Of Heroes and Villains

Friday, October 3, 2014



"Oh, that's the bad guy."

We were watching a drama on television - that was one of the few times of the year I ventured out into the living room and found myself on the couch beside my mum, engaging in one of the past-times I used to adore until I found other alternatives to TV such as the phone or the computer, where I'd get to choose what programmes I could watch at the click of my finger, except that there'd be buffering time. Come to think of it, I guess that's the beauty of the television. So smooth, so fuss-free. 

But well, that's besides the point. 

What was I saying? Oh yes, so my mum was pointing out the "villain" of the show to me, and of course not forgetting the "hero". Afterall, that's what shows are about right - of heroes and villains? 

So very unlike real life. 

I think sometimes it's awfully hard to be a scriptwriter or an author because one tends to think of clear cut protagonists and antagonists and one has to be insanely skilled to be able to add depth and layers and complexity to characters such that it's difficult to pinpoint if the person is "good" or "bad". To be able to do that would be a gift, and few in my opinion have that talent. J.K. Rowling definitely is one, with Snape from the Harry Potter series as one of the most well-crafted characters in my very limited inventory of knowledge of fiction works. 

In real life, I honestly believe there's no way one is able to label someone as good, or bad because really I don't think anyone goes around living as someone who's just bad, or just good. Maybe you can always try to be completely angelic but it's near impossible to be entirely flawless in character and on the other end (and to me, the more important end) of the spectrum, I don't think that people who do certain things to hurt others are innately bad - I believe that there's always that little bit of goodness in them and it's just certain desperate circumstances or events that have occurred that gives them a reason to completely disregard others and inflict harm.

I'm not implying that we should overlook hurt caused to us, or immediately forgive those who commit wrongdoings but I'm just hoping that by writing this out, that it would serve as a reminder to myself, to keep this in mind - that every single person out there has a story of their own, no one is born to be a villain and there may just be a back story to it. We are in no right to judge, and everyone has a hero within themselves.

This sounds so cheesy, it honestly sounded a lot more intelligent in my head. But hopefully my point has been driven across nonetheless, most importantly towards myself - to blame less, and forgive more. Although he is so kind and caring to one, he is completely oblivious that he is causing so much hurt and pain to another human being; I have so much faith that he is a beautiful person, and things will all work out in the end, though not without immense love and patience. Extraordinary, so very extraordinary.

And with that, I'd like to end here. 

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