Messala
In Ben-Hur (1959), we are introduced to Ben-Hur who is a “prince” of the jewish people who looks after them and voices out for them. We are then introduced to Messala, who grew up with Ben-Hur and they were close friends until Messala left to go to Rome. Messala comes back to Jerusalem after spending a lot of time in Rome where he is now a general. He finds Ben-Hur, his mother and sister, but Messala starts to flirt with Tirzah and ask Ben-Hur for a favor. Messala wants more power and tells Ben-Hur that they need to slaughter everyone that doesn't obey the Roman religion. Ben-Hur refuses to work with his friend on the quest because it's not morally right, which Messala doesn't like. An event happens in the movie where Messala pins it on Ben-Hur, sending him away making him a slave but as time goes on with Messala’s power growing Ben-Hur makes a return. This makes Messala the villain of this story. Messala has the motive of wanting more power, because he wants to slaughter people that don't believe in the Roman religion. He made a friend an enemy because he pinned something on him that wasn't true and at the same time made the rest of his family suffer by turning them into lepers. The last reason why Messala is the villain in the story is because he forges Ben-Hur into a hero for himself, his love, and his family because of Messala’s actions. I will be talking about when Messala gets angry or shows some form of anger, and I will be talking about Messala being friendly.
In Ben-Hur (1959), Messala is an interesting character and villain. Messala did not show his emotions as much as other villains in other movies, but morally you could tell when he gets frustrated and angry. Messala carried himself a way that no other villain did because of the rank he was at as a Roman general, and how much Rome treated him as well with him being a chariot racer and winning. In the first picture shown, it is at the end of the movie where Ben-Hur challenges Messala to step in the same “track” as him and Messala thinks down on him. When the camera’s cut to him, he is shown wearing all black with darker horses which portrays villain behavior and being the bad guy in the movie, while Ben-Hur is in lighter clothing and white horses. The producers did an amazing job with how they portrayed him in this part because this was the clear moment that he was the villain in the movie and it was him against Ben-Hur. Another thing that is shown is, on his chariot’s wheels he has spikes which weren't allowed in the races but since he was the villain of the story, the villain will always look for shortcuts in order to get what he wants and win. In the other picture it is showing Ben-Hur and Messala talking, with Messala’s side showing but you can tell he is angry by his demeanor. In the conversation, Messala is asking Ben-Hur to come with him to Rome, and to slaughter everyone that doesn't respect the Roman religion because the Roman religion is superior to the other religions. Ben-Hur says no because that is not morally correct, but Messala doesn't see that and gets angry at him because he is protecting “peasants” and not taking the power he is offered. This scene is the first time we start to be introduced as Messala being the villain. This is because he wants to slaughter everyone that doesn't respect or want to be a part of the Roman religion. Messala really wanted Ben-Hur to come with him to Rome because he is already a “prince” and has power, but also Messala and Ben-Hur were close friends growing up in Jerusalem.
Anger
Friendly
The other trait the villain should always have is to be friendly or some sort of comedy. At the beginning of the movie when we are introduced to Messala, he is shown being very friendly to Ben-Hur and everyone around him. One thing that the producers do a good job of is introducing him as a friendly character in the start, then he slowly turns into the villain as the movie goes on because it gives the audience suspense about Messala. In the first picture, Messala finally returns to Jerusalem and greets Ben-Hur for the first time in awhile. In this picture we are first introduced to Messala as a character and when I first saw him, I thought it was going to be a duo type movie, where they fight somebody side by side. Messala is shown giving a smile to Ben-Hur which perceives us that he is going to be a good guy in the movie, but Messala showing his gratitude and kindness back to Ben-Hur is all a part of his master plan to get what he wants. In the second picture, Messala is with Ben-Hur and his family catching up on life and what not but Messala pulls out Jewelry and gives it as a gift to Tirzah. I feel like the producers did this to steer us a way to the point that Messala is a good guy and not a villain. This gives the audience the shock that when he starts to do evil things, it messes with the audience’s heads on how and why he switched up from being a good guy to being a villain.
