Every villain has their story. Their reason. Their drive. It’s not always about being selfish or a lack of empathy. Some people are pushed over the edge or forced into unthinkable situations, and then…they snap. Who can blame them? If the world is constantly trying to beat them down, eventually they have to fight back. But does that make them the bad guy?
Let’s look at Coriolanus Snow from The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes written by Suzanne Collins. We learn that he had some humanity before becoming a mentor. Through a complex relationship with his tribute and the pressure of ensuring his family’s survival, he’s set on a path of destruction. In his father’s shadow, constantly being compared to his legacy and achievements, it’s no wonder Coriolanus’s pride got in the way of what could have been a happy ending with Lucy Gray Baird.
Did he become a nightmare for the districts? Absolutely. Do we like Coriolanus Snow? No way! But he was pushed into his villainous path pulling on the chain of privilege and then he kept falling deeper and deeper into his villain era. (Or maybe he was just an aristocratic jerk whose “humanity” was as thin as rice paper.)
On the other hand, we have Estella who is played by Emma Stone in the award winning Disney film Cruella. A creative woman absolutely killing it in the fashion world, fighting for her dream of becoming a designer. The world is stacked against her. Come on, she watched her own mother be pushed off a cliff by dogs! She has ambition, but things got a little…complicated. Her drive leads to recklessness. While her Guerrilla Girl stunts (if you have no idea what this means, enjoy this article https://www.guerrillagirls.com/our-story) are undeniably stunning, things start to get messy. Is Cruella really the villain here? Maybe, if she, you know, didn’t kill puppies. Otherwise? She’s an inspiring designer! (They called her cruel! I’d be mad too!)
Some origin stories aren’t as severe as others.
Sometimes, people are just a little unhinged–like my villain origin story.
Not that I am saying I’m crazy! It just started with reading a really bad book.
(For legal reasons, I won’t name the title or author. 
It was a book that pushed me over the edge.
I was excited to read it. I thought I’d finally found a genre that clicked. The book featured a Deaf main character and I wanted it to be the best book I had ever read. I didn’t even get past the first page because it was a stereotypical mess. I was born Deaf, with moderate/ severe hearing loss. Officially I was diagnosed at the age of six. It was then that I got my first hearing aid. Back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, technology was not as advanced as what we have now. While I was able to hear more sounds, I was not able to understand most of those sounds, which made learning how to speak very difficult. I was raised orally without any sign language, which made school and friends difficult. When I started to learn sign language, it was casually out of a book. (For anyone who knows ASL, will tell you that this is not the way to learn, but it was the only resource available to me.) When my son was born Deaf, I dived in and began learning my language, and my culture. At the age of 31 (as I write this) I have found my Deaf identity, and my place in the community.
Where was I?
Oh yeah, books, rage, stereotypes.
In this book, we’re introduced to a Deaf high school girl who is constantly underestimated by those around her. She sets out to prove them wrong, but by the end of the book, she hasn’t done anything. Instead, she ends up confirming all of the negative assumptions about Deaf culture instead. For people reading this, outside of the Deaf community, it affirms their conscious or unconscious biases as being “right”. It tells Deaf readers…that maybe…they can’t do anything either.That burns me up.
A common issue, especially when a hearing author doesn’t hire a Deaf sensitivity reader, is that they don’t understand hearing levels. Even though Deaf people fit into categories of hearing loss, we’re all individuals with unique abilities. But when a Deaf character’s hearing level changes multiple times throughout the story? It feels more like a convenience for the author to write their plot. As if the author doesn’t actually understand how Deaf people navigate the hearing world–and didn’t bother to learn.
The character starts with profound hearing loss. A few pages later, it’s moderate, and then, later in the book, she can suddenly understand everything. She has no measurable hearing, and yet— she can eavesdrop on a whispered conversation from around the corner and down the hall. Okay…That was one of the biggest frustrations.
The use of sign language was also a mess. The author explains every tiny motion of even basic signs like “thank you” or “what”. For example: “They lay their flat hand stiffly on their chin, extending it outward, signing ‘Thank you’.” A much more colorful and natural description would be: “‘Thank you,’ their hands held gratitude in their soft movement.” Or “‘What.’ their flat palm fanned out wiggling in mid air.” Instead try: “‘What!’ Their wrists snap, eager for explanation.”
While it’s true that many Deaf people are born into hearing families who don’t sign, this story took that reality in a bizarre direction. Somehow, the character was profoundly Deaf and had no interpreter in school, yet was somehow fluent in ASL. None of her family, friends, or love interests knew how to sign, except her brother. If I remember correctly, he didn’t like signing and claimed he was inconvenienced, being “used” as an interpreter. In the final chapter, entire groups of people had been secretly learning sign language to “surprise” her: Her father. Her best friend/love interest. A few teachers, (I think?).And they were all magically fluent.
To put the cherry on top, when I looked up the author and their research process, I learned they had interviewed only one audiologist. That’s it. (I won’t even go into that, just know that I was very upset.) The rage consumed me. The experience pushed me away from reading altogether. Are we now standing at the edge of villainous urges?
It was five or six years later before I picked up another book. Eventually, I started reading again–really diving in. I found books I liked. Which led me to another book. (Again, not naming names for legal reasons. Haha.)
There was no initial introduction or mention of a Deaf character, but then suddenly one shows up a few chapters in. Immediately, all the memories and frustrations came flooding back. I snapped. Was pushed over the edge. What if this book was just like the other?
Rage!
I couldn’t risk it.
Slowly, I closed the book and grabbed my computer. I’d recently learned about freelancing as a sensitivity reader and started researching the field. There weren’t many sensitive readers out there. The few I had found were not Deaf themselves, but were in school to be interpreters. So I thought: it’s now or never.
After some calming tea (it was coffee), I created my profile on Fiverr, took a deep breath, and opened the book again. The one Deaf character turned out to be my absolute favorite. I later discovered that the author is Hard of Hearing himself!
My villainous rage led me on a path to help authors who are writing Deaf characters, to meet so many wonderful people, and to read so many amazing stories! While my path to “evil” may look a little different, I like where it’s going.
In the end, I loved the book that pushed me over the edge.
Oh, what evil!
