Yeah, a lot of the villains aren't really complex. I can assume book Bent is crazy because he's bitter about his looks and lack of popularity, but I'll never understand why Justin, who had a beautiful young wife who probably would have loved him had he been good to her, would be such an ass to her.
I find Ashton worse in Book 2. The way she treated James was absolutely disgusting. The movie softened it up a lot. Book Ashton never would have said "I care about James", that is so opposite of how she was! She despised him, for no other reason than she didn't think he was hot enough for and that he didn't end up being a big political star and make her one too. She encouraged Lamar to murder him (Lamar is the sexy part of movie Bent, movie Bent is a combo of the two characters), and even though Lamar would be considered a villain too, I adored that character for my own personal reasons and I'm so disappointed he was wasted on a nasty character like Ashton, and that Jakes told mostly everything from her POV instead of his. No way did Ashton deserve to have four fun years with him after what she caused for Forbes and most especially, how she treated her husband. James might not have been a saint, but he did love her and treat her good.
The only time I like Ashton at all is in Book 3, she was actually a little human in her interaction with Will Fenway, and comical in her interaction with a guy named Villers who doesn't appear in the movie.
Yep, Isabel is supposed to be another ambitious, ruthless female. She's not focused on as much as Ashton though.
I agree about Virgilia, she's no villain in my book. She's a gray character, she has good intentions which can't be said for the villains, she's just confused about the correct way to go about it and lets her passion make her make poor decisions at times. At least she feels remorse for her mistakes, unlike Ashton, who never did. That scene at the end of the 2nd movie where she confesses all her sins? Never happened in the book and was extremely out of character, just like her saying, "I care about James, I just don't understand why I have to be married to him." Even after James was dead in Book 3, she still trashed him verbally.
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