
I write fiction. My thematic specialty is the foot
soldiers of villainy. The characters are sometimes the people of their boss…
and sometimes not. My choice is a matter of storytelling. It is a layer of
depth for an aspect of fiction that is usually flat. I am glad I bother. My
work is better for it.
The world keeps people separate in order to control them. Only by working together can we prevent tyranny. Our differences will be used to pull us apart.
ReplyDeleteDIVIDE AND CONQUER has proven the most successful means of taking over.
DeleteBoth are valid. Good leadership is preferred, but evil still makes for a great story.
ReplyDeleteIndeed. The storytelling is the decisive factor. If the storyteller minds the connotations and factors them into the story, all is well... and dramatically so.
Delete