I wear the black hat : grappling with villains (real and imagined) /
Klosterman, Chuck,1972-
Chuck Klosterman has walked into the darkness. As a boy, he related to the cultural figures who represented goodness -- but as an adult, he found himself unconsciously aligning with their enemies. This was not because he necessarily liked what they were doing; it was because they were doing it on purpose (and they were doing it better). They wanted to be evil. And what, exactly, was that supposed to mean? When we classify someone as a bad person, what are we really saying (and why are we so obsessed with saying it)? How does the culture of deliberate malevolence operate? The author questions the modern understanding of villainy. What was so Machiavellian about Machiavelli? Why don't we see Bernhard Goetz the same way we see Batman? Who is more worthy of our vitriol -- Bill Clinton or Don Henley? What was O. J. Simpson's second-worst decision? And why is Klosterman still haunted by some kid he knew for one week in 1985?
What you say about his company is what you say about society -- Another thing that interests me about the eagles is that I [am contractually obligated to] hate them -- Villians who are not villian -- Easier than typing -- Human clay -- Without a gun they can't get none -- Arrested for smoking -- Electric funeral -- "I am perplexed" [this is why, this is why, this is why they hate you] -- Crime and punishment (or the lack thereof) -- Hitler is in the book -- The problem of overrated ideas.
Chuck Klosterman has walked into the darkness. As a boy, he related to the cultural figures who represented goodness -- but as an adult, he found himself unconsciously aligning with their enemies. This was not because he necessarily liked what they were doing; it was because they were doing it on purpose (and they were doing it better). They wanted to be evil. And what, exactly, was that supposed to mean? When we classify someone as a bad person, what are we really saying (and why are we so obsessed with saying it)? How does the culture of deliberate malevolence operate? The author questions the modern understanding of villainy. What was so Machiavellian about Machiavelli? Why don't we see Bernhard Goetz the same way we see Batman? Who is more worthy of our vitriol -- Bill Clinton or Don Henley? What was O. J. Simpson's second-worst decision? And why is Klosterman still haunted by some kid he knew for one week in 1985?
Villains in mass media.
Villains in popular culture.
Ethics
Right and wrong in mass media.