That's a great breakdown, Parker. I never have really identified the three types like that, but it makes sense. I think this applies to the Eastwood movie, Pale Rider. The pale rider, although a preacher, is definitely a good-bad man. He uses violence as a tool and doesn't mind it, while the miners are good man with one particular miner as the main good man and then of course, the bad man is the man who owns the land and is only greedy of course and he hires contract killers who are all bad men and rely on numbers, naturally. I've read many of the Parker books and I love them all and yes, Parker inhabits a bad world, but he is respected within it, much like John Wick who inhabits a shadowy assassin world but he's very respected within it, also. I think Paul Benjamin in Death Wish definitely wants to be the good man and is but is drawn into the good-bad role which is what makes it so interesting, that transformation and instead of being a typical revenge flick, this one delves into a societal problem which sets it apart and has it way at the top of my list. I like the term good-bad, though. Good, but with a twist and not good in the boy scout way, which is annoying. Ha. Great post as always, Parker.
This is very good, man. Your comments about the Parker character are spot on. Your point about him being honorable in his criminal world makes a lot of sense to me and helps me enjoy a character I struggled to even like.
Also, your point about needing at least two of the archetypes in a story...that has me thinking about what kind of story could unfold with a good man and a good-bad man, but no clear bad man.... Thanks for making my mind clock in to work for a bit!
Thanks, Jason. You raise an interesting question. Perhaps a case can be made that Daredevil fighting the Punisher in the Netflix series may fall into the good man versus the good-bad man dynamic, I don’t know.
Raymond Chandler talks about the archetype of the detective in his essay, "The Simple Art of Murder" and his concept of the detective aligns with the good-bad man. I quoted that passage in my "The Wisdom of Raymond Chandler" on my Substack. Chandler lays it out in detail, and Phillip Marlowe is a lot like Shane. He also said "Justice will be done and murder will out, but only when somebody works diligently to make it his business." His novels have Marlowe as the good-bad man in the midst of many bad men, to include some clients, and some good-bad clients. Good men occasionally appear, like the old colonel as his client in "The Big Sleep," but they're rare.
Great explanation of the three character archetypes.
I like the movie, "Shane."
That's a great breakdown, Parker. I never have really identified the three types like that, but it makes sense. I think this applies to the Eastwood movie, Pale Rider. The pale rider, although a preacher, is definitely a good-bad man. He uses violence as a tool and doesn't mind it, while the miners are good man with one particular miner as the main good man and then of course, the bad man is the man who owns the land and is only greedy of course and he hires contract killers who are all bad men and rely on numbers, naturally. I've read many of the Parker books and I love them all and yes, Parker inhabits a bad world, but he is respected within it, much like John Wick who inhabits a shadowy assassin world but he's very respected within it, also. I think Paul Benjamin in Death Wish definitely wants to be the good man and is but is drawn into the good-bad role which is what makes it so interesting, that transformation and instead of being a typical revenge flick, this one delves into a societal problem which sets it apart and has it way at the top of my list. I like the term good-bad, though. Good, but with a twist and not good in the boy scout way, which is annoying. Ha. Great post as always, Parker.
This is very good, man. Your comments about the Parker character are spot on. Your point about him being honorable in his criminal world makes a lot of sense to me and helps me enjoy a character I struggled to even like.
Also, your point about needing at least two of the archetypes in a story...that has me thinking about what kind of story could unfold with a good man and a good-bad man, but no clear bad man.... Thanks for making my mind clock in to work for a bit!
Thanks, Jason. You raise an interesting question. Perhaps a case can be made that Daredevil fighting the Punisher in the Netflix series may fall into the good man versus the good-bad man dynamic, I don’t know.
Raymond Chandler talks about the archetype of the detective in his essay, "The Simple Art of Murder" and his concept of the detective aligns with the good-bad man. I quoted that passage in my "The Wisdom of Raymond Chandler" on my Substack. Chandler lays it out in detail, and Phillip Marlowe is a lot like Shane. He also said "Justice will be done and murder will out, but only when somebody works diligently to make it his business." His novels have Marlowe as the good-bad man in the midst of many bad men, to include some clients, and some good-bad clients. Good men occasionally appear, like the old colonel as his client in "The Big Sleep," but they're rare.
Really loved this! A good professor can make such an impact!
Yeah, I wish I could remember his name…I’m officially old!
This was a great breakdown!