Courtesy of The Root
Not too long ago, one of my best friends sent me this frantic text: “OMG I’m at the office and just saw that security guard who looks EXACTLY like Darren. I’m totally freaking out. I’m getting a taser!!”
You would think this Darren guy had done her some terrible wrong. That he had hurt her so personally and deeply that she should not only fear but also rally against him. But no, “Darren” (not his real name) was my college boyfriend, a first love who after four semesters and as many breakups would devolve into my first real-life bogeyman. “Things” ended beyond badly. The police were involved, and after all these years, so are all my friends.
To this day, Darren is brought up in irreverent (though hushed) tones whenever we’re sitting around reminiscing about undergrad life. Not only does he represent my biggest mistake and lesson, but he’s also an easy punch line and parable. Soon after I got that text reminding us of him once again, we did some Google stalking and confirmed our suspicions that Darren was still “nuts.” The villain in a story rarely gets redemption because if he did, the rest of us would be left wanting.
I wonder if the same could be said of the celebrity villains whose bad behavior goes through a predictable 24-hour news cycle that ticks from shocking to sad to Twitter stalking. Take, for example, the recent dustup between comedian Jenny Johnson and embattled entertainer Chris Brown.
