Are you guys burning out on anti-hero movies and shows?

Reverend Conehead

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(Some minor spoilers about Breaking Bad and You ahead)

I've enjoyed shows like Breaking Bad and You. Both have major anti-heros as their protagonists. In BB Walter White becomes a really bad guy, a meth kingpin, but I found myself rooting for him, especially at first. When a bunch of bullies mock and harass his handicapped son and Walter stands up to them, I was like, "Yeah! Go, Walter." Then there was this obnoxious and arrogant rich dude, some stock broker who talks down to everyone and thinks he's super great. Walter sabotaged his BMW, and a cheered when it blew up into flames. But later in the series when Walter stands by and allows a heroin-addicted woman to choke to death on her own vomit, I started to feel sick that I had rooted for him.

It's similar with You. This series is about a guy who works in a bookstore and meets an attractive woman whom he has a lot in common with, namely the same taste in literature and books. At first, it looks like a normal boy meets girl story, but we soon see that Joe is not normal at all. With the little information he has about her, he follows her around, spying on her to find out where she goes to school and who her friends are. That was already bad enough, but then he breaks into her apartment to go through her things, including her computer, to learn more about her. Yeah ... a real sicko. It turns out she does have a half-assed dirtbag boyfriend, and Joe ends up abducting him and murdering him. Okay, it's gotten seriously unethical and illegal here, but you still kind of root for the guy. How many times did some great girl have a goonie boyfriend that you felt like clobbering? But it gets worse. He gets together with her, but she has some kind of obnoxious friends. Instead of sitting down with her for a talk and saying, "You know I think this friend is a bad influence," he stalks her friend down and kills her!

So, yeah, extremely bad dude! But you see the show from his POV, so you kind of root for him. Then you're like, "NO! He's a stalker and a murderer -- I don't want to root for him!"

Well, at least these shows aren't boring. But I do feel kind of sick to the stomach. I feel like I've been duped into rooting for some really crappy human beings. I think I'm burning out on the whole anti-hero kind of show and would rather root for a straight-up, old-fashioned real hero.

Have any of you experienced the same thing?
 

Sammy

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Nope. My current favorite anti hero series is Barry with Bill Hader. Barry is a hit man who wants to become an actor. Oh, I love Get Shorty with Ray Romano and Chris O'Dowd too. O'Dowd also plays a hit man for the Vegas mob who wants to get into show biz.
 

terra

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Never really have rooted for the anti hero. Now and then for the villain when the hero was a idiot or jerk.

I can never understand rooting for murderers and drug dealers. Never.
 

Crazed Liotta Eyes

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Nope. My current favorite anti hero series is Barry with Bill Hader. Barry is a hit man who wants to become an actor. Oh, I love Get Shorty with Ray Romano and Chris O'Dowd too. O'Dowd also plays a hit man for the Vegas mob who wants to get into show biz.
Barry is a great show. Is Get Shorty a series based on the movie? I liked the movie.
 

Crazed Liotta Eyes

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(Some minor spoilers about Breaking Bad and You ahead)

I've enjoyed shows like Breaking Bad and You. Both have major anti-heros as their protagonists. In BB Walter White becomes a really bad guy, a meth kingpin, but I found myself rooting for him, especially at first. When a bunch of bullies mock and harass his handicapped son and Walter stands up to them, I was like, "Yeah! Go, Walter." Then there was this obnoxious and arrogant rich dude, some stock broker who talks down to everyone and thinks he's super great. Walter sabotaged his BMW, and a cheered when it blew up into flames. But later in the series when Walter stands by and allows a heroin-addicted woman to choke to death on her own vomit, I started to feel sick that I had rooted for him.

It's similar with You. This series is about a guy who works in a bookstore and meets an attractive woman whom he has a lot in common with, namely the same taste in literature and books. At first, it looks like a normal boy meets girl story, but we soon see that Joe is not normal at all. With the little information he has about her, he follows her around, spying on her to find out where she goes to school and who her friends are. That was already bad enough, but then he breaks into her apartment to go through her things, including her computer, to learn more about her. Yeah ... a real sicko. It turns out she does have a half-assed dirtbag boyfriend, and Joe ends up abducting him and murdering him. Okay, it's gotten seriously unethical and illegal here, but you still kind of root for the guy. How many times did some great girl have a goonie boyfriend that you felt like clobbering? But it gets worse. He gets together with her, but she has some kind of obnoxious friends. Instead of sitting down with her for a talk and saying, "You know I think this friend is a bad influence," he stalks her friend down and kills her!

So, yeah, extremely bad dude! But you see the show from his POV, so you kind of root for him. Then you're like, "NO! He's a stalker and a murderer -- I don't want to root for him!"

Well, at least these shows aren't boring. But I do feel kind of sick to the stomach. I feel like I've been duped into rooting for some really crappy human beings. I think I'm burning out on the whole anti-hero kind of show and would rather root for a straight-up, old-fashioned real hero.

Have any of you experienced the same thing?
I generally relate to the anti-hero so, no. I haven't seen You but Breaking Bad was so well done that you have to like the show whether you're rooting for Walter White or not. One of the best shows ever made IMO. I rooted for Jesse as much as anyone.
 

Sammy

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Barry is a great show. Is Get Shorty a series based on the movie? I liked the movie.

Not really. O'Dowd is sent to LA to kill someone and a movie script falls into his hands. His hitman partner puts his name on it and O'Dowd uses that to become a producer. That's where the similarities end.
 

nobody

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In general I just don't watch them for long if I watch them at all. I'm sure the writing and story is compelling, but I have no interest in long-running shows about people like that. Movies are slightly different and it depends on the genre and plot idea.
 

John813

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I still watch Sopranos to this day.

To me it's all about the quality of acting/writing.
 

Doomsday

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I don't care, either way, I just want interesting characters, good acting, and a storyline I enjoy.

Some of the best TV shows were the Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Ozark, Sons of Anarchy, etc so if that is what it takes for them to create great content I am all for it.
 

VaqueroTD

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Nope. My current favorite anti hero series is Barry with Bill Hader. Barry is a hit man who wants to become an actor. Oh, I love Get Shorty with Ray Romano and Chris O'Dowd too. O'Dowd also plays a hit man for the Vegas mob who wants to get into show biz.

Barry is a great show! I never would have envisioned it, but Bill Hader pulls off the badarse role well.
 

Reverend Conehead

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Nope. My current favorite anti hero series is Barry with Bill Hader. Barry is a hit man who wants to become an actor. Oh, I love Get Shorty with Ray Romano and Chris O'Dowd too. O'Dowd also plays a hit man for the Vegas mob who wants to get into show biz.

Thanks for recommending Barry. I binge-watched it last weekend. It was a trip. LOL. I've done some stage acting and so I know that they did a great job capturing what you go through to try to do a compelling performance.

Oh, and I LOVED the wild, 12-year-old martial arts girl. LOL. She was a trip. I wonder how they found someone so good for that part. She was wild.
 

Hardline

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I only watch sitcoms from the 60s and 70s and no movie newer than 1950.
I'm still holding out hope that I can bankrupt Hollywood.
 

Sammy

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Thanks for recommending Barry. I binge-watched it last weekend. It was a trip. LOL. I've done some stage acting and so I know that they did a great job capturing what you go through to try to do a compelling performance.

Oh, and I LOVED the wild, 12-year-old martial arts girl. LOL. She was a trip. I wonder how they found someone so good for that part. She was wild.

Yeah, she was good. The actress is the daughter of 2 stuntpeople.

I'm really enjoying Henry Winkler in this series. His wooing of Det. Janis Moss is hilarious.
 
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