No, Modern Villains Have Not Gone Downhill | Ant vs. The Second Story

Have modern villains run out of steam? Are we too degenerate as a society to have modern evil? The Second Story seems to think so. YouTube Critic The Second Story has recently dropped a video about how modern villains have lost their edge, and in it, she draws connections between classical philosophy, post-modernism, and the moral degradation of society. I think, however, that none of her arguments hold any water, despite how articulate her perspective is. This is my rebuttal to her points, where I argue that modern villains are actually really well-written. Original Video by The Second Story:    • Modern Villains are Pitiful and Impotent   Thumbnail ‪@thecrimsonender‬ Chapters: 0:00 Have You Heard of Second Story and Her Hate of Modern Media? 1:04 The Counter Argument to Second Story’s Villain Video 2:17 What is a Villain and Conflict? 4:03 Villains Have Always Been Multidimensional (Shakespeare, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Les Miserables) 7:17 Exploring Villains and the Nature of Evil (Grendel, Wicked) 8:36 Is Evil Dead in Modern Movies? (Art the Clown, Nosferatu, Legend of Zelda, Lord of the Rings) 14:37 Evil is Not Skin-Deep (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy 16:38 Sympathy for the Devil (Paradise Lost) 18:44 The Second Story Does Not Understand Hannibal Lector 21:24 The Objective Definition of Evil Does Not Exist? 25:57 The Second Story Has a Weird Issue with Post-Modern 26:55 What is Evil? 33:55 “If You Disagree With Me, You Lack Morality.” 36:38 Is Evil a Social Construct? (Freddy Krueger) 38:34 I Caught The Second Story Making up Stories About College Students 40:36 Are Villains Just Misunderstood? (Punisher) 42:53 The Post-Modern Principals of Modern Villain Writing (According to The Second Story) 46:16 You Shouldn’t Sympathize With Villains? (Fushigi Yugi) 50:44 Are Villains Too Meta? (Scream) 51:48 The Second Story Hates Ambiguity (David Lynch, Hayao Miyazaki, The Wailing) 55:57 Gladiator 1:00:41 The Thanos Imperative 1:05:11 A Villain Doesn’t Need to Be Evil to Be Frightening (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Ju-On, Audition)