Success Quote by John Gilpin

“Bad guys” are where the oxygen is. Gilpin’s line isn’t a film-studies truism so much as a tell about how audiences and industries actually reward risk: the villain gets the best lines, the sharpest edges, the clearest desire. Heroes are often stuck performing virtue like a compliance checklist. Antagonists, by contrast, get to want things in a way that’s legible and a little taboo - power, revenge, control, attention. That clarity reads as charisma.

Coming from a businessman, the quote quietly slips between art and strategy. In corporate life, “playing the bad guy” can mean owning the unpopular decision, disrupting a market, or saying what everyone else is too cautious to say. There’s a reputational thrill in being the contrarian who breaks the rules (or at least looks like he does) while others protect the brand. It’s also a recognition of a cynical media economy: conflict sells, outrage travels, and the “villain edit” is often the fastest way to become memorable.

The subtext is that morality isn’t the same thing as narrative gravity. We watch to feel tension, not to receive a gold star. A well-written “bad guy” concentrates the story’s pressure points: hypocrisy, desire, the costs people hide. Gilpin’s phrasing - “much more fun,” “much more interesting” - frames villainy as craft and entertainment, not depravity. It’s an argument for complexity, and maybe a small confession that likability is overrated when the goal is impact.