The Magic of baddies

The first day of spring passed by earlier this week. Winter is supposed to be vanquished by now. It should be nothing more than a shivery memory!

And yet freezing cold ice and snow has been battering the brave daffodils and crocuses.

The weather made me think of the White Witch of Narnia, who cursed C. S. Lewis's magical kingdom with a 100-year-long winter. And then my mind wondered to various other conniving, psychotic, outrageous, wicked and creepy-scary antagonists.

'I like all of the Disney movies that have the great villains in them,' said actor Jonathan Freeman, who played the voice of evil Jafar in Aladdin. 'I think there is a certain beauty to the Disney Villains. Not every kid wants to be the hero, the heroine, the prince, the princess; there are kids, like myself growing up, who always wanted to be a Disney villain.'

I think there can be something gloriously thrilling about villains. And even when they are at their worst, I'm sure they can help us to understand our own weaknesses, devious foibles and inner anti-heroes.

'From an actor's standpoint,' said Freeman, 'it's really fun to do.'

I think every now and then, it's fine to dabble with the dark side. Just so long as this doesn't mean we'll have to wait too much longer for spring.

Pearl