Cycnos | Volume 29.2 - Le Méchant à l'écran. Les paradoxes de l'indispensable figure du mal | I Larvé ou obscène : le pouvoir du méchant

Résumé :

On screen, the villain by order represents the different one, according to his behavior, his physical appearance or the values he believes in, which do not fit the set of norms any member of a society must be able to identify and enact. His arrival immediately threatens a long-standing order, a threat triggering the emergence of a hero whose only purpose relies in the eradication of evil. Then only, the values threatened by the very existence of a deviant individual within the society he must protect remain untouched and unquestioned.In 1972, American filmmaker John Waters stages « the filthiest people alive » as the heroes of his bad taste, cult underground film Pink Flamingos. Drag queen Divine performs the part of Babs Johnson, head of a family of freaks, who refuses to assimilate and celebrates a scandalous, outrageous lifestyle, regardless of the consequences their society wants them to face. Their crimes and their total disinterest in any kind of mainstream community involvement being highly covered by the media, they inspire both horror and fascination, and even manage to become role models to fear and respect at the same time, which could turn cultural landmarks upside down. This paper will explore whether the American society's physical and behavioral norms lead to the emergence of those that we call villains, and how we tend to point at difference as a potential threat to the normative public space instead of seeing the Other as a potential role model.

Mots-clés : deviance, terrorism, evil, filth, freaks, mainstream, Pink Flamingos, transgression, underground, John Waters

Date de publication : 2018-07-23