Cruella

[Ramza00]

You do know what protagonists are right?

Even Infinity War had to make Thanos sympathetic to a degree, because he was the protagonist of that film.
Even Death Note had to make Light Yagami sympathetic to a degree as well, because he was the protagonist of that series.

No sympathy = failed protagonist, regardless of their alignment.

Protagonist is a Greek word made famous in Aristotle’s poetics where he was comparing different types of plays several hundred years old at the time of Aristotle’s writing.

Protagonist merely means first actor in Greek in a literal sense, and the first actor speaks about his motivations to the audience “off screen” where the action pauses in certain type of stories that Aristotle was talking about.

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And this literally happens where Cruella is the omniscient narrator telling her backstory when she was 13 before time traveling to age 25. We think at first Cruella the narrator takes place between the transition from Act 1 to Act 2, but it is actually the transition from Act 2 to Act 3 and Cruella learns a bit of trusty that recontextualizes all the scenes that occur prior. Act 2 Cruella thought she knew everything, but Act 3 knew far more, and at the start of Act 3 she is no longer the omniscient narrator for her story is not finished and stuff then happens.

So yes I know what protagonist means

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I do not know what you mean by Sympathize or the similar word Empathize for those words are a washed from meanings and they came from two different language traditions, and they have gained additional meanings since then.

Rudolf Lotze coined Empathy (this is contested) with Sympathy being far older in English and how people used the word Sympathy is not constant. What Hume and Smith meant by Sympathy is sometimes Empathy in modern lingo other times Sympathy and it was already a 200+ year old English word before those two moral philosophers talked about it and a dozen different famous people after them from poets to psychologists to other philosophers.

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Can we follow the train of logic of Cruella, yes. It all makes sense from her perspective as the story unfolds. Can we support all her choices she makes? The answer is no but some will say yes. Is Cruella aware of her actions and how it affects other people the answer is very much yes.

Do you want more of a list?

So you're saying Disney is intentionally making a movie about an unsympathetic psychopath, and the audience is meant to revile her throughout?

Hardly. I am saying people are human and still can be villainous.

But also cheer and see something as vile or wicked at the same time. These are two separate emotions and you can feel them at the same time much like you can feel joy at another person good or bad fortune.

That said, people are correct that the draw of this movie (like Maleficent or Loki) is 'come see what we've done with this character for whom you already have strong feelings.' It is perfectly reasonable for someone's response to be 'that doesn't interest me.' I think on its own merits and if the movie does not owe anything to an existing continuity, it works fine enough as a delightful villain romp similar to the recent Joker movie, it's just arguable if that's the case.

I am fine with people not wanting to see it. But let me have my self absorb fun needling people who are also self-absorbed when they ask a question like I do not understand why something exists? And then expect things exist to please their sensibilities.

We live in the world of abundance, thinking things should own flatter them and make them happy is missing how vast this world is.

Put another way from another Disney Property

Spoiler

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When someone begs the question, do not be surprised when someone points out the logic is circular and you just want to assert your opinion in faux objectivity.

Subjectivity is good, everyone embrace it please