This is a shockingly common view of this movie. In fact, most media that features a villain protagonist tends to have this problem. Look at Breaking Bad, Fight Club, or American Psycho.
They present the reasons why the villain makes the decisions they do, in a way that is sympathetic to the audience, then it turns into a bit of a power fantasy before their fall at the end. A lot of people seem to look at the power fantasy portion as fighting against an unjust world, rather than an abuse of normal people.
I believe this was the point of Daenerys Targaryen, I think GRRM wanted to see at what point we would have to change our minds about her being good and righteous. There are many examples of redemption arcs, but she was the opposite.
In the TV-show, no, it was rushed and didn’t make a lot of sense. In the books, I guess we will never know, but the foundation is there all the way back to “Skahaz, I have changed my mind. Question the man sharply.” etc.
This is why Friendship is my favorite portrayal of toxic masculinity in cinema. It’s making the same points as a Fight Club, but the people who would normally identify with the protagonist craving a “macho” world are made to feel deeply uncomfortable instead.
Another less known (outside of Brazil) movie like that is Elite Squad (Tropa de elite). The protagonist is very clearly a bad guy, yet everyone and their grandma thought he was a hero.
It’s telling because my maga stepfather sees him as a hero. And I just have to wonder if he’s ever seen the end of the film.
This is a shockingly common view of this movie. In fact, most media that features a villain protagonist tends to have this problem. Look at Breaking Bad, Fight Club, or American Psycho.
They present the reasons why the villain makes the decisions they do, in a way that is sympathetic to the audience, then it turns into a bit of a power fantasy before their fall at the end. A lot of people seem to look at the power fantasy portion as fighting against an unjust world, rather than an abuse of normal people.
I believe this was the point of Daenerys Targaryen, I think GRRM wanted to see at what point we would have to change our minds about her being good and righteous. There are many examples of redemption arcs, but she was the opposite.
The problem with Daenerys is that her turn wasn’t well written, so it didn’t feel earned.
In the TV-show, no, it was rushed and didn’t make a lot of sense. In the books, I guess we will never know, but the foundation is there all the way back to “Skahaz, I have changed my mind. Question the man sharply.” etc.
This is why Friendship is my favorite portrayal of toxic masculinity in cinema. It’s making the same points as a Fight Club, but the people who would normally identify with the protagonist craving a “macho” world are made to feel deeply uncomfortable instead.
Another less known (outside of Brazil) movie like that is Elite Squad (Tropa de elite). The protagonist is very clearly a bad guy, yet everyone and their grandma thought he was a hero.