Why Do Audiences Care? On 'Nighcrawler' and Its Antihero Lou Bloom Anonymous 8th Grade

In Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler (2014), Jake Gyllenhaal plays a man named Lou Bloom. Lou is an eccentric but driven man who stumbles upon the world of late night T.V. Specifically, he becomes a nightcrawler – someone who tapes breaking news stories like murders or violent car crashes and sells that footage to local news stations. Lou is an undeniably complex character, one that few films possess. He simultaneously lacks empathy and has a tremendous drive to succeed, a drive to succeed which causes him to do unforgivable things. Still, he is the protagonist of Nightcrawler, a protagonist who is engaging and hardworking but ultimately evil and manipulative and strange. Lou is, in other words, an antihero. But why do audiences connect with him.

First of all, Lou is an exceptionally hard worker. “If you want to win the lottery,” Lou proudly proclaims, “[then] you have to make the money to buy the ticket.” And Lou does just that – even if it is under extralegal or flat out illegal circumstances. Lou does all that he has to be successful and to build his business and to become successful. Quite plainly, this is an admirable trait that many people strive to have. But this is only one of the many things that make up Lou. He is a...