Sunday, January 20, 2013

The glamour of evil


One of my favourite Peter Bishop scenes: "Hi, I'm the Bad Cop, and we're going to have a discussion now."

I've been thinking a lot lately on the notion of attraction. What attracts us, and from what do we naturally recoil and why. And I've got to say, I really do get the appeal of the Bad Boys. Mmm..hmm!

Don't worry, Peter reforms by the end of the series, and tells his father he loves him, rejects evil and does the right thing. But the major conflict of the whole show, was between Peter and his conscience. He spent most of his life solving problems in a more ... err, direct than orthodox manner, and the appeal of this for most of us who do try to follow the rules most of the time is certainly strong. We can't help but respond with a little cheer at Peter's correction, "No, you can't do that."

Ultimately, though, Peter gets pushed past his limits with the anger that boils away all the time inside, and his lust for revenge becomes all-consuming. Does he pull back, at the last possible moment, from the edge? In the last few episodes, will he finally choose The Real and reject the glamour of evil?

Well, it's TV, so... you know...



~

6 comments:

Gregory said...

I surrender. That quote has convinced me that this show may be worth a shot after all.

Gregory said...

Just watched the first three minutes of the first episode. Yuck. Never mind.

Hilary Jane Margaret White said...

Yer so dum.

Hilary Jane Margaret White said...

And yes, something gruesome and horrifying happens in the first ten minutes of pretty much every episode.

Get a little backbone, ya girl.

Gregory said...

Yeah, real men watch horrid diabolic s*** happening to innocent people. The more f***ed up the better. That TOTALLY won't mess anyone up. I guess I'm just not man enough wallow deeply in the modern world's rivers of filth and violence.

Hilary Jane Margaret White said...

You've never enjoyed a horror film in your entire life, I suppose...