History is littered with famous probably-gay villains, from Alexander the Great to Roy Cohn, Senator McCarthy’s chief counsel and Trump’s favourite lawyer. We seem to be more accepting of some baddies than others. And with hindsight’s perfect vision, it’s clear that plenty of characters in TV and film were not the “ actual villain” either.
Meanwhile, famous young women such as Britney Spears, who were once demonised, are now being reappraised as victims. Social media is pretty much a conveyor belt of villainy, too, with different echo chambers picking their own adversaries. “Well, if that makes me a villain,” proclaimed an unrepentant Cassie Howard, “then so fucking be it.” This much-memed line encapsulates popular culture’s preoccupation with baddies, from Netflix’s endless scammer series to Disney’s villain origin stories. I n February, season two of HBO’s teen drama Euphoria reached a climax.
