Redemption needs to be earned.
It’s a beloved trope to redeem the asshole character. To rework them from a fully despicable villain to a fan-favorite in an excellent redemption arc that by no means fails to shock us all. We’ve seen this growth occur in iconic characters reminiscent of Steve Harrington from Stranger Issues, Severus Snape from Harry Potter, and Negan from The Strolling Useless, to call a number of. Nevertheless, with all these sympathetic villains and redemption arcs on the market, we have to ask ourselves: does each asshole genuinely deserve it? Barbarian solutions this query with a powerful no.
The critically acclaimed movie follows the story of Tess (Georgina Campbell), a younger girl who discovers her Airbnb has been double-booked with a person, however unbeknownst to her, the home harbors a darkish secret. To be truthful, the movie has greater than its fair proportion of assholes — Frank (Richard Brake), the cops, and even Keith (Invoice Skarsgård) to some extent (significantly, who insists on a creepy rape dungeon as a substitute of getting the hell out of dodge?) Nevertheless, our full focus right here shall be on AJ (Justin Lengthy), arguably one of the crucial detestable assholes of recent horror.
Has AJ Been Unfairly Demonized?
Once we’re first launched to AJ, he looks like a happy-go-lucky form of man, singing alongside to the radio, having fun with life, and hey, you form of already like him as a result of, properly, it’s Justin Lengthy. Most horror followers already maintain a good bit of affection for the actor. However his carefree persona is straight away dashed as AJ is met with accusations of sexual misconduct. AJ seems simply as shocked as we, the viewers, are by these claims. And with the way in which AJ vehemently denies these accusations and seems to be really affected by the so-called “slander,” we virtually start to really feel dangerous for him. He’s clearly going to be one of many movie’s most important protagonists — perhaps the claims really are false? Barbarian units our expectations to be that AJ will ultimately be redeemed from the get-go. The trope is so frequent these days it is pretty straightforward to select up on. AJ is charming, humorous, charismatic — and he’s Tess’ solely hope in escaping the Mom. We want him to be the nice man. The savior.
Nevertheless, at every nook, AJ’s completely curated persona begins to unravel. Whilst he so sincerely tries to persuade us (and himself) that he’s the nice man, we see the cracks. In spite of everything this time he’s spent making an attempt to persuade everybody of his innocence, he admits to his buddy that he did have sexual relations together with his co-worker, solely it took her some “convincing,” one thing that he appears to snigger off. It’s clear that AJ took his coercion as consent. And he even addresses his buddy utilizing the “F” slur as a foolish nickname. AJ goes from asshole to straight-up reprehensible — the form of character that doesn’t even deserve redemption at this level. He’s too far gone.
His asshole-ish conduct turns into comical at this level, and we virtually begin to really feel a bit silly for ever anticipating somebody like him to be redeemable. The person is so pushed by greed, his solely thought upon discovering the creepy intercourse dungeon underneath his home is “rating, extra sq. footage!” The one modicum of disgust he reveals is when he sits on the stained mattress and realizes some filth seeped into his trousers. Grasping, useless, deplorable — AJ is by no measure the nice man he needs us to imagine. And but, as he too is captured by the Mom, he turns into the only backup Tess has on this messed-up state of affairs. He’s a villain compelled right into a hero’s position. It’s arduous to not hope he could have a change in character.
AJ Has a Likelihood For Redemption
This concept of his redemption is furthered as AJ discovers Frank down within the dungeons. As we all know, Frank was the proprietor of the home earlier than AJ, a loathsome previous serial rapist and the curator of the intricate dungeon tunnel system. It’s an essential second for AJ’s character to confront this man, to see the videotapes of the horrors Frank enacted upon numerous girls. He’s understandably horrified, and this might have been a turning level for AJ’s redemption. A confrontation of his personal crimes, to simply accept his guilt and disgrace over his actions. A revelation.
At this level within the movie, AJ does appear to have taken some type of flip. Although he does unintentionally shoot Tess when she comes to avoid wasting him, he helps her escape with him. He helps her all the way in which to the homeless man’s hideout and tries his greatest to are inclined to the wound he brought about. To patch her up the identical means he needs to fix his personal character flaws. Whereas AJ is just too far gone to be totally redeemable, we begin to count on some type of hero-sacrifice on his behalf. A second of readability the place he realizes the enormity of his actions and tries his greatest to make amends. Like Steve Harrington taking the nail-bat to the Demogorgon. However AJ is not any hero.
As Tess and AJ run to the highest of the water tower to flee the Mom, we see the cogs delivering AJ’s thoughts. They’re trapped; will this be the second he redeems himself? However as a lot as we would like AJ to vary, as a lot as AJ himself needs to be the nice man, Barbarian proves there isn’t a approach to change who you’re on the core. His nature overrides his hero fantasy and AJ behaves precisely just like the scumbag he really is inside. He sacrifices Tess to avoid wasting his personal disguise, all of the whereas insisting he is an efficient man that made a foul selection. In his thoughts, he doesn’t should die for another person.
However Then You Understand AJ Might By no means Change
The extra you assume on it, the extra you come to comprehend AJ by no means modified and by no means may change. He’s a textbook narcissist. Whilst Tess lies groaning in ache after her fall off the water tower, AJ does little to assist her. He solely anxiously makes an attempt to persuade Tess that she slipped, and he couldn’t save her in time. His sense of self-importance and self-preservation outweigh any hope AJ had of being the nice man. His second with Frank, one that might have been such a revelation for AJ, went proper over his head. AJ has himself so properly satisfied that he’s particular person. AJ fell sufferer to the standard thought strategy of abusers — in his perspective, he and Frank haven’t any similarities, he’s not some sick serial rapist who videotapes his abuse and lives in a dank dungeon, he’s merely a person that made a easy mistake. He’s essentially unable to acknowledge that he and Frank, on some stage, are the identical. And due to this innate lack of ability to simply accept any type of accountability, AJ proved himself irredeemable. Barbarian exhibits us that assholes are typically simply that — assholes.
We spend the entire movie ready for AJ to be redeemed. However he by no means adjustments. Most abusers don’t. He spends the complete movie satisfied he’s the hero combating again in opposition to the world. That his life, his world, his perspective, is crucial factor in want of saving. And that’s what’s really terrifying.
