# Why are bad guys bald in the movies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 5, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686 "2010-09-05T15:49:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Gozu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gozu/32/6615_2.png) [@Gozu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/1 "2010-09-05T15:49:03Z")
I know there are plenty of exceptions to this rule but I couldn’t help but notice that there is a strong correlation between being a villain or a thug and being bald in movies and tv. I can’t be the only one who has noticed this tendency and I’d like to ask: What’s up with that? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/2 "2010-09-05T16:00:00Z")
Confirmation bias on your part, plus the requirement for the Good Guys to be attractive. Both villains and heroes come with hair, without and in between, but when a good guy has a fringe of hair it’s the sidekick (as well as having a high probability of being married with children) or some sort of “funny” and whether the hero has a head full of hair or no hair (fringes of hair are unacceptable in heroes per current “Hollywood” standards), he’s considered good looking like that. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/3 "2010-09-05T16:04:19Z")
It’s just Hollywood shorthand. Just like the way all bad guys have English accents these days. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/4 "2010-09-05T16:09:07Z")
Erland van Lidthe de Jeude (he was the Big Bald Geek in **The Wanderers and Stir Crazy** turned down a part as the Big Bald Bad Guy in the Bo Derek **Tarzan** because he got tired of playing Big Bald Geeks (ironically, in his last movie role, as a Big Geek in **The Running Man** , he wears a helmet, so you can’t tell he isn’t bald). I knew Erland, and he wasn’t bald (although he conspicuously lacked hair on most of his body. But he had a good mop on his head). Philip Kaufman had him shave for _The Wanderers_ because he was playing a member of a gang based on the real-life “Fordham Baldies”. But subsequent directors had him shave because it pretty obviously madfe him look like a badass. But it wasn’t him, and he declined after a while. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/5 "2010-09-05T16:19:33Z")
Assuming the OP is correct, this is probably better covered in Cafe Society. Moved from General Questions **samclem** Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/6 "2010-09-05T16:21:54Z")
I loved the bit where Erland van Lidth de Jeude sings in _The Wanderers_. It’s one of the only scenes I remember, since it’s been so long since I’ve seen it. In my imperfect memory my impression is that he went from a Bad Guy to, if not a ‘Good Bad Guy’, at least a ‘Not-So-Bad Bad Guy’. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/7 "2010-09-05T16:24:14Z")
Asking, not asserting: In Tee Vee commercials, aren’t the “bad guys”, the saps using the inferior product, and other wrong choice symbols typically bald(ing)? Or is this also Confirmation Bias on my part? . ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/8 "2010-09-05T16:27:00Z")
It also makes it easy for a casual viewer to distinguish between the Good Guy (flowing locks) and Bad Guy (chrome dome) with just a glance. It annoys people when the two leads are two similar looking. Just like how one female actor has to be blond and one brunette. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/9 "2010-09-05T16:39:00Z")
Bald people are evil. People who shave their heads for effect are Eeeeevil. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/10 "2010-09-05T16:47:43Z")
And bad or evil woman have their hair pulled back into a tight bun Except of course for Wilma Flintstone who was only occasionally a bitch, but then it was because Fred deserved it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/11 "2010-09-05T16:47:44Z")
They’re less human. They’re, like, _machines._ Big phallic weaponheads. Hair is sensual and they have no sensuality. They might [pet](http://img.listal.com/image/1196691/500full.jpg) a [kitty cat](http://www.tallarmeniantale.com/pics/blofeld-cat.JPG) (another eeevil symbol) but will crush a human life without remorse. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/12 "2010-09-05T18:08:31Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > And bad or evil woman have their hair pulled back into a tight bun > > Except of course for Wilma Flintstone who was only occasionally a bitch, but then it was because Fred deserved it 🙂 What about all of the sexy librarians out there who merely need to let their hair down (and ditch their glasses) to activate their incredible hotness? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/13 "2010-09-05T18:09:58Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > What about all of the sexy librarians out there who merely need to let their hair down (and ditch their glasses) to activate their incredible hotness? Yes, please! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/14 "2010-09-05T18:15:43Z")
Isn’t it more that Lex Luthor was bald, so characters like Dr Evil are imitating him? It’s not a general characteristic of bad guys - actually, they’re the only two that spring to mind for me. Having a shaven head is common in movie thugs, because it’s common in real life thugs too. (Not that all guys with shaven heads are thugs, obviously). ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/15 "2010-09-05T18:19:18Z")
Yul Brunner, Kojak, Picard, Jason Statham. Perhaps there’s one exception allowed per decade? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/16 "2010-09-05T18:53:12Z")
Because movie makers are libruls and Dick Cheney personifies evil? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/17 "2010-09-05T19:36:22Z")
Because ‘80’s [long hair](http://stars.ign.com/objects/142/14218366.html) and [ponytails](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3121253888/tt0099938)is finally becoming passe’. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/18 "2010-09-06T00:09:39Z")
> [@](#): > > I loved the bit where Erland van Lidth de Jeude sings in The Wanderers. It’s one of the only scenes I remember, since it’s been so long since I’ve seen it. Sadly, that’s not his voice. I was in the Musical Theater Guild with Erland, and have heard his sing pretty often. When that alien voice came out of his mouth on-screen, I did a double-take. _Definitely_ not his voice. It turns out that there was some sort of union regulation about this – Erland wasn’t registered as a singer, or something. In any event, they couldn’t use his real voice. Years later, he got to sing for real in **The Running Man**. Unfortunately, there are explosions going on at the same time, so you can’t really hear it. (Surprising, in a way – Erland’s voice was _powerful_. When he sand on the first floor of Building 10 – to publicize the musical being put on – you could hear him on the third floor) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/19 "2010-09-06T00:17:51Z")
[TVTropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BaldOfEvil) has more answers and examples than you could ever want. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686/20 "2010-09-06T00:30:49Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Because ‘80’s [long hair](http://stars.ign.com/objects/142/14218366.html) and [ponytails](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3121253888/tt0099938)is finally becoming passe’. This. Bad guys with hipster ponytails used to be evil incarnate. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bad-guys-bald-in-the-movies/552686.md?page=2)