The issue with Villains

The issue with villains, is that if you look deep enough, you can understand exactly how they got to the place of perceived ‘evil.’ There are entire novels and films dedicated to understanding the past of Disney villain characters; there are stories that flip the script on traditional fairy tales; there are parodies that analyze popular story plots in new and entertaining ways. This may all be fiction, but every fiction has a basis in fact. Many famous fictional characters are based on or inspired by a real person that existed, that impacted the author in some way.

Humans have always, and probably always will, try to label things they don’t understand as evil. The world has a multitude of religions and governments, all with their own moral code that followers or citizens must abide by. ‘Cruel’ and ‘unusual’ are subjective terms. The interpretation of what actions and reactions can be defined with them has changed throughout the ages, and it also varies greatly from person to person, state to state, country to country, etc. I don’t believe that any ‘psychopath’ or ‘sociopath’ thinks themselves to be a bad person, but neither does the American Christian, the Taliban or any organized group, really.

In a similar vein of thought, I’ve always believed that monsters are created by other monsters. We are all products of our environment, of an unknowable combination of nature and nurture.

I don’t consider myself to be particularly religious anymore. I’ve had too many negative experiences with the ‘establishment’ to consider myself one of them. When people ask I generally reply with agnosticism. I’ve decided that I’m okay with not having ‘faith,’ and saying out loud that I don’t know the truths of the universe.

Despite my rejection of organized religion, the above prayer has stuck in my mind for a long time as a sort of moral code that I attempt to live by. I’m not sure if I buy into the last line, or believe in an afterlife at all. I don’t know if I believe that God’s gonna cut me down for sinning, or if bad karma is the same or a different concept. All I know for sure is that I’m trying to keep the majority of the sentiments outlined in this prayer in the forefront of my mind as I journey through this tough stage in my personal evolution, because they make sense to me. I’m going to keep making mistakes and errors, and that’s okay as long as I continue to learn from them. Nothing else matters.