Villains: Selling the Drama

It has been said that every hero needs a villain. While I’m not convinced that this is always the case, I do believe it has some applicability in The Killer Trail. The (re) emergence of Ray Owens into Chris Ryder’s life forces Chris to reset his priorities and his raison d’être. In a pivotal scene in the story, Chris realizes that the threat of death at the hands of Ray helps put his life in perspective and strengthens his resolve to survive Ray’s deadly games.

Speaking of games, the idea of dramatic story lines involving heroes and villains gets me thinking about the upcoming NHL playoffs. In Vancouver it won’t be hard to find evidence of villainous crimes which have been perpetrated against Canucks players by any number of players on their opponents teams, perhaps none more dramatically than the Chicago Blackhawks or Boston Bruins.

Sports columnists and fans alike will espouse the virtues of the other 3 ‘R’s: revenge, retaliation, and retribution. Of course in the opposing cities, it will be the Canucks who will be portrayed as the villains and the home team as the heroes. This past week even witnessed a bizarre episode in which the girlfriend of a hockey player on the Bruins team took to Twitter to body check (metaphorically speaking) the girl friend of a player on the Canucks team.

The tendency to formulate story lines of heroes vs. villains is common in popular culture, regardless of whether we are talking about the arts, politics or sports. Ultimately, the enhanced drama can make for a thrilling experience.

Let the games begin!