What makes beautiful/handsome villains & other evil characters even more frighte

1. 85

   gmwilliamsposted 8 years ago

   What makes beautiful/handsome villains & other evil characters even more frightening than
   
   usual stereotypically ugly villains & other evil characters?
   
   

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2. 61

   GregoryMercury HGposted 8 years ago

   Their dashing good looks can be considered 'poker faces' and coupled with our preconceptions to trust people who look harmless or who appeal to us, then you have a real deadly villain right there.

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3. 59

   Herban Cowgirlposted 8 years ago

   We're genetically hardwired to be attracted to beautiful people.  Even though we know they're awful, we can't help but want them to be good.  Yet most of them are just terrible.  It's worse because psychologically you can't look away, but they are doing unspeakable things.

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4. 79

   dashingscorpioposted 8 years ago

   
   
   We don't expect "beautiful people" to be cunning, devious, or diabolical because we believe they can {easily} get whatever they want! If a guy pulls up in a brand new Bentley we're more open to trusting him than if he were pushing a grocery cart filled with cans and bottles stuffed in garbage bags. They're both strangers!
   Most of us expect unattractive and down right ugly or transient/homeless people to be the face of serial killers, rapists, molesters, and thieves because they are "losers" in society. The only way they can get anything is by taking it from others.
   We are more trusting of handsome/beautiful clean cut well dressed people. What scares us when they turn out to be evil is the shock of having our preconceived judgments of people thrown out the window.
   Most of us believe we're a good judge of character and know whom not to trust. When we're proven wrong it terrifies us subconsciously.
   What made Hannibal Lecter so scary in "Silence of the Lambs" was his superior intellect and his ability to play with people's minds.
   He wasn't the biggest or meanest or ugliest villain in the world but everyone in his presence knew he was 10 steps ahead of them.
   Another great example of this is Kathleen Turner in "Body Heat". By the time William Hurt figures everything out it's too late.
   People who are beautiful, intelligent, and cunning defy our expectations of what a villain is suppose to "look like".

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