So here's my drunken explanation for why being the villain is a compliment to the British, or at least should be taken that way.

Every movie where the hero is Bruce Willis or some other low-brow, big-muscly American dude with a heart of gold, and the villain is the intellectual British chap with the diabolical plan to destroy and/or conquer the world is an exercise in self-delusion that the American Dream is right. That any low-born American can overcome the perils derived by the best and brightest the rest of the world can offer with a good dose of apple pie and testosterone.

But the fact is, the "best and brightest the rest of the world can offer" is still interpreted in our shriveled up brains as the British, despite the fact that your Empire has been a bit shrunken to the point of nonexistance for quite a while now. It's an inferiority complex, thing, like Strega said up above and much more eloquently.

Surely the fact that we find the accent, at least the high-class Eton variety, to be intimidating and disturbing in and of itself is a sign that we respect (or at least fear) the British on the whole. That's a compliment, if ever there was one. We're sure you'll produce the supervillain.

I also agree that this goes right back to the James Bond movies, and there the hero was rather British himself. Anytime the hero wins using native intelligence and suavity, he's perfectly allowed to be British: that's what we attribute to you people by nature. You're suave, sophisticated, smart, and scary as shit (in our demented, retarded minds); thus, you make great villains.

Personally, I simply find the accent hot, and I really like it when the bad guys are hot. So that works for me.

I think the tradition of Brit villains dates to Die Hard and how AWESOME Alan Rickman was in it, so you can blame him.

I was going to say it came from all the locally-cast Empire officers in Star Wars, but thinking of Alan Rickman is more enjoyable.

BUT YOU RULE THE WORLD!!!!!

But you did it first!!!

God I love Eddie Izzard. How many other stand-up comedians work General Lafayette in there?

I think Brits = Bad Guys because they are different, but not *really* different. If you cast an African or an Asian as the bad guy, and your good guys are whitebread Americans, then the antagonism is assumed to include a racial subtext. If you therefore need to cast an antagonist who looks like your protagonist, you've got more subtle differences to play with based on accent and bearing and such.

And when you're talking subtle acting, British-trained actors are your folks.

Either that, or it's just gross stereotyping.

You're suave, sophisticated, smart, and scary as shit (in our demented, retarded minds); thus, you make great villains.

...to be fair, this is what I base my behaviour management technique on, whilst teaching. Huh.

(Well, that and threatening to give people detention/giving stickers to the good kids.)

...to be fair, this is what I base my behaviour management technique on, whilst teaching. Huh.

Honestly, it's a description I'd give to most buffistas. But the English accent carries it at a gut level.

I saw Mad Hot Ballroom tonight, which was a lot of fun.

Also, as devastingly cute as the March of the Penguin trailer Jessica "Buffista Movies 4: Straight to Video" May 24, 2005 7:16:24 pm PDT is on the computer, it is a gazillion times more so on a movie screen.

Word, Perkins. It was before our Howl's.

I'd say Brit villainy dates rather to the early Bond films. Blofeld and Dr. No and Goldfinger and the like.

I think that deciding from British movies that British guys are the bad guys shows a certain lack of perception and imagination. Unless Felix Leiter was the only hero.

Plus Blofeld and Goldfinger are Middle-European (which is code for Jewish, natch) and Dr No is Chinese.

(Well, that and threatening to give people detention/giving stickers to the good kids.)

Not to mention threatening them with stinkfoot, missy.

PS, come to Seattle. We promise not to cage you unless asked. Anyhow, it's not like Pete will actually LET Jilli have an arc welder...

I think movies should take their cue from South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut and make all the baddies Canadian. Also, they should all be shirtless, and played by Paul Gross and/or CKR. Or Nicholas Lea.

Or what's his face, from ENG. Can he pull off shirtless? Hmm. Well, he can be clothed.

(Welcome to "Plei had coffee at 11:30 and is now officially loopy as hell.")

...I've actually been looking at the cost of flights to Seattle. Um. Just out of curiosity, you know?

Um.