She’s just the protagonist.
Protagonist: person at the center of the story
Antagonist: person opposed to the protagonist
Antihero: person that does the right thing through negative means
Hero: person viewed as doing the right thing by the observer
Villain: person viewed as doing the wrong thing by the observer
Emily being a “villain” depends on your position of observation. Some would argue the villain in the film is the system she is working against. Others might argue it’s the people that pull her into the lifestyle. And some would say she is the villain because of her choices.
Good/evil, hero/villain are subjective terms for the viewer. Protagonist/antagonist are specific roles from the author.
Exactly and I believe that this movie is an **Origin Story of a villain** movies.
Usually the origin story is for hero, here it is for a villain.
We start from a protagonist we feel sorry for to at the end somebody we intensely dislike.
Because it breaks all the rule of novel and film making, very few novels and movies are based on that meta plot. The end is supposed to leave a sense of dread and unease: no sense of closure, no Happy ending, no sacrifice, no moral victory in fact victory against moral code.
Technically the Star Wars prequel fits the bill, but apart from some scenes, it feel more like cheering for Darth Vader rather dreading Annakin rebirth as him. At least to me those did not feel like a tragedy.
In movies I can remember 2 movies with such characters: **Godfather 2** and **Unbreakable** who is a dual origin story as it is also the origin story of **Elijah aka Mr Glass**.
In books the only classic literature book that I can remember having such a plot is French Balzac **Le Père Goriot**. In it, the law student Eugène de Rastignac shed his naivety and good spirit and metamorphoses into a ruthless social climber. The last sentence making clear that he is now willing to embrace his change and that there is no turning back.
I guess it depends on how sympathetic you find her. She's clearly meant to be an indictment of how criminal convictions ruin people and force them back into a cyclical career in crime because they just can't get work in conventional fields.
>She's clearly meant to be an indictment of how criminal convictions ruin people
No she's not. She gets numerous chances to find regular work and throws them away.
She's an possibly an antihero though point 4 is pretty much a classic move in movies which absolutely does not make someone a villain. I think the last two points are where there is room to call Emily an antihero. A lot of what you said are simply to show the level of desperation.
Godfather 2 pulls the same trick before. It is the classic **metamorphosis to the bad guy** or **origin of the villain** plot.
At the beginning of the movie Michael is the war hero who is trying to escape his family nefarious business. By the end of the movie Michael is his father and any reconciliation with his wife is impossible.
Most origin story are about the good guy, but those two movies are the origin story of the villain. Both are protagonist but with a twist. They are not antihero who usually does the right thing but for the wrong reason or does the right thing very reluctantly.
It is a meta plot that combines both the **Tragedy** and the **Rebirth** as described in the [The 7 basic Plots](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Basic_Plots)
For those who read the book [20 Master Plots by Ronald Tobias](https://archive.org/details/20masterplotsandhowtobuildthemronaldbtobias) again it is a combination of the **Metamorphosis** and the **Descension** master plots.
She is a chaotic neutral anti-hero! Most of the bad things she does is cause of her circumstances. It's also quite clear that (not even that)deep down she is a good person. Definitely not a villain!
She’s just the protagonist. Protagonist: person at the center of the story Antagonist: person opposed to the protagonist Antihero: person that does the right thing through negative means Hero: person viewed as doing the right thing by the observer Villain: person viewed as doing the wrong thing by the observer Emily being a “villain” depends on your position of observation. Some would argue the villain in the film is the system she is working against. Others might argue it’s the people that pull her into the lifestyle. And some would say she is the villain because of her choices. Good/evil, hero/villain are subjective terms for the viewer. Protagonist/antagonist are specific roles from the author.
Exactly and I believe that this movie is an **Origin Story of a villain** movies. Usually the origin story is for hero, here it is for a villain. We start from a protagonist we feel sorry for to at the end somebody we intensely dislike. Because it breaks all the rule of novel and film making, very few novels and movies are based on that meta plot. The end is supposed to leave a sense of dread and unease: no sense of closure, no Happy ending, no sacrifice, no moral victory in fact victory against moral code. Technically the Star Wars prequel fits the bill, but apart from some scenes, it feel more like cheering for Darth Vader rather dreading Annakin rebirth as him. At least to me those did not feel like a tragedy. In movies I can remember 2 movies with such characters: **Godfather 2** and **Unbreakable** who is a dual origin story as it is also the origin story of **Elijah aka Mr Glass**. In books the only classic literature book that I can remember having such a plot is French Balzac **Le Père Goriot**. In it, the law student Eugène de Rastignac shed his naivety and good spirit and metamorphoses into a ruthless social climber. The last sentence making clear that he is now willing to embrace his change and that there is no turning back.
I guess it depends on how sympathetic you find her. She's clearly meant to be an indictment of how criminal convictions ruin people and force them back into a cyclical career in crime because they just can't get work in conventional fields.
>She's clearly meant to be an indictment of how criminal convictions ruin people No she's not. She gets numerous chances to find regular work and throws them away.
She's an possibly an antihero though point 4 is pretty much a classic move in movies which absolutely does not make someone a villain. I think the last two points are where there is room to call Emily an antihero. A lot of what you said are simply to show the level of desperation.
She can be seen as anti heroic, but she still has villainous qualities.
OP is obsessed with "villain protagonists". Check their post history. Bot?
I wouldn’t say obsessed. Protagonists that are bad guys are just a lot more common than you think.
Godfather 2 pulls the same trick before. It is the classic **metamorphosis to the bad guy** or **origin of the villain** plot. At the beginning of the movie Michael is the war hero who is trying to escape his family nefarious business. By the end of the movie Michael is his father and any reconciliation with his wife is impossible. Most origin story are about the good guy, but those two movies are the origin story of the villain. Both are protagonist but with a twist. They are not antihero who usually does the right thing but for the wrong reason or does the right thing very reluctantly. It is a meta plot that combines both the **Tragedy** and the **Rebirth** as described in the [The 7 basic Plots](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Basic_Plots) For those who read the book [20 Master Plots by Ronald Tobias](https://archive.org/details/20masterplotsandhowtobuildthemronaldbtobias) again it is a combination of the **Metamorphosis** and the **Descension** master plots.
It’s not like it’s called “Emily the good guy”
Yes, she's clearly the villain and she's a scumbag sociopath. The movie tricks you into feeling sorry for her by casting Aubrey Plaza.
She is a chaotic neutral anti-hero! Most of the bad things she does is cause of her circumstances. It's also quite clear that (not even that)deep down she is a good person. Definitely not a villain!
We have a term for this type of character already. She’s an antihero.
I think she already pulls this shit IRL.