Jade Bile

Did you ever read comic books as a kid?  The nature of melodrama is to describe an adversarial encounter, the dichotomy between good and evil.  After the Hitler/Nazi propaganda of WWII, comics needed something more satisfying than Batman punching purse pilfering thugs or Superman saving a defenestrated Lois Lane.  These bad guys could not be in any way sympathetic to the reader.  The Joker was psychotic.  Lex Luthor was a mad scientist, driven to wild means by the end of knowledge.  Since the plot is designed for the villain to lose every time, they needed to be such abominable bastards that the readers would continue to buy the book just to witness evil's inevitable defeated time and again.  Years went by and the characters evolved to appeal to a more sophisticated audience, yet the dynamic changed little.  The Joker got crazier.  Lex Luthor became an immoral businessman who directed his xenophobia at the alien Superman.  As Hollywood pumped millions of dollars into film franchises, it became imperative that the antagonists remain unquestionably despicable.  The viewer is meant to be left appalled, unable to comprehend how any human being could commit such atrocities.  None were intended to identify with such scoundrels.  I'm the guy who did.