Ethics and Morality

Serpents in a Happy Valley: Does the World Need Villains?

Can heroism exist without villainy?

Posted September 13, 2014

The villains of BBC's Happy Valley abduct a young woman and get the storyline rolling. (Original screen capture.)

"The world needs villains so there can be heroes." So says Netflix promotional material for the BBC television series Happy Valley. Do we, really?

The right villain can certainly heighten our interest in a story. Where would Sherlock Holmes be without Moriarty, Superman without Lex Luthor, Batman without the Joker? Actually, they would still be heroes without those arch-nemeses. Despite all the movies and other adaptations, Professor Moriarty died in the same Arthur Conan Doyle story in which he first appeared. Superman constantly soars about, redirecting asteroids that might strike planet Earth and catching damaged airliners before they can crash. Batman has a rich gallery of other rogues to challenge him. Bruce Wayne would not become Batman without a mugger killing Bruce's parents, but the character's altruistic parents were nevertheless raising him to look out for other people. Those master villains may challenge the heroes and drive them to become better at what they do. Then again, repeatedly failing to end that villain once and for all can make the hero come across as incompetent.

Those heroes are fictional. From a storytelling standpoint whether recounting fact, fiction, or muddled myth somewhere in between, the villain has great value. How interesting were Adam and Eve before the serpent spoke and stirred things up? Maybe the whole point of giving them their time in Eden where they had only one rule, to stay away from two trees, was to give them a hard lesson after they inevitably broke that rule so they might see that humans do not belong in paradise. The troublemakers whose mischief may heighten an anecdote's appeal for audiences do not have to appear in everyday life for others to do the right thing, to stand up and help. A child can need assistance coping with many troubles that involve no bullies, abusers, or childsnatchers in the dark. A fallen adult can seem someone to take time to pick that person up. A depressed person can need inspiration. The belief that there must be a villain for heroes to arise can undermine the value we assigns heroism and might make people too ready, even eager, to perceive villainy where none is intended.

Does a belief that there must be a villain inspire people on opposite sides of a disagreement to villainize one another? The self-serving bias that leads people to accept credit for their own good deeds and absolve themselves of responsibility for their own worst actions paves way for the actor-observer difference in attributing one's own misdeeds to situational influences while assuming those observed in others came about because of those other people's ingrained traits - i.e, making the fundamental attribution error more often when judging others than when judging oneself. Each side in a conflict tends to see the other's hostility and actions as reflecting those other people's evil dispositions. Giving the benefit of the doubt to members of one's own ingroup but not to members of the outgroup is the ultimate attribution error. Whether looking at individuals or groups, we seem ready to perceive villains.

Although we do not need to overlook real evil, letting it foster and grow large unimpeded, expecting evil can lead us to see it wherever we look. Not only is that unfair to so many people who should not be villainized, this expectation can trick us into undervaluing heroes as well. Heroes can arise during calamities of many kinds, crises caused by no evil intent.

I raised this issue on Facebook and Twitter: "'The world needs villains so there can be heroes.' No, Happy Valley, it doesn't. There are catastrophes and other crises aplenty. Natural disasters, accidents—what other villain-less occasions call for heroes?"

@Cmidrfti … viral outbreaks/pandemics. All things Heroes are called for. Especially those who don't wear capes
@Swikan: locating/rescuing lost children or lost seniors... rescuing fr burning buildings, preventing accidents before they occur, helping people see fears of each other as groundless
@kristenmchugh22: depends on how we define villains. There are a lot of villains who think they're good people and not doing wrong AT ALL.
@MuseOfDoom: Kitty cats stuck in trees.
@Billi_sense: Cholesterol! Send Ant-Man in there with a shovel!
@Swikan: most wonderfully, by showing respect for the heroic good deeds that everyman does without access to super powers.
SLC: Defending animal rights.
RB: I hate this ["The world needs villains so there can be heroes"] trope as much as I hate the "all the villains are the hero's fault because he raised the bar" trope.
PB: A hang nail.
RC: Poverty.
NY: suicide attempts
JHH: Parades! PR exposure. Gettin mittens out of the tree!!!
JL: Two sides opposed to one another...being on a different side doesn't necessarily make you a "villain."
DW: Depression. Inspiration to motivate a lost soul. Some people are heroes for the mere two seconds of the day they take to make a funny or friendly face at a frowning stranger. Small gestures, by "smaller" heroes, set the foundation that helps the big-hero big-saves count with stability to make a difference. Therefore, any occasion requiring assistance delivered with pure intentions is an occasion requiring a hero
GL: Alien invasion? Ingen releases a trex in san Francisco?
CW: Big businesses destroying the environment
CW: Cuddling
DW: Anyone situation/problem that requires inspiration situations ideal for mankind's well being. Inspirational*
CW: Awkward conversations. Family reunions
AB: Pizza delivery workers. Those guys (and gals) are heroes to all us lazy folk.
LME: Kitty stuck up a tree.
HB: Kids
CS: Poverty

What do you think? Do we really need villains so we can have heroes?

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In BBC's Happy Valley, police sergeant Catherine Cawood faces the man who destroyed her family.