Movie Monday - The Bad Guy

Do you remember when there were movies where there was one, singular "Bad Guy"?

It was always "The Bad Guy" versus "The Good Guy." And even though The Good Guy always had back-up who took over when he fell, The Bad Guy's backers always scattered as soon as he was down.

In the westerns, when the sheriff shot The Bad Guy, the rest of the posse would ride away, never to be heard from again.

In the fairy tales, when the prince slew The Bad Guy (frequently in the guise of a dragon), no minions rose up to take over - they all disappeared into the shadows so that the prince and his princess could live happily ever after.

In the silent movies, The Bad Guy who had taken all of the damsel in distress's money was given his comeuppance by The Good Guy, sent out of town on the rails, and everything faded to black with a kiss.

The problem is that even in the movies life isn't viewed that way any more. Now, when you kill the Good-Guy-eating alien, there's a whole nest waiting to invade the planet in the sequel. When the zombies (which, honestly, having no conscience probably can't be considered Good or Bad) come after you, you know that there's always the chance one more will show up after you kill "the last" one. It turns out that Darth Vader wasn't the only "Darth" on the block. And the Wicked Witch of the East had an equally wicked sister.

So, as I've been watching the news of the past 24 hours, I've found that I'm not as happy as a lot of the crowds on TV. I'm kind of relieved that this chapter might be over, but I haven't felt like singing and dancing in the streets like the newscasters are showing us. Although, I'm also not going to say that we're bad people for doing it - even the Munchkins rejoiced when the house fell out of the sky - at least for a little while.

It's just not as easy for me to say "The Bad Guy is dead - we're all perfectly safe, now," as it seems to be for some of those people. I can't say The Bad Guy was the only Bad in the world, any easier than I can say that The Good Guy doesn't have help, either.

I'm one of those people waiting for the sequel.

Here's hoping it's a romantic comedy, and not an espionage-suspense-thriller.