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Good vs. Evil

For years, the characters in literature and film were filed into one of those two categories.

Good guys and bad guys.

This way of thinking was very black and white. There was no grey area and characters stayed true to their designation.

Of course, not all art was like this. But in the 70s and 80s, a good number of the popular genres, teen films and action films were scripted with this in mind.

But today, the majority of audiences no longer accept people as simply good or evil.

Villains are given backstories and character arcs. Heroes are often shown in their least heroic moments, making them complex, more like us, and well life in general.

After all, that is why I have a podcast and why you are listening. Right?

When the TV show Batman aired in the mid to late 60s, there was no question about Batman's morality.

He would never break a law or act with impropriety. The show was filled with campy villains who wanted to defeat Batman more than they seemed to want to rob a party.

But Batman's tragic family history was rarely mentioned. And aside from the occasional two-parters, we knew good would defeat evil before the 30-minute episode ended.

Fast forward to recent Batman movies led by Christian Bale, Robert Pattinson, and Ben Afflack.

Batman was no longer a hero. He was an anti-hero. He broke the law while doing good.

The films were dark. The heroes were moody, and the villains were complicated.

Moral ambiguity was rampant. The concepts of right and wrong, not so clear.

I bring all this up, because as I researched this story, I was shocked how many times I heard the words wicked and evil.

Why would I be shocked? Those are fairly common, although not always accurate, descriptions of most killers.

Well, most killers are not 11 years old, like the subject of this episode, Mary Bell.

And while Mary's crimes were indeed horrific, it would be too simplistic to say she was purely evil.

She had a tragic backstory, and she was not one-dimensional, as many others have portrayed her.

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