Thread: Commodus- Born Evil or Driven to it?

I felt it was one of the most tragic scenes I've ever watched. I was sad for both the father and son. Such talent. Wonderful. "a malcontent who knows how to spell"

After watching Gladiator for the hundredth time this weekend, I now see Commodus as an almost tragic character driven to madness by the rejection of his father, Marcus Aurelius. In the film, Commodus says "You wrote to me once, listing the four chief virtues: wisdom, justice, fortitude and temperance. As I read the list, I knew I had none of them. But I have other virtues, father. Ambition. That can be a virtue when it drives us to...

His "evil" for want of a better word,is born of neglect perhaps,but to butcher the whole world,only for a Fathers love?It's a completely scripted Universe of course,and Commodus is designed to be hated,and lines like that insure the audience's dislike to be sure!

I will give you a full answer. People's characters are shaped by their childhood and youth. They rarely change during their adulthood, not to the breadth they could do during their adult years. Commodus was a neglected son, but all of his faults came from feeling alone and depending on the father. His father has never seen Commodus as the Ceasar, and Commodus' flaw was not understanding what the Rome needed, and what makes a great...

A lot of kids have crappy fathers, but not all of them turn evil. Nature vs. nurture. We will never know. It is different for us all. It is our choices that makes us who we are. Mulder: Nobody likes a math geek, Scully.

He was definitely a product of neglect and a lack of respect from his subjects. Sure everyone is different but it's hard to overcome rejection, especially they type where a father lavishes attention on one and ignores another. People who are emotionally wounded early in life rarely recover from it. That's not to say they all end up evil but definitely warped in some way. I like that he was portrayed in this way rather than just...

The most evil man in Cinema was The Emperor who was born evil. He was more evil then the devil who atleast fell from grace. Commodus was infact a child of neglect and sadly could have been turned for the better if only his father who have devoted some time to his son oppose to his daughter. "That wasn't flying, that was........falling with style"

He was evil all the time, even in history Commodus was a giant a-hole