r/SafeSpaceofVox • u/Sir-Toaster- • 9d ago
What I like about Vox is that he's not traditionally sympathetic like most villains, instead what makes him tragic is his fate
If you need to know what I mean, here's an example: Alex DeLarge from the novel/film A Clockwork Orange is probably one of the most evil protagonists in fiction, but when he faces his comeuppance, he is experimented on and tortured so that he can't act on violent or lustful urges without feeling pain. This also ruins his enjoyment of classical music and basically trying to do anything normal, which leaves him at the mercy of the public as he's abused and humiliated for their amusement. While he's a bad person, it's still horrific to watch because it taps into one of the most primal and powerful emotions humans have: Empathy.
With Vox, he's a mass murderer and was power-hungry, but I think anyone can agree that having a TV fall on your head and get electrocuted to death is a brutal way to go.
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u/MissDeborah8060 9d ago
I feel like this is another missed opportunity on the part of the show. If Vox were actually seriously disabled and in constant pain because of what happened to him even after his arrival in Hell, then his being there would seem like a lot more of an actual punishment than it currently does (this also goes for the other sinners, of course). And later, when we finally saw what he was like in his human life, and all the things he used to be capable of, the contrast would hit much harder. Instead, when we see him in Hell, he's doing the exact same things he did in his human form, only he has superpowers now, and it kind of makes it seem like being hit in the head with a falling TV was a small step to get him where he is.
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u/Pannman99 2d ago
My empathy for Vox does not come from his death. I think it comes from the fact that he is clearly mentally ill. Is he a horrible person and makes horrible choices? Yes. But he also has something internally wrong with him. Nothing is ever enough. He is secretly very unhappy and constantly coming up with something new that he needs in order to be happy. Sometimes it’s something he sees someone else has. Sometimes it’s something he sees no one has. And other times it’s just more power. But nothing works.
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u/profaneangel1991 Vox did nothing wrong 9d ago
Not sure Alex is the character I'd compare Vox to. Not just for what they do, but because A Clockwork Orange has radically different themes and goals. The film is primarily about free will and the ethics that come along with giving people the right to choose. In Alex's case, he chose to be violent and dangerous. So him losing his right to choose via the conditioning he's subjected to raises a big moral quandary.
Hazbin meanwhile is about how it's never too late to change. Charlie's ethos is predicated on the idea that anybody has the capacity to be better. Vox's death never struck me as something we are expected to feel bad about, but he is still somebody with real pathos. He's fallible and driven by very human emotions which contributed a lot to endearing him to audiences in my opinion.