KEEP CALM AND LOVE LOKI
I've spent a lot of time thinking about the super popularity of the Loki character from the two Thor movies, and the Avengers, so have written out my thoughts in question and answer form. Please understand that I am not talking about Tom Hiddleston or Chris Hemsworth unless I specifically mention them. I am talking about fictional, or mythical characters, specifically, the ones from the Marvel movies.
Why are we all in love with the bad guy? Loki is a character who displays absolutely no remorse. Hundreds or possibly thousands of people must have died in New York, but Loki's big concerns at the beginning of Thor: The Dark World are that a.) his brother, the stupid oaf, will be king, and b.) he'll be in a cell and never see his mother again. No pretense of sorrow or remorse – he simply points out that Odin has killed as many or more than he has.
Why do we love a loser? In the end of two out the three movies, Loki loses his battle completely. In the first movie he appears to attempt suicide (but we know he lives), and in the second, he's taken back to Asgard wearing a muzzle (I still don't get the muzzle – can he not work magic if he doesn't speak? Not true.)
Why do we love a character that never has a romantic interest? Loki never gets the chance to look sexy with a woman, unless you count the scene where Jane slaps him, or he throws her at Malekith. No romance or smoldering looks, nothing. We do know that he loves his mama though, always a good sign.
Why do we love a character that is clearly psychotic and unbalanced? In the Avengers, Loki is basically a grinning psychopath, who kills with impunity, and pulls a man's eyeball out of its socket (or something like that). He blames Thor for casting him into an abyss, when clearly Thor tried to save him. He has no sympathy for the suffering of others, with the possible exception of his mother.
Why do we love the smaller, weaker brother when we have beautiful, blonde, manly Thor to look at? Thor is certainly more "manly" or masculine than Loki; you'd have to look far and wide to find a guy more masculine than Thor. Also, Thor is clearly a kind and caring person, a protector, a team player, honest, reliable, faithful to Jane, etc. Loki is none of those things.
How much of our love of Loki is caused by Tom Hiddleston? Tom is wildly attractive and a superb actor, no denying that, so is that what this popularity is all about? What's going on with the Tom and Loki dynamic?
OK, I've now posed a page full of questions, and I'll tackle the answers as best I can.
Why do we love the bad guy? It's a complicated question. I think what's happening here is a combination of things, but first, I think that Loki represents a dark sexuality that women have always found attractive on some level. Remember the lyrics to the song "E.T.," by Katy Perry (used without permission).
You're so hypnotizing
Could you be the devil?
Could you be an angel?
Your touch magnetizing
Fells like I am floating
Leaves my body glowing
They say be afraid
You're not like the others
Futuristic lover
Different DNA
They don't understand you
You're from a whole 'nother world
A different dimension
You open my eyes
And I'm ready to go
Lead me into the light.
Kiss me, ki - ki – kiss me
Infect me with your love and
Fill me with your poison
Take me, ta – ta – take me
Wanna be a victim
Waiting for abduction
Boy, you're an alien
Your touch so foreign
It's supernatural
Extraterrestrial
You're so supersonic
Wanna feel your powers
Stun me with your lasers
Your kiss is cosmic
Every move is magic
I think those words explain so much. Nice, healthy girls are brought up to be interested in boys who are going to grow up to be some kind of approximation of Thor. OK, we don't get all of it, but it's an ideal; Thor's a god, after all. In The Dark World, he tells the London Bobbie "I'm dangerous," which he is, if you're a bad guy. But he's nowhere near as dangerous as Loki. Loki is really dangerous.
Loki is every man our mothers told us to stay far away from. He is a wild card; we cannot predict his next move. He can be relied on to betray us, he'll lie, trick us, cheat us, and cheat on us, and we will always be his victim, abducted and used. Then he'll leave us and forget us, or will hold on so tightly and with so much control that we can never break free. Whatever the case, Loki is ultimately concerned only with Loki.
So what's the deal? Remember that dark sexuality I mentioned? That's the sexuality that some women explore in their fantasies, the sexuality that might seem perverse or shameful. It is certainly not the sexuality that "nice girls" would enjoy. So, women go into their private fantasy world where they can safely have scary and dangerous sex. Who's the man for that scary and dangerous sex? Who else but Loki? Certainly not the kindly and gentle Thor.
One of the reasons that Loki is a villain is that he plays by no rules except his own, and they usually make no sense, except that they get him where he wants to go. With Loki, anything can and will happen. Is it our nice girl's fault if she has hot, steamy, and forbidden sex with a god? No! She's Loki's unwilling victim, after all. He's abducted her, seduced her, infected her with his love and filled her with his poison. Best of all, Loki's no growling demon; he's a beautiful man having a gloriously wonderful time. Part of the seduction or rape is that his victim will laugh along with him, begging for more. She may scream his name, and when he tells her to, she'll damn well kneel, and he will revel in it. The thing is, so will she, and she will do so with no guilt, because the wonderful wicked and sexy Loki has made her do it. "Wanna feel your powers, stun me with your lasers … every move is magic."
Loki will give her guilt free, "dirty" love and sex, which she will wildly enjoy. He might throw in some twisted stuff too, depending on what she wants. My friends on Facebook have some very definite ideas on that subject. Best of all, nothing ever goes too far, nothing will injure or hurt her, and no one will ever find out. Why? It's all in her head! Even though Loki is the futuristic lover who is capable of anything and everything, our fantasizing girl ultimately controls it all. She wakes up in the morning, and she can go back to being her good little self, and no one knows anything about it. It's perfect, uninhibited, and guilt free. What could be better?
Why do we love a loser? Loki can't be the winner – he's the bad guy, the naughty boy. Thor has to win; he represents order in the universe, while Loki is the force for chaos. By the light of day, Thor must rule, but the darkness belongs to Loki. This is the yin and yang of Thor and Loki which is represented in so many other ways. We really want them both, and know that Thor is the better choice, so we fantasize about the man we never allow ourselves to have, if we have any sense. But our minds are our own, and what we do in that private space is our own business.
Why do we love a man with no romantic interest? That's ridiculous; he has loads of romantic interest: all the women who take him into their fantasies. We don't want him to have anyone else, we are his romantic interest. Thor has Jane, and Loki has all of us, and even if we don't show up on the screen, we're there. Sometimes I think that's why Loki is so full of glee and laughter, why he enjoys himself so much. He knows he is irresistible to women, and what a good time he has with that!
What about Loki's psychopathology and the fact that he's really unbalanced? I'll classify that with the villain question. Hey, the guy's crazy – that nasty Odin drove him crazy, pushed him over the edge. Is that his fault? No, blame it on the All-Father. Loki certainly does. Craziness adds spice to the stew (in fantasy land); it makes him all the more unpredictable, and somehow, all the more loveable and thrilling. We long to love him and make him happy and whole, even though we know that probably can't be done; he's far too damaged. We know it's always worth a try though.
Why do we love Loki more than the hyper-masculine, man-mountain Thor? Loki has a wicked gleam in his eye, as though he knows everything that we think about. Thor's centered on Jane. Have we ever seen him throw her over his shoulder and carry her off to bed? No, we have not, nor will we, because the movies are made for family audiences. Thor is sweet and respectful, and always in control of himself. Not so Loki. Loki may not be as physically imposing as Thor, and he doesn't wield the mighty hammer, but throwing the woman he wants over his shoulder and carrying her off to bed, as she prettily protests, looks like something Loki is very capable of doing. No rules, remember? In addition, remember one very important thing; Loki is the Master of Magic. A magical lover … really? That gives one food for thought. Also, while Loki is not the mighty Thor, he's still very large and strong; he's an Asgardian god after all. He's actually bullet-proof, remember? The only Avenger who could take him down without an iron suit or a magic hammer, was the Hulk. What more can I say?
Now, for another really fun question; how much of our love of Loki is caused by Tom Hiddleston? A lot, I think. Not all, but a lot. Because of Tom, Loki is a fully three dimensional and nuanced character; he's complicated. Thor is not complicated, nor is he supposed to be. But Loki looks as though he has about 100 things going on in his head at any one time. We know he feels sad, hurt, betrayed, wounded, misunderstood, undervalued, different, rejected, jealous, inadequate, second best, ambitious, unsatisfied, unloved, lonely, vengeful, happy, amused, ironic, wickedly humorous, and full of wild fun and rage all at the same time. Tom is able to carry this off, so that we believe Loki really is feeling all these things. I think of Tom's Loki as shimmering with rage at the same time he's shimmering with glee. What a trick. What an actor! Tom is beautiful and handsome, but so are a lot of other young actors. It is Tom's acting ability that makes Loki come alive. If he were simply a cackling villain, or a pathetic loser, we wouldn't care about him. But we do. This is why we're rooting for the bad guy; he's so full of all the emotions we feel ourselves, I hope to a lesser extent, and it's Tom who puts those emotions into Loki. I always want Loki to win, although I know he never will. Tom makes it look as though Loki knows that too, though he's always game for another try.
There's another thing about the Loki and Tom dynamic that is interesting. Much has been spoken about the yin and yang of Thor and Loki; Tom and Chris have both mentioned this in interviews - they balance each other. You cannot have one without the other. They are light and dark, good and evil, satisfied and dissatisfied, Asgardian and Frost Giant, serious and humorous, faithful and unfaithful, truthful and lying, loved and unloved, etc. It seems to me that one reason that Tom's Loki works so well is that Tom and Loki represent another yin and yang. Tom said in an interview that it's funny that he's become so popular playing a character so unlike himself. He's right; he's not like Loki in the most important ways. Their yin and yang might be kind and unkind, good and evil, balanced and unbalanced, loved and unloved, light and dark, and many other things. But, Tom did not mention how like Loki he is. First of all, Loki on the screen is in Tom's lovely body, wears his handsome face, and speaks with his cultured and Shakespearean voice. Most important is that both Tom and Loki look as though they are both having a riotously good time just about all the time. This, of course, may just be Tom in front of the camera, but it's how he appears. He's witty and humorous, full of jokes, and loves to perform, and I think of Loki as the ultimate performer. Tom's performance of Loki is beautiful magic – I think Loki would love it, though he might tell him to kneel!
So, here we are, loving Loki and Thor, and loving Loki and Tom. It's OK, we love both the yin and yang of all three. Someone made a picture of Loki that says, "Keep calm and love Loki," and so that's what I do. I'm sure I'll never get to meet Tom, nor even see him in person, but that's fine. Loki belongs to me.