MINION
by John David Anderson
Published by Walden Pond Press
June 24, 2014
ISBN-13: 978-0062133113
If you loved Sidekicked, you are going to be thrilled to read Minion.
Today Superhero and author John David "Dave" Anderson teams up with Librarian-Sidekick Julee "Lightning Quick" Murphy at Book Egg to reflect on evil villains and the lure of the power of the dark side. Read on dear ones and be entranced.
Hi Book
Eggers! Julee kindly invited me to write a guest post as part of the Minion blog tour, so I thought I’d
explore one of the questions that prompted me to write the book to begin with:
Are
villains cooler than heroes?
It’s one
of the questions I asked myself as I was writing the novel Sidekicked. While Sidekicked’s
hero Andrew Bean questioned what it meant to heroic, there was never really any
chance of him exploring his darker side. Yes, he may have cheated on a math
test, but if I had super senses like his, I probably would have “done better”
in middle-school math too. The protagonist of Minion, on the other hand, starts the book by robbing a bank.
Deplorable behavior, certainly, and not something you should try in your home
town, but isn’t it also, you know…just a teensy bit…awesome? Is there something
about being bad (or at least reading
about people being bad) that’s just as satisfying, if not more so, than
watching a caped crusader goody-two-shoes rescue every poor stranded cat from a
tree? And if there is, what does that
say about us?
Let’s
start with this basic premise: Let’s just say
that the Joker is cooler than Batman. Yes, Batman’s action figure is more fun
to play with (he comes with more accessories), but he’s still not as compelling
as the grinning maniac who invites us to dance with the devil by the pale
moonlight. Case in point: The Dark Knight
ranks fourth on IMDB’s Top 250 movies of
all time. (Note that the three films before it are about convicts and the
mafia). In our franchise-frenzied culture where the heroes stay consistent
(even if the actors who play them don’t), one can’t help but wonder if it’s
ultimately the villain that sets a
story apart. Or at least a superhero story.
Of course
asking if villains are cooler than heroes is begging the question: what do we
mean by cooler? Certainly villains don’t provide better role models (though one
might question what kind of role model the schmoozing Tony Stark provides, or
how cigar-chomping Wolverine would look on an anti-smoking poster). Nobody
wants to grow up and be like Darth Vader, going around force-choking everyone
(though as a father of twins, I have seen my kids, hands extended, trying their
hardest). Still, there is something compelling about a good villain.
Maybe it
really is just the whole Freudian cathartic release thing. There is something primordially satisfying in
watching a giant robot smash his way through downtown while hundreds of
faceless bystanders run for their lives. I can remember spending hours as a kid
building elaborate cities out of wooden blocks for the sole purpose of going on
a five second, block-busting, chest-thumping, primal-scream-bellowing rampage.
It’s okay, so long as someone stops the robot/monster/villain in the end so
that we can all feel better about ourselves. Our fascination with evil is
deeply embedded in every facet of our communal culture. It pervades our myths
and our religions. It permeates our study of history. And it is, ever increasingly,
the focal point of our books, films, and TV shows. From Felonius Gru to
Hannibal Lecter, we are fascinated by villainy.
And why
not? In many ways, villains are heroic. They overcome significant obstacles in
order to achieve their goals (actually, most of them never achieve their
goals—sucks for them). They have fervent beliefs that they stick to, often
running against the majority opinion, which takes tremendous courage. Many of
them are charming, well-dressed, and extremely intelligent. And while some of
them (looking at you, Choke Vader) are not too kind to their underlings, others
can be quite affectionate to the henchmen that serve them. Plus a good villain
(oxymoron intended) often has a wicked sense of humor.
This
doesn’t mean we should emulate them, of course, only that it’s understandable
to be fascinated by them. Good is
easy (though being good isn’t
always). If you are looking for a reason to do good, you need look no further
than the Golden Rule. We can do good for goodness’s sake. Evil, on the other
hand, is interesting because it explores ulterior motives and impulses. Many of
these are selfish, of course, but they aren’t always. Some villains actually
believe they have something to teach us about ourselves, or they have a vision
for a world that, in their minds at least, is an improvement over ours. And
there are some who do it just as a means to get by, forced by circumstances
beyond their control to take the darker road. Perhaps those are the ones we
identify with most.
Of course
in the end, the hero usually wins because that’s how allegories go. Good
triumphs over evil. Order is restored. The popcorn is spilled. The sequel is
budgeted. And we get to close the book or walk out of the theater feeling
secure in the knowledge that the powers of light are stronger than the powers
of darkness. And I think they are, I really do. And I’m thankful for that. But
I also can’t wait for that sequel. Not because I want to see the hero triumph
again, but more because I want to see what nefarious schemes the forces of
darkness come up with next.
Copies of
Sidekicked and Minion sit side by side on my shelf. One a bright and shining blue,
with Supermanian accents and a dopey, grinning hero on the cover. The other
black as night with blood-red type and a mischievous boy peering over the edge
of his sunglasses, obviously up to no good. I know which of the two I should be, the one, even, that I strive to be.
But if I
was standing in a bookstore and only had to pick one version of this never-ending
story to escape into, if only for a day or two, I’d have to say, that I’d
probably be up to no good, too.
J
ohn David Anderson is the author of Sidekicked, Minion, and Standard Hero Behavior. He has no real
plans to take over the world—mostly due to sheer laziness.
Thank you to John David Anderson and the good folks at Walden Pond
Press for
including Book Egg as part of the Minion Blog Tour. It's been
fun!
*Be sure to enter the FREE Minion book give-a-way at the bottom of the post.
Continue on the Minion Blog tour adventure. Keep an eye
out for Free copies of Minion:
June 23
Maria’s Melange
June 24
The Library Fanatic
June 25
The Next Best Book
June 26
Jean Book Nerd
June 27
Book Egg
June 28
Word Spelunking Book Blog
June 30
Ms. Yingling Reads
July 1
The Book Monsters
July 2
The Book Monsters
July 3
Read Now, Sleep Later
July 6
The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
July 7
The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
July 8
Candace’s Book Blog
July 9
Middle Grade Mafioso
July10
Librarian’s Quest
July 11
Unleashing Readers
July 12
Trisha Perry
July 14
This Kid Reviews Books
July 16
Charlotte’s Library
July 17
Literacy Toolbox
July 18 Small Review
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