“Bad Guy” Vibe

Hi everybody. Good afternoon. Adel’s here.

If you haven’t read my previous post, I’m here to catch you up.

I am now officially done with clinical rotation (well, at least until 28th February. That’s my chapter II dooms day :”)), got an internship and pretty much is trying hard to fill the (pseudo)holidays with high productive activities instead of lying down, watching series and going to gym. Well, I have already binge-watched all seasons of Lucifer (So good! I love Tom Ellis and Lauren German. Their chemistry is so great! #TeamLucifer), Umbrella Academy ( You can’t hate Robert Sheehan, I am already in love since The Mortal Instruments <3) and Locke and Key. To All The Boys PS: I Still Love You was the perfect way to spend Valentine’s Day on. Honestly speaking, I have watched it first on 12th February 2020 and I am still repeating the cycle till today. There’s a new guy introduced in the sequel this time named John Ambrose McLaren. Everybody is in love with him right now but I’ll stick to my guy, Peter Kavinsky. The thing is, I feel that we are mesmerised by John like how we were mesmerised towards Peter the first time. The good guy vibe, almost flawless. And people start shifting because Peter finally showed up as a “human” with flaws and mistakes. Something that was not highlighted on the first movie. Hence, I am always #TeamLaraJean, but if I have to pick a side for the guy, I’ll stick with #TeamPeter. And and and… After We Collided finally dropped their teaser and boy should I say it’s pretty HOT. I guess this is the biggest change you can observed since the movie is no longer PG-13 but R-Rated. Talking about Fifty Shades of Grey teenager spin-off. I know a friend or two who would love to see the movie. I mean I’m sticking around for my couple, #Hessa and basically already charmed by Hero Fiennes Tiffin. Without realising, I even bought a Salvatore Ferragamo’s perfume named Signoria, Misteriosa. Am I a loyal fan or what ? Hahahaha…

Anyways, I also watched 2 movies this week, Fantasy Island and . . . Milea, Suara Dari Dilan. I know I know, the first movie is not a bad option. It’s sort of a thriller movie staring Lucy Hale. However the second one was somehow a questionable choice. Since the very beginning of the series, I have stated to hate the idea of the movie. Dilan was pictured as one of the “naughty” boy at school. He was involved in a motorcycle gang and violence has been a great company for quite some time. He was also pictured as a womanizer at his age. Despite being out going, friendly and loyal to his friend, he got a problem with expressing emotions in a way, especially when it came to romantic relationship. His family was solid, harmonious and very understanding tho. Dilan then fell in love with Milea and wooed her with his own “unique” ways. In my opinion, those ways didn’t really work anymore in this modern era but as in a movie settings back in 19th centuries, it’s quite a distinctive way to differentiate and market the movie. The first two movies were told from Milea’s perspective and the last movie of the trilogy was made from Dilan’s. It filled the gaps and answered the questions viewers might had from the first two movies since again, he had a “trouble” of expressing himself directly towards the people around him, creating questions that were left unanswered. Oooo, and one more point. He loved writing poems. I remembered not being a fan of his character from the very beginning and having tons of scepticism towards reasons on why people idolise Dilan. The local government even made a park over this movie. I mean, what’s to love and adore from such flawed character ? Then yesterday, when I was sitting in a cinema together with his hard core fans, I realised something. Dilan is just Indonesia’s version of Hardin Scott. In contrary of Dilan, I actually empathise with Hardin Scott. Then it got me thinking. What’s the freaking difference ?

If you watch and/or read After series, Hardin Scott is pretty much “damaged” during his early days. From having childhood trauma, experience of father’s abuse, traumatic events, alcohol, drugs and sex exposure from early teenage days … I mean you name it. He is the embodiment of a broken man. He is described as a very cold, violent, full of self-loathe, negative and self-centred kid, teen and young adult. Amazing English Literacy is probably the main good part of him before he met Tessa Young. In this movie, Tessa is the lighthouse of Hardin Scott. In contrary of Dilan, Hardin is not blessed with a supporting family background. His father was an alcoholic and later on left the house, leaving Hardin and his mom stranded without an explanation and tons of debts. His mother tho, thankfully is very patient and loving (WE LOVE YOU TRISH <3). You can only guess if the mother had similar traits, our dearest Hardin will be gone beyond repair. Anyways, there's a point to consider. At Indonesia, sex is not a comfortable topic people like to discuss in public. Most of the area still consider it taboo, even to the extent of saying the word is like a crime, so it makes sense to not compare this two character from this perspective.

So, back to the main question: If I can empathise with Hardin Scott, why can’t I do the same with Dilan ?

I read all After Series by Anna Todd and I didn’t do the same with Dilan series but as far as I know, both from internet and my friends who are readers of the books, Dilan’s character was portrayed almost the same in the movie like it was in the book. While Hardin’s character in the movie, well at least the first out of 4, was “tamed”. The book described him as an even more obnoxious man. And after thinking all night long, I figured the main difference is self-awareness. Dilan had clear clarity and certain intentions behind all his taken actions. Like from joining in a motorcycle gang, beating up his own best friends for screwing Milea, being the commander in chief to avenge his personal attacks. As if he had no regret towards his actions and he believed that it was the right thing to do at that moment, despite knowing the consequences that will happen once it was done while Hardin Scott sort of not. It might be caused by his habits of solving problems by violence and drinking and/or getting high. He also had done some questionable and reckless mistakes -if that happened in real life, I would be doing the opposite of giving empathy. I would probably joined in the "Banned and punished Hardin Scott club"- but at least he was sorry. He knew it hurt people around him, he knew it was wrong and was actually trying to change since Tessa got in to the pictures. But the problem was he didn’t know how to communicate and was so consumed by his high pride and ego. He was used to being pictured as a “bad boy” that only know how to use his fists to solve problems. Due to massive disappointment, pain and bad growing-up environment he was used to shut himself down as a protection. We all can agree that changes don’t come easy to anyone. For me, this statement is true. I don’t go changing to a “better” version of myself in one day. I don’t even think I can achieve that in one or two months. While Dilan stuck to his ways, again believing it’s the right thing to do despite having all his facts straight, Hardin Scott actually tried to make himself better although it took hundreds even thousands of setbacks. He tried. On top of everything, changes don’t come easy when they are living in a non supportive environment. Dilan at least had loyal friends and family members while Hardin Scott got none of them. Stephanie, Molly, Nate, Zed, Dan and Jace -Jace was just pure terrible- were not friends. More of crazy buddies that loved him to stay “broken”. By all means, this post didn’t justify any kind of harsh treatment he had and would have done in the books and upcoming movies, but I feel that slight difference of good intentions is what make me “feel” for Hardin and not Dilan.

Well, I guess, that’s enough for now. Hoping to see you all again in my next post.

Have a great weekend! :)