Plain old-fashioned dislike

An update--I thought for a long time about Anton Chigurh and Sweeney Todd, and despite what I said about violence and what I'm teaching my kid, I eventually came to the conclusion that I just plain didn't like Sweeney Todd, at least Johnny Depp/Tim Burton's version. Anton Chigurh is my dude. I haven't liked an on-screen character that much since Ralph Fiennes became Voldemort.

I'm going to read NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN this summer, to see if Chigurh is as brilliant on the page as he is on screen. I'm betting so.

Does this mean I'm not still wondering about violence and what I'm teaching my kid? Of course I am--but I've decided to own my likes and dislikes as well. Then the question arises: is it bad to like a killer? A very elegant, eloquent, simple but badass character who happens to be a killer? I don't know the answer to that question.

But I still don't think I can go for Dexter the serial killer. That's too far, good character or not.