I've heard Karl being called evil in a number of comments and discussions here and elsewhere in the Corrie-universe over the past few weeks. It got me thinking about the definition of evil as applies to soap villains.While Karl is surely on the villain list, is he truly evil? I don't think so. Misunderstood? No, I don't really think that either.
But to read what I think, and who the top two truly evil Corrie villains are, read this.
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17 comments:
IMO Karl is so obsessed with Stella he isn't in his right mind. I liked this character at one time but I'm wondering if he's not going to get away with the murder of Sunita just like Tracy is getting away with the murder of Charlie. I doubt there'll be any redeeming of this guy unless he confesses to Sunita's death. Either way...he's getting close to his 'best by' date.
I think he's the new John Stape. Watch the body count rise as he haplessly tries to cover his crimes. lololol.....ugh.
I quite agree with your disection of what evil really means and with your two nominees for erally evil villains, but I think a third should be added; Jez Quiggley was vindictive, manipulative and calculating; a little man playing the big gangster.
To me evil is utter selfishness, to the point where there is zero regard for another, either before or after the deeds. Tracy is certainly that. While I liked your take on this topic, I disagree that Tracy loved Blanche, Amy, and her parents. She slept with Blanche's fella because she thought there was something to gain. Amy has long been a pawn for her schemes. Her parents exist for her connivence. People like Maya can be cured. Frank and Tracy just needed to die.
Ohh yes, Jez Quigley most certainly qualifies.
Karl is a pathetic creature who hasn't grown up. The reason he gave for leaving Stella ie that she bossed him about, is the very thing that made him come back. He wasn't good at being an adult in Sunita's family. Karl's dream team is Stella and Gloria both fussing and fretting over him. That doesn't make him evil and, like the child who does something terrible and can't own up to it, he will go on lying and deceiving until he is found out. He will eventually pay for his crimes one way or another. Tptb know they messed up with Tracy and I hope they wouldn't let it happen again.
I don't think Karl started out evil but he is trapped now by all his mistakes, setting the fire and leaving Sunita to die. Agree he will try to get rid of those whose loose lips might do him in...Jason and Leanne.
Bloke ripped out a fellow human's breathing apparatus, knowing it would result in her certain death.
And you ask if he's simply "misunderstood"?
I knew standards in this country were dropping at an alarming rate, but blimey, this is a whole new level!
does no one else think Karl killed Sunita in the hospital? she was awake, recognized him bending over her, he mutters that its all her fault and *bam* shes dead because her oxygen tube was jostled. he killed her.
I dont think Karl is evil I think he is DESPERATE. He is feeling guilt for what he has done but I think its just self preservation. But he is still a murderer whatever the motive.
Layman, if you've read the full blog post, you can see that i don't think he's misunderstood :0 I just used that as a general "expression".
Great post and so true about many of the corrie 'villains'. I agree with you that Maya and Foster were Corrie's truly evil villains as neither had remorse for what they did. Must tell you, that the look Frank threw Carla's way in court once he was declared 'not guilty' still gives me the chills.
The other 'villains', were not evil persay, but by were they bad! haha. I loved Tony Gordon and it's a shame they've done away with him as he would have been a great character to bring back 'reformed'. Don't forget that even though he hired Jimmy to kill Carla, he changed his mind at the last minute and rushed around to the flat when Jimmy didn't answer his mobile. He had a lot of remorse and was plagued with guilt, same with John Stape, same with Richard Hillman...and I see Karl following the same pattern.
He's a baddie for sure, but an evil villain? No. :)
Very well put
Karl represents a culture of entitlement tossed into desperation when the object of his desire is unattainable, pushed beyond reason by his entitlement-turned-obsession, and plagued by irrational action/fear because of his inability to cope due to what appears to have been a lifetime of enabling (Stella, his mother, ?)that allowed him to live as an utterly useless grown man.
Art imitating life (or projecting the future for the entitled/enabled generation of young folk out there these days; sense of entitlement + inability to cope with disappointment/fear of loss = irrational violence).
If one can plot and commit a cold blooded murder in order to further one's own selfish end, that's evil.
Karl may have occasional twinges of guilt over what he did to Sunita, but he'd do it again if he had to. And he'd get rid of anyone else that he thinks is a threat to him. That's evil.
I'm surprised that no one has used the words "sociopath" or "psychopath" in this discussion. Now that brain researchers are able to watch the brain in action, thanks to various imaging techniques, they can actually see where various behaviours originate, and can detect over-activity or the absence of activity in some people's brains, compared to so-called "normal' brains. It's hard to continue to use terms like "evil" when someone lacks the necessary brain parts to behave in acceptable ways, or has had parts damaged or destroyed due to injury or illness.
However, in the case of this soap, watching Karl make deliberate, conscious choices, like leaving Sunita in the cellar, then planting evidence (keys) to incriminate her, then removing her breathing tube, knowing she was regaining consciousness, not to mention the sabotaging of the electric panel to incriminate Jason, and the decision to burn down the Rovers, all indicate that he'd turned some kind of corner. It was bad enough that he'd arrived as something of a sponge, living off Stella, then stole from her to pay his gambling debts and tried to blame others for his behaviour, then chose to involve himself with Sunita, a married mother, while still keeping up the relationship with Stella. All this indicated sociopathy, which has escalated as his need to satisfy his own desires has continued to grow. He thinks only of his own wants,everyone else be damned. That's classic sociopathic behaviour, or to put it in more simple,moral terms, "evil"!!
Excellent post, Mary Prankster.
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