Does anyone else feel sorry for the "villains"?

Let's talk about Asterix here...

Moderator: Jochgem

Antworten
Furienna

Does anyone else feel sorry for the "villains"?

Beitrag: # 27773Beitrag Furienna »

I recently got into a new "Asterix" period, and I discovered something. As much as I still sympathise with the Gauls, when they struggle to defend their country and their freedom, I've also started feeling sorry for the Romans. Not for Julius Ceasar and all the other high honchos, who hardly ever get what they deserve, but for the common private soldiers, who always get beaten up, while they're just trying to do their job. (Of course, no one forced them to join the army, but still...) I've also come to think, that Asterix and Obelix are a bit too keen to start a fight some times. Like the pirates, did they actually ever do anything towards Asterix and Obelix to deserve being beaten up in almost every story?
Zuletzt geändert von Furienna am 6. September 2010 23:03, insgesamt 2-mal geändert.
Sofieke

Re: Does anyone else feel sorry for the "villains"?

Beitrag: # 27834Beitrag Sofieke »

I do not really feel sorry for the pirates, since when Asterix and Obelix would not be as invincible as they are, they would just rob them everytime. The pirates ARE a serious threat to anyone else.

As for the romans, well, yeah, I do feel sorry for them a bit. Some of them are not even soldiers out of their own will, you have little choice if you're family is part of the army, you will be as well....so they are just basically very unlucky to end up near the village. But the same apllies, if one day the village is not invincible anymore, the romans will probably be a lot worse than Asterix and Obelix and co are to them....
Furienna

Re: Does anyone else feel sorry for the "villains"?

Beitrag: # 27838Beitrag Furienna »

Yeah, I know the pirates are, well, pirates. And there are times, like in "Asterix and Cleopatra", when Asterix and Obelix have to protect others from them. But in most stories, they get beaten up just for sake of it, just because A & O can beat them up. I'm sure they would be a threat to anyone else, but since we don't get to see that, it's still a bit hard to take it into consideration.

And about the Romans, like I said before, I sympthatise with how the Gauls defend their village from Roman occupation. But in most stories, it's only the common private soldiers, who get beaten up. But while the Gauls sure are an eternal annoyance to Julius Ceasar, they're never a threat to him personally. Even in the movie, where the Gauls take over the entire Roman empire (!), he gets to live happily ever after with Cleopatra in a big beautiful house. Of course, he eventually was murdered in real life, but even though some small references to that exist in "Asterix", we'll probably never get to see it "on screen", and that makes it hard to take it into consideration here as well. And most of the time, the other powerful Romans, even the centurions, get off easily as well, while the common legionaires, who can't help, that they have to occupy Gaul, get beaten up, and how is that fair?

And add to this how keen Asterix and Obelix are on beating Romans up just because they can, just like they are with the pirates. Already in the first adventure, "Asterix the Gaul", Asterix tells Obelix something to the effect of "I'd like to get into a good fight". Um, hello? It's okay to defend yourself and other people, when someone threatens you, but wanting a fight just for the fight's sake doesn't make him much better than the pirates or the Romans, does it?

I still like "Asterix" very much, but this beating people up all the time business, which is a big reason why my brother (who otherwise likes comics as much as I do) doesn't like "Asterix" that much, has started to get to me as well.
Zuletzt geändert von Furienna am 1. April 2011 00:10, insgesamt 1-mal geändert.
Sofieke

Re: Does anyone else feel sorry for the "villains"?

Beitrag: # 27873Beitrag Sofieke »

I do get your point.

Well, the thing about cesar not being targeted personally is ....historical. There are few leaders that jump into action with their troops, since the troops risk losing their leader. And so he gets off...You could say, why don't they beat these leaders up? Well, I think it is simply because caesar never pulled out a sword at them or something like that. To a certain point, maybe also that the creators had some respect for him.

The roman fights and the pirates are comic relief parts, not slaughters. No one ever dies. I don't think Asterix is only about beating up the enemy just because of it. Well, of course Asterix and Obelix get to do what they want, because of the magic potion, and that is something that attracts me in the story. They can speak their mind without having to fear the consequences. Even then, they cannot ALWAYS rely on the magic potion througout the series.

So I really don't see too much into it. Of course, fights weren't as much 'fun' as they are in the comic (even the romans tend to joke about the fights sometimes, they always recover) but that is what makes it comic. If you left out all the fights and the pirate things, and the fights in the village, the comic would become a bit dull, don't you think?

The comics do follow a certain pattern, and a strict pattern gets boring after a certain time. So at a certain point, it can stop being funny.
But you never know, the new writers might reinvent the stories. It is not always a succes, but we do have a comic in Belgium, Suske and Wiske, and after so many writers (the original ones have died quite a while back), I still like the comics.
BBally

Re: Does anyone else feel sorry for the "villains"?

Beitrag: # 32657Beitrag BBally »

Yeah, I do sorry for the private soldiers stationed near the village, then again as shown in Asterix Conquers America, with Asterix, Obelix and Getafix stuck on an island (which happens to be the yet undiscovered America), the Roman army attacks the village and burns it to the group (luckily since this a cartoon made in fun spirit, no one died).

However, it should be noted that in Asterix The Gladiator, you actually see them make friends with gladiators, who I'm sure some of them were actually Romans.
Furienna

Re: Does anyone else feel sorry for the "villains"?

Beitrag: # 32747Beitrag Furienna »

But again, wasn't it Julius Ceasar's idea (or else some other powerful Roman's idea, I don't remember exactly right now) to capture the Gauls, when they didn't have the magic potion anymore, and almost send them to the lions? I don't think we can blame that on the private soldiders. JC managed to get away from the fight by hiding under a barrel.

It's interesting though, like Sofieke said, that it seems like Cochinny and Uderzo had/have respect for Julius Ceasar (who also would go on to do some great things as a politician in real life), no matter what he does, so he gets off easy.
Antworten