The idea of the anti-hero has been around since stories have been told. This isn’t an antagonist. This isn’t someone working against the protagonist getting what he or she wants. This IS the protagonist. But it’s a protagonist with qualities most people do not and would not aspire to. This is someone we would most likely not like if we met them face to face, for whatever unique character flaw or personality make-up they have. And yet, they are the hero of the story, and you are invested in them, rooting for their success more often than their failure, even when they deserve the latter.
Some recent pop culture examples of this literature and tv/film staple are Dr. Gregory House from House, Walter White from Breaking Bad, and Don Draper from MadMen. House is an acerbic, condescending, narcissistic man with an amoral divining rod. Walter White is a fascinating study of a normal, decent man spiraling into a base, corrupt cretin. Don Draper is a misogynistic, egotistical user. And yet, they are the heroes and centers of the worlds they inhabit. Each week, we invest time, emotions, and energy into the storylines that highlight their faults.
All of the above examples are men, but women characters are not exempt from this category. In literature, Gillian Flynn brought the female anti-hero back with a vengeance in all of her novels, beginning with SHARP OBJECTS and reaching broad appeal with her best-selling GONE GIRL. In DARK SPACES, the female protagonist is an unlikely lead as well. Her characters are drains on society, have unsettling emotional problems and physical habits, or are flat out insane. But people devour her books and will no doubt rush to buy the next one. Click HERE for an article on GONE GIRL and the anti-hero from the New York Times.
So where did this fascination begin? It’s always been here, really. Look at stories like Oedipus Rex or Macbeth, and you see the stories of deeply flawed, often unlikeable men. Othello, Faustus, the list goes on… Even in real life the world is mesmerized by the cavernous flaws of their idols. Tabloid news is a testament to the indelible place in history of the anti-hero.
As far as the upsurge of anti-heroes in television, film, and books in the past quarter century, some early starts stand out. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an anti-hero that is not able to be ignored, and she is arguably one of the early pop culture instigators of the resurgence. While a character like Spike is more your typical anti-hero, Buffy’s character, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, also fits the archetype. Buffy is a typical teenager, except she is charged with saving the world from vampires, monsters, demons, apocalypses, you name it. In the beginning, her typical whininess and selfishness is warranted and teenager-typical. Over the course of 7 seasons, however, she becomes arguably unlikeable. She is petty, selfish, egotistical, and bitchy. But she is also the only one who can do what she does, and millions of fans can’t help but love her (including myself).
But really what are we talking about when we talk about anti-heroes? What was the alternative before? We had protagonists, with problems to solve, and people and things in their way. But what separates a hero from an anti-hero? Intention? Buffy had the intention of a hero at most times, and yet, she was highly unlikeable much of the series. Othello had all the makings of a hero, but he falls to his own demons. So what’s the difference?
I say the difference between heroes and anti-heroes is TRUTH. REALITY. And HUMANITY. Heroes are coded. Similar to what Tolstoy says about families—how all happy families are alike in the same way but all unhappy ones are unhappy in different ways—all heroes share similar qualities. Alternatively, anti-heroes share that they are imperfect but they are all imperfect in unique and compelling ways.
The book I most recently read was ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE, and it was lovely and heavy with suffering, painful awkwardness, and horror, but also with humor and redemption and beauty. Much like when I read, when I write, I am not drawn to the perfect characters. I am drawn to the human ones. To those who lay bare the truths of what it is to live, each day, imperfectly.
So, what we are really talking about when we talk about anti-heroes is ourselves. We are all flawed and imperfect in some way. Our shortcomings may be minor. We may not be the extreme version like Walter White needed to carry a show, but we are more alike these cracked characters (most of us anyway—Mother Teresa and the Pope excepted) than we are like your box-shaped hero or heroine. We live and breathe, rise and fall much the same. We err, we celebrate. Some days we are heroes. Some days we are villains. And some days we just are.
Like the anti-hero of modern entertainment and literature, we are subject to our flaws. Most of these characters fall the furthest when they are isolated from others (many are lonely and independent to a fault). Connections keep the edge of our humanity sharp. So how do we do that?
Well one option is to find a good book and read. Connect. Laugh. Cry. Cringe. Rejoice.
Live.