But I Do Wonder How This Was Just Added On? - Tumblr Posts

Been looking at the Wish content on YouTube and Tumblr.

And I just....

There's a lot of things that baffle me about some of the criticism.

But the first really illogical thing I saw was about Magnifico and Amaya.

So let's talk about this. Magnifico first, because I adore him as a villain.

Magnifico adores his people. He doesn't want what happened to him to happen again.

He also is fearful of anything that challenges his power. This is most blatantly shown in his reaction to the light.

He does not know this is Star. He thinks it is a new type of magic. And he is scared of that. Not Star, remember, he doesn't know about Star yet. It's the idea of a sorcerer he does not know about.

But his fear is hinted at in his refusal to grant Sabba's wish. "It's too vague" is what I believe he said. Because he is scared of something he can't control. But he won't give it back, because then it could happen, even if it's a very slim possibility.

Magnifico needs to be in control. And he dislikes when that control is threatened, as seen in This is the Thanks I Get. On the surface level, it's about him being unappreciated. In actuality, the people threaten his control with their insistence on another wish ceremony. This causes him to attempt to reestablish control in any way he can, which leads to his descent into evil magic.

And with that choice, the choice to set himself on a path that would end in harming the people (and wishes) he had sworn to protect, he was past redemption.

Because he went too far. The dark magic is literally a symbol of the tipping point of his tightening control. It is the point of no return.

It is not a justification for his actions. It is not what 'makes' him the movie's villain. He was always going to be the movie's villain. That was obvious from his control of his citizens. No, it is a physical representation of how he let his paranoia take over and get people hurt.

He is no longer redeemable. He can't be reasoned with. While the dark magic accentuated and pushed his controlling tendencies to the forefront, it only built on what was there.

The dark magic is where he goes from 'victim suffering from control issues as a result of his trauma', to 'his trauma causing him to abuse others'. We know it's something that he can help because he was pulled away from it before and even admitted that he made a vow to himself. He could have pulled himself back before he hurt anyone. And he knew he would hurt people if he went through with it.

And he did it anyway.

That is what makes him a compelling villain, besides the magnetic effect he has every time he appears on-screen, is the ability to stop and then choose to proceed forward.

He is a wonderful mix of self-deceiving and self-destructive, and it is fascinating to watch on the big screen.