#though I guess in a lot of ways this conglicts with why I love Anakin Skywalker

[zo1nkss]

Analyzing my own feelings re: Willy v Way

I've been asking myself recently why I hate Way so much but can develop a kind of love-hate mentality toward Willy. And I think it boils down to motive.

Realistically speaking, I do wholeheartedly hate Willy. It's part of why I want him to suffer so badly. But I never found myself deeply obsessed with Way like I do with Willy. And I've realized it's because Way's motives are fundamentally mis-aligned with his actions.

He's a villain who believes all negative action is excusable for the sake of a positive outcome. If it gets Tony off his and Babe's backs, nothing is off-limits. We're supposed to sympathize with him over that, and I can't deny that a small part of me does. But there are some things I simply can't overlook for the sake of intention. Sexual assault is one of those things. And admittedly, the scene with Way was deeply reminiscent of something I myself have experienced in my real life, so it threw me for a bit of a loop and was extremely difficult to look passed in relation to the totality of his character.

But beyond that little hint of compassion, we can also recognize that no amount of harm to Babe is worth the end result of getting Tony to leave them alone. Way sees himself as one of the Good Guys because he's willing to go to extreme lengths to escape their current burden. But his actions do not beget those of a man who's morals and ethics are in the right place. Therefore, his motivation does not allign with his actions.

Willy, on the other hand, is very straight-forward. He knows without a shadow of a doubt he is commiting "Bad Guy" actions to achieve a "Bad Guy" goal. He is actively working with and for Tony's interests with a clear goal of knowingly causing harm to another person.

He is under no delusion that his actions are justified or morally sound. This is not a "the ends justify the means" situation, this is a "if I don't do this guy's bidding, I die. And what I want more than to remain morally pure is survival. So I will do what it takes — justifiable or not — to survive." His actions align with his motives. Sure he came at Babe trying to butter him up, and but his actions clearly told a different story. Lying about his intentions =/= misaligned motives, at least in this instance.

I hate Way for convincing himself that hurting Babe was an act of mercy. I hate him for believing his actions would always be viewed as Wholely Good as long as the result got Babe what he wanted. I hate him for thinking that his love for Babe outweighed any and every other possible thing in Babe's life. I hate him because he claimed to care about Babe and still put him in situations that caused him iminent danger, while believing that he was in the right.

Willy knows his actions are wrong and wholely rainted by Tony's evil intentions. And at this point in the story, he's no longer trying to convince Babe or anyone else otherwise. He's just crazy and fucked up and he cares more about his own life than anyone else's.

Thats real. Thats honest. I like an honest villain. I hate a villain who thinks their reasons justify their actions and outweigh the harm they're causing, because they're always so cowardly about their villainy. Way is case-in-point here. He's so afraid of his owm choices he stalls and stalls and convinces himself he deserves Babe and has earned the rught to his feelings and is entitled to Babe's body, to decide what will be done to Babe's body because it will — in Way's eyes — save him from a worse fate.

Willy was never here because he wanted anything to do with Babe. He doesn't care what happens to him. He doesn't care what happens to Charlie. All he wants is to secure his own survival, and if that means hurting other people he'll do it. He's not a coward.

And I think thats why I can hate Way and never want to look at or have anything to do with him again. Because this wasn't just an Evil Villain Doing Evil Villain Things. This was an Evil Villain who believes his villany is justified so long as he has Good Guy Motives.

But I can hate Willy and want to pick him apart and understand him and find out why he's Like That and where he actually came from. Because he is evil with intention. He knows where he stands and chooses to remain there.