If you have an evil cackle,malicious facial expressions,the odd wart or two or green-colored skin,and pick fights with heroic,selfless individuals,机会是：你是一个故事书里的恶棍，and my son just adores you.
在过去的几个月里，my 3 ½-year-old has been utterly entranced by the "bad guy" in everything from圣经故事儿童读物到漫画和电影。In discussing thePurimholiday,只有当我们告诉他时，他才振作起来。哈曼,问了很多问题：“妈妈，is he a bad guy?" "But why is he mean to Mordechai?" "How come he wants to hurt the Jewish people?" Though he is interested in Batman and other masked heroes of his ilk,my son is way more transfixed by the Joker,很明显，他一天脱几次裤子，弯腰向我突出地展示他的人物内裤，and asks,“妈咪，who do YOU want to be on my underwear?我想成为小丑，因为他mean“
We all love a good story,with the usual suspects: protagonist,敌手，以及逆境之前的最终胜利的善恶。这是一个简单的公式，interpreted time and again in so many interesting ways,and it goes without saying that most of us tend to root for the protagonist.但几乎没有失败，my child cheers on his or her crooked counterpart.And while it's cute to watch him practice his mean face by scrunching up his nose and squinting his eyes,and playact at being the villain by using the best threats he knows–"I'm going to….把你的零食拿走，让你休息一下，妈妈！BOO AHH AHH!"–I wonder if there's something amiss in the fact that he seems so drawn toward the antihero.
It happened again last night.I've been impatiently waiting to watch the Disney movies of my youth with my children.因为我儿子现在也对鲨鱼和海洋生物着迷，I decided it was time to start with
小美人鱼
,也许会违背我更好的判断。There's possibly no Disney villain as frightening as Ursula,和她的鳗鱼侍从们一起，漂流物和喷射物，but God invented the fast-forward button for a reason,I figured.用一碗新鲜爆米花，我们慷慨地分了90/10（你可以猜出谁属于哪个比例）。我们在沙发上安顿下来，看阿里尔在海底的冒险。
When Ursula appeared onscreen,比我记忆中更可怕的是，我匆匆瞥了一眼我儿子，担心这会是最后让他害怕的坏人。He was leaning forward,his eyes wide with marvel,他急切地把她每一句沙哑的话都说出来，并开始对我提出有关厄苏拉的行为和动机的问题。又粘又可爱的比目鱼，自命不凡但很溺爱塞巴斯蒂安，聪明又搞笑的家伙，but no–it was the scary sea witch who captured his heart.除了迪斯尼明显的问题，我第一次错过了，但现在失望地意识到（像乌苏拉的保证，阿里尔不需要她的声音来吸引埃里克的注意；她长着一张漂亮的脸！），我不得不进一步思考我儿子对叛军和被谴责者的忠诚。
对，他们往往是更丰富的人物，certainly more theatrical (does anyone else see Harvey Fierstein acting the shiznit out of Ursula in a staged production of the movie?),and possessing more compelling back stories than the typical heroes.And Google,我信任的生活指南，found me many links to sites explaining that childhood fascination with the bad guy is part and parcel of children's normal moral development,their attempt to work out the difference between right and wrong,掌握每一个方面，这样他们就可以控制事情和人，他们可能会感到害怕。
But maybe there's more to it.In looking back on my son's fascination with various villains,我在他的好奇心中发现了一个共同点：“是什么使那个人如此卑鄙，Mommy?"
是什么让一个人成为怪物的问题是我，同样，从我第一次听说大屠杀开始就被迷住了，显然涉及到更大的规模和真正的，真正邪恶的恶棍。
And it's a real-life question that parents unfortunately have had to contend with more and more of late.我记得有一个地方，one word,was uttered,and visions of murder and pure terror were conveyed instantly.I remember the date that Columbine happened: April 20,1999.And before the media seized upon the association,我早就知道这是希特勒的生日。
But in the past 12 months alone,too many more places have been added to our lexicon of tragedy: Aurora.Sandy Hook.波士顿.克利夫兰。
Though it's not always clear-cut when questions of mental illness are raised,our children have seen too many "bad guys" commit heinous and senseless acts.虽然我自己的孩子们在家里被媒体的图片屏蔽了，我一直很小心，不谈论他们周围的事情，maybe my son's absorbing interest in storybook villains is the first step to him learning that there exists real evil in this world.It's a lesson I wish he'd never have to learn,and a lesson I am saddened to know that he,and other children,可能会在某个时候。
Come to think of it,我们还是去乌苏拉吧，Scar,and Maleficent for as long as possible.
Photo credit: Flickr/samlavi
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