A Story That is 2000 Stories in the Making

I truly can't believe that this story is actually my 2000th on Vocal. That's a nice round number, isn't it? It's one of two milestones I'll reach this year, as in a few weeks, it'll mark five years for me on Vocal. I've written quite a lot for sure. Sports stories, previews, Colorado Avalanche recaps, stories about shows and characters and all else. Fiction stories that would make Lifetime movie fans smile, as well as fans of women's wrestling. And I have written things that needed to be written; stories that call out double standards and mention important issues.

A number of you are familiar with my stories, and I decided to use story #2000 to finally share something you've wanted to know for a while: why I adore villainesses so much, and how and when the enthusiasm began.

I've often credited Rita Repulsa as the very villainess who boosted my interest. I was eight when MMPR began, but I actually watched 101 Dalmatians before that, at around age six. So yeah, it was 35 years ago that I first feasted my eyes on Cruella de Vil, and it was about a year later that I watched The Rescuers and saw the villainous Madame Medusa. And while I did love those villainesses, it was Rita Repulsa who boosted my adoration. She wasn't the only one.

Once upon a time, when I was eight years old, I watched a promo for something called Sailor Moon. I loved what I saw, especially this very powerful, very evil woman known as Queen Beryl. When it hit TV, I watched it. Yes, I knew that show is mainly directed towards girls, and no, I didn't care about any labels. I saw Queen Beryl in all of her deliciously wicked glory, and that was it. Rita Repulsa provided the boost, but Queen Beryl increased it. And I had the luxury of seeing both of them within hours of each other on weekdays.

One reason why I love villainesses so much is a simple one: they're too rare. If I had to ballpark it, for every one female villain we see, we get about 10-15 male ones. The feminist in me can't help but sense a sexist reason for this. Look at TV and films back in the day. You've see Dudley Do-Right. White-meat babyface male hero, mustache-twirling bad guy, and then there's Nell in the "damsel in distress" role. That's how women were cast back then: the damsel in distress. It's why when I see an actual villainess in a show from decades ago, I'm pleasantly surprised.

One such pleasant surprise appeared in an episode of Wanted: Dead or Alive, the noted Western that starred Steve McQueen. The episode, "Death Divided by Three," featured Mara Corday as Lucinda Lorenz, the wife of Jake Lorenz, who was wanted for killing his business partner, Willis J. Watkins. We see Lucinda as a woman who holds her own, but doesn't appear to be sinister, especially when Jake is found in the near climax. That changed once Lucinda shot Jake to death for the reward money, and afterwards, Lucinda's heel turn ended up revealing that she sent Jake to kill Watkins, but did it herself when Jake backed out, and killed Jake because he had known about it. So yeah, a Western that aired in the beginning of the 60s had a ruthless murderess who had no problem getting her hands dirty! That's revolutionary, considering that we would usually have to wait decades to see villainesses like this.

The growing evolution of genres, thankfully, has led to more villainesses appearing in recent decades. Genres such as drama, suspense, horror, and even comedy have a number of wicked women appear on screen (big or small). Television has experienced additions of different categories and modifications of genres as well, which opens the door for a plethora of villainesses to appear. One forum that has had a genre of their own lately: Lifetime movies. Where do I start? Lifetime has delivered some of the best villainesses in the last two decades, one of them being Stacey, the main villainess from 2021's Secrets on Sorority Row. Everything I've said about Stacey and the actress playing her, Lauren Buglioli (currently Vanessa McBride on Beyond the Gates) in past Vocal stories, including one where I listed Stacey as 2021's best Lifetime villainess.

One thing I've learned over the years: certain genres are a hotbed for villainesses. I hate politics with a passion, but political thrillers have the most insane villainesses. Take Scandal, a show I finally bingewatched during the late spring/early summer of 2018. The reason why is shown in the collage. Luna Vargas, a regular character from Season Six. The wife of Francisco Vargas, who was gunned down in the beginning of the season. We later see Luna later in the season as Mellie Grant's running mate; she's sworn in as VP with Mellie, but in the Season Six finale, "Transfer of Power," Luna turned heel in such grand fashion, as she revealed that she knocked off her hubby for power and prestige. Of course, like all political villainesses, Luna had underlings carry out the assassination.

Tessie Santiago recurred as the evil Luna Vargas during Season Six, and I remember the exact date that I watched Luna's heel turn episode: June 8, 2018--the day after watching the Washington Capitals win the Stanley Cup. It was a crazy swerve from Luna, and I truly loved seeing Santiago act out Luna's villainous and ruthless demeanor to perfection!

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I could go on and on in this story, but I'll say this: villainesses are so amazing. Lethal, beautiful, ruthless, a bit crazy, you name it. I always love seeing villainy on TV and film receive a woman's touch, it's a beautiful sight! And I'm so elated that this piece is my 2000th on Vocal! Thank you for reading my stories, I appreciate it so very much! Here's to 2000 more stories on this awesome site!