vengeance is john wick's

I watched the movie John Wick tonight.  It is good for what it is, which is a revenge film, so it could be enjoyed well enough on those merits.  I did not realize before I got the movie in the mail that it is a revenge flick, though, since I don't really go for that genre of cinema.

A self-righteous part of me wants to say that the problem I have with revenge films is that revenge is inherently sinful, and so those sorts of films stir up anger in inappropriate ways.  While this is right that vengeance is God's rather than mine, there's probably a different reason I do not like them.

A lot of films have been made in the last decade or so targeted to my demographic that I have no interest in watching for this reason.  For example, I know exactly what the Taken films are, and I have zero interest in watching them.  So many people talk about how wonderful those movies are, though.  Likewise, the entire Quentin Tarantino catalog from the last ten years has been marketed almost solely on revenge (Django Unchained, Inglourious Basterds, Death Proof, and Kill Bill 1 & 2), so the most recent Tarantino film I've seen or had a desire to see are the Kill Bill movies.

I think that films like this are designed to allow people to fantasize about doing what they can't.  They can right wrongs that need to be addressed and be the source of justice that is needed.  In the case of John Wick it is murdering tens of criminals in revenge for killing a dog.  The problem is, for whatever reason, I cannot suspend disbelieve enough to believe that justice is being done in the situation (or that justice would be done if the situation was played out in real life).

That is the reason I am not drawn in the same way others are, but the reason I dislike them is different.  At its core, the real reasons I usually dislike revenge are that I don't like the feeling of hate and that I don't like empathizing with a miserable character.

First, I don't like a movie manipulating me into hating a character.  I don't like hating people—even fictional people.  It isn't a good feeling, and it is not consistent with my beliefs.

Second, I feel too much empathy for the protagonist.  I get sucked into the main character's life too much when watching a movie, so if the main character goes through a hellish situation, I do too.  I don't know why, but I empathize more with the character who is explicitly wronged than the character who simply goes through difficult struggles.

Given the popularity of revenge in story, a lot of people do not feel the same way I do.  A lot of people like seeing the protagonist go through a revenge arc as part of their redemption process.  I am not making a judgment on that, but it is a different perspective from mine.