Hate Sink: Difference between revisions

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== [[Literature]] ==

* In the ''[[Malazan Book of the Fallen]]'' novel ''Deadhouse Gates'' the Chain of Dogs (a massive host of refugees marching across the continent) is constantly being attacked by enemy armies, but our viewpoint character for these sections of the story never gets more than a few glimpses of the enemy leaders. Without a face or personality to put to them, it's hard to dislike the armies of the Apocalypse on a personal level. Instead we're invited to vent our loathing upon a group of whiny nobles within the Chain of Dogs, who protest the [[Canon Sue]]'s actions at every turn, are openly cruel to their servants, and get a lot of their fellow refugees killed through incompetence.

* ''[[Harry Potter]]'' gives us [[Tyrant Takes the Helm|Dolores Umbridge]]. In a book in which the [[Big Bad]] Voldemort is laying low, she takes the stage as the main face of opposition, and is still the character most hated by many fans. While Voldemort was never seen as the slightest bit sympathetic, he is so cartoonishly evil that he's hard to take seriously on an adult level, and so single-minded (and subsequently flawed) in his purposes that he's more like a force of nature than a person. Umbridge, on the other hand, is a good demonstration of what you get when you take a bigoted, hypocritical shrew and give her authority, and is so plausibly cruel in the course of her travesties of justice that readers find their blood seething with her every word and deed. This goes to the point that [[Word of God|J. K. Rowling]] herself had to state she was tossed into [[The Alcatraz|Azkaban]] for life for her crimes at the end of the final book. Fans would have much preferred throwing her to the Dementors, if not for the fact that she has clearly has no soul for them to take.

* ''[[Harry Potter]]'' gives us [[Tyrant Takes the Helm|Dolores Umbridge]]. In a book (Order of the Phoenix) in which the [[Big Bad]] Voldemort is laying low, she takes the stage as the main face of opposition, and is still the character most hated by many fans. While Voldemort was never seen as the slightest bit sympathetic, he is so cartoonishly evil that he's hard to take seriously on an adult level, and so single-minded (and subsequently flawed) in his purposes that he's more like a force of nature than a person. Umbridge, on the other hand, is a good demonstration of what you get when you take a bigoted, hypocritical shrew and give her authority, and is so plausibly cruel in the course of her travesties of justice that readers find their blood seething with her every word and deed. This goes to the point that [[Word of God|J. K. Rowling]] herself had to state she was tossed into [[The Alcatraz|Azkaban]] for life for her crimes at the end of the final book. Fans would have much preferred throwing her to the Dementors, if not for the fact that she has clearly has no soul for them to take.

** Aside from Dolores Umbridge, there’s Bellatrix Lestrange. Normally, it’s entirely possible to feel bad for somebody when they’re sent to Azkaban (even when they’re guilty) since they can no longer think happy thoughts, but all sympathy is thrown out the window when it’s revealed she’s proud of what she did to Neville’s parents, torturing them to the point where they can barely think anymore. And once she busts out, one of the first thing she does is murder Sirius Black. Small wonder Harry Potter wants her dead afterwards. (Though because he’s driven by a desire to bring her to justice instead of true hatred, using the Cruciatus Curse doesn’t work.)

* Since there's no real villain in ''Flight 116 Is Down'' by Caroline B. Cooney, the audience gets to focus their hatred on Darienne, a selfish passenger who ends up being completely unharmed in the crash. Heidi and Patrick work hard to save the passengers of the crashed plane while Darienne stands around doing nothing but complaining and being useless, yet she tries to take credit for saving people at the end. Even Patrick loses his cool when Darienne gets too much to handle.

* ''[[Push (novel)|Push]]'', and subsequently its movie ''Precious'', has Precious' [[Abusive Parents]] Carl and Mary. Carl is an horrendous [[Domestic Abuser]] who has been [[Parental Incest|raping]] Precious since she was a child, leading to two pregnancies {{spoiler|and her being infected with HIV as a result}}, while Mary beats and insults Precious to no end going as far as {{spoiler|blaming her from being raped and make her fall from the stairs with her newborn son.}} While Mary's villainy gets reduced in the movie to the point of giving her a mildly sympathetic breakdown at the end, she still qualifies as this trope. Mary's actress Mo'nique even won an Oscar for how successful she was at portraying this trope.