MovieChat Forums > Damien (2016) Discussion > This and Bates Motel are prime examples ...

This and Bates Motel are prime examples of protagonists that DON'T work


I haven't seen Damien so maybe I'm far off but I feel like they are taking the same approach as Bates Motel in that their main character is someone trying to be good but just can't help the evil that's inside of them.

This is not a protagonist that people can get attached to: it gets so old watching them jump from good to bad to good, asking themselves "what's wrong with me?".

It reminds me of the show Point Pleasant which had a very short run - the main character victimizes themselves for having uncontrollable evil inside of them but still try to be portrayed as goodhearted and sympathetic..I just don't buy it and can't get invested in it.

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This a very poor comparison and the fact that you haven't even seen Damien tends to invalidate your point altogether.

1. First of all, unlike Norman Bates, Damien is not moving towards a set endpoint, so viewers don't know where or how the protagonist is going to end up. Bates Motel is set up as a modern-day prequel to the movie Psycho - wheres Damien is a sequel to The Omen.

2. Secondly, Bates Motel had excellent ratings in its first two seasons and is doing well enough in its 4th season. Damien's current TV viewer ratings are poor by any standard and dwarfed by Bates' and even lower than some of the other shows which were cancelled in the past year.

3. To this day, Bates Motel remains A&E's highest-rated scripted show, when similar series of the horror/thriller genre were cancelled by the network for poor ratings (E.g., Those who kill, The Returned). And I will add that neither of these cancelled shows centered on protagonist's who were deteriorating from good to bad.

4. Bates Motel has generally gotten good to excellent reviews across the board (metacritic, Fresh Tomatoes, Tv.com, IMDb, Amazon), whereas Damien's reviews from the same outlets have been poor to mediocre right out the gate.

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This is not a protagonist that people can get attached to: it gets so old watching them jump from good to bad to good, asking themselves "what's wrong with me?".


Some people will get attached. They got me hook, line and sinker. I love the struggle in Damien. I doubt I would have been interested in the show if he had been pure evil from the get go.

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To each their own. Point Pleasant was a really good show, I have never forgotten it actually. There's a poster of it in my room. And I love Damien, it's a lot like PP and even darker.

Anyway, I don't understand your logic *at all*. EVERY single person on the planet has "light" and "darkness" in them. It's something anyone should be able to empathize with. Point Pleasant and Damien use their situation as a metaphor for the struggle in everyone. Perhaps it makes people uncomfortable, to have to deal with uncomfortable truths, but that doesn't mean these stories don't "work".

I don't black out and murder women and pretend I'm my mother, but I can still empathize on some levels with Norman Bates. I can enjoy watching his journey.

And also, I don't know what direction Damien will take but PP had a different spin on the antichrist mythology and so I DEFINITELY don't get your last statement. The show was explicitly clear that because Christina was born of a human she had just as much good and dark in her as anyone, she just had the burden of the abilities that lashed out when she was emotional and other baggage... but the entire time she could always choose the "right" path and avert her destiny and NOT bring the apocalypse. I find that even MORE relatable than Damien. But okay.

But again... Just because YOU don't enjoy these types of stories, doesn't mean they don't "work". You just don't like them. Learn the difference, yeah? :)


"No! He is imprinted on you like a gay duckling. If you don't wean him off you slowly, he'll die."

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I admit I wrote this on a whim, not arguing against anyone's point, esp since I haven't seen the show, I just don't personally think it makes for a good main character who is constantly changing personalities. One who starts innately bad and gets good or one who starts out good and gets progressively bad has some longevity to it - with Damien I just feel like they are going to rely on the protagonist trying to be good but letting his evil slip out in every scenario.

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It doesn't work because they are not protaganist and they aren't suppose to be. They are stories that revolve around the villain and not all villains are pure evil. Some become that way because they are pushed, suffer a psycological break or fulfilling a destiny that may be beyond their control. In Damiens case it is different from the movie in this respect. In the movie Damien was evil he was not the protaganist Gregory Pecks character was. Damien wasn't developed as a character he was just an evil kid spawn fro the devil. So we didn't feel much sympathy for him because we are not suppose to. The tv show is following a different premise. He is not aware of who he is. He lost his childhood memories and he appears to be a decent person caught up an evil destiny. So your reaction to him will be different for now

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I think "Damien" should have started like "Star Wars IV: A New Hope". This should have opened with Damien already accepting his role -- and then go backwards.

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[deleted]

I'd say Damien is the protoganist - whose desire is living a normal, non-apocalyptic life and Anne is the one preventing him from getting that. ;)

______

"No! He is imprinted on you like a gay duckling. If you don't wean him off you slowly, he'll die."

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[deleted]

You haven't seen Damien but you are competent enough to criticize its protagonist?! What an idiot.

Bradley James is *beep* perfect. <3

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[deleted]

I disagree. Norman's struggle is very well written, built up and acted. It's a character study really, Norman's descent into madness because of family issues and mental problems.

Damien - the devil's son, whereas Norman is just a person like anyone of us - is of a whole different calibre and the show's all over the place, contrary to Bates Motel.

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