Villainous Monologues: They May Be More Common than You Think

One of the oft-mocked tropes in fiction is the Villain’s Monologue. For example, in a story the villain will somehow manage to capture the hero and hold him at his mercy on the train tracks or in his scientific lab. Then, rather than get on with the murder or the torture, the villain chooses to make a grand speech. Sometimes this speech ends with him murdering or hurting the hero, but just as often it ends with either the heroes’ friends showing up to rescue him or the hero figuring out how to get free on his own.

Critics and some audiences scoff at this. “How could anyone be so stupid?” they say. “Do the writers think real people would monologue like this rather than act quickly and decisively?”

Writers do not think real people would do this. Rather, writers know real people have done this and continue to do it because some people really believe they are the center of the universe and everyone should bow down to worship them – and that if they do not bow and worship, then they should be punished for ignoring the Great Center of All That Is. You can easily look up this mental disorder: it is called narcissism. Many people have had it and still do.

It is not hard to look up long-winded speeches from genuine historical villains. Hitler liked to hear himself talk. So did Stalin and Mao. Lenin wasn’t any different. So yes, indeed, real people with malicious intent can and will monologue to those they have in their power – or those whom they believe they have in their power.

Part of what prompted this post was a link someone shared for Nate Silver’s Twitter/X account. I will reproduce the picture from the linked post at his account below:

That is the first page of Paul Ehrlich’s The Population Bomb. Yes, THAT Paul Ehrlich. Mr. Silver is a bit late to the party on recognizing that Ehrlich’s overpopulation theory means he literally wants lots of people who are alive now, in this present moment and all across the world, dead to satisfy him and his beliefs. I have known people who have been explaining for years that this was Mr. Ehrlich’s end goal. Here is Mr. Silver’s comment on the above picture:

So for the final chapter in my book I’ve been reading a lot about technological progress and the future of humanity. And I came across Paul Ehrlich’s “The Population Bomb”. And holy shit, how profoundly evil is it to think that The Problem is that too many humans exist.

Excuse me, Mr. Silver, but where have you been? People who read the book when it was published have been telling everyone in earshot that this was Ehrlich’s belief – and that others shared this same certainty. Did you miss the Georgia Guidestones? They made the news in 2022 because someone blew them up. Their “first commandment” was this: “Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.” What do you think that means, Mr. Silver? I will tell you: it means they want all but 500 million people dead. On-the-spot dead, shot from orbit by Helicarriers dead, block out the sun to kill people dead. And yes, this includes aborting people before they even exit the womb dead – or did you not hear about Planned Parenthood having to admit they sell aborted baby parts for profit? How about the pressure to abort when a child has a condition they may die from at birth? You do that if you want to control the population. You do that if you believe “The Problem” is that “too many people” simply exist.

Why do you think Thanos has had such a rabid following since Infinity War came out? “Oh, he’s so human,” was the compliment I saw repeated over and over again by entertainment outlets praising the Mad Titan’s appearance. Thanos isn’t human, he is a monster. He wiped out half of all life – ALL life, not just human and sapient alien life – with a snap of his fingers. That is Paul Ehrlich’s and others’ wet dream, and you do not need to take my word for it. Just read that line from page one of The Population Bomb again:

“People, people, people, people.”

They hate people – and people includes you, reader, and Mr. Silver, do not think it doesn’t – and you can tell because Ehrlich’s only complaints are about Delhi and Calcutta. Not about New York City, which has 8 million inhabitants (or it did, until recently) or Hong Kong or any other city where the culture is to keep the city clean. Delhi and Calcutta are each from highly stratified societies in tropical regions where cleanliness is, at best, a dream. The culture in these places does not care for cleanliness as the west understands it and since a lot of India is jungle, it is not easy to stay clean there. Hence Ehrlich’s comment about a “stinking hot night in Delhi.” It used to be said that only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun in India. The country is a tropical one, which means it is naturally moist and hot even at night.

Both Delhi and Calcutta are on rivers, which means water, so people congregate there en masse to at least have something to drink and a relatively easy source of food. Keeping these cities spotless hasn’t been possible and most of the people who live there have a culture of not caring about the things which Ehrlich finds so offensive. You can take issue with that or not as you wish, but those are the main problems in Delhi, Calcutta, and other cities. It is NOT that they are “overpopulated.” Every city in history has been populous for its region. Why should Delhi and Calcutta be any different? They have a different culture but they are, at bottom, no different than any other city has been in history.

Ehrlich hates people. He apparently hates the Indian people more than most other types of people. “Old India hands will laugh at our reaction” – sir, I think Rudyard Kipling would have a few words for you, none of them he would care to print. Though once he got his anger under control and could write, laughter would be the furthest thing from his mind.

Mother Theresa of Calcutta certainly would not have laughed at you. She spent decades of her life there helping people in the slums. Her order of nuns still cares for and educates people there. They love them, which you clearly do not.

You do not even love your fellow man very much, given you pivot from Delhi and Calcutta to America quite promptly. Until recently our cities were so clean you could eat off the pavement (though most Americans would not). Now that San Francisco has maps telling you which routes to take to avoid the human defecation and drug needles on the sidewalks, and New York City has an overbearing rat problem, things are not as clean as they once were. It wouldn’t take much to clean them up – just look at what was done in November 2023 – but if you wanted to go somewhere in the United States and complain about Third World-type conditions, San Francisco would be one of your best bets. It used to be famous for its cleanliness. Now it’s got human poop all over the streets.

So, how does this relate to writing? Well, if you consider people calling for the outright murder of millions or even billions of people to be villains, and they monologue about this in public – in speech or in writing – then are you certain it is unrealistic for your fictional villain to go on a monologue while the hero is “in his power”? It never stopped Ehrlich or his fellow travelers. It did not stop someone from putting their monologue in granite and setting it up in Georgia.

Bill Gates is still monologuing about saving the planet by killing massive amounts of people. Even if he does not use those specific words, what do you think would happen if he COULD block the sun for any significant period of time? In the words of Arnim Zola from Captain America: The First Avenger, “The sanity of the plan is of no consequence.” This is what these people desire above all else and they are telling you about it to your face.

Ever wonder how Hitler came to power? How Lenin got in, or Pol Pot, or a dozen other tin pot dictators? This is how. People did not take them seriously. Not until it was too late.

The people who warned that Ehrlich’s data was wrong and that this is ultimately what he desired – a world with less people in it, because people are The Problem, in Mr. Silver’s words – were scoffed at and not taken seriously. That is how Mr. Silver can say, now that he is actually reading Ehrlich’s book: “How profoundly evil is it to think that The Problem is that too many people exist?”

We told you. We told you over and over again that this was what they believed, Mr. Silver. Now you read it in his own words and believe. Blessed are those who did not read Ehrlich’s treatise but trusted those who did, and rang the warning bell for all they were worth.

If you ever wonder where writers get their ideas for villains, this is where we get them. We read history, we read theories, and if we do not buy into them, we know about them. We know that they exist. We observe the people who do believe in them and then we write about them so that you will know they exist as well.

Evil is real. It is not stronger than good, but it can be stronger than the individual who faces it. If you are not careful, it can glide by you or approach you in a pretty manner and take you in. Then you will find yourself listening to a monologue while looking at a scalpel coming down on you and wonder how the heck you got there.

Be aware. Monologues are not confined to fiction. I wish they were – and that there was a Hulk around to interrupt them.

Hulk vs Loki – “Puny God”- Hulk Smashing Loki – The Avengers | Movie CLIP HD

But they are very real, and if you do not listen to them, it will end badly for you and for those you care about. So be watchful, readers. And future authors, if anyone says your villain’s monologue is unrealistic, ask them why. Maybe it is misplaced or too long for the scene. If that is the case, then it will need adjustment.

However, if the “problem” is that “no one would do this in real life”? Grab Paul Ehrlich’s The Population Bomb or Mr. Silver’s tweet linked above and show it to the person who complained. Because monologues are done by real people with villainous motivations. We have the proof written in stone, in ink, and in the blood of millions spilled from Russia to Vietnam to South America.

Do not let anyone tell you differently. They might just be trying to sell you a dangerous bill of goods.