In defense of Shinji Ikari
I've just gotten really, really into Evangelion (bit late to the party, I know), but man, I really feel for poor Shinji. And sometimes reading other forums where he's bashed is pretty hard to take.
I think he's a sweet kid who got a raw deal. Anno didn't just break the cutie here, he ran the cutie through a meat grinder and then stomped on the little bits afterward with steel-toed boots.
Some of my pet peeves about things people say about Shinji:
That he's a whiner.
He honestly didn't strike me as a whiner; certainly not compared to Asuka. I never saw the dub and I've heard that his voice actor was whinier in the dub; that's just something I'll have to reserve judgment on until I see it.
That he has no spine.
Actually, I think he always did have a spine and displayed it from the very first. He tried to refuse to pilot the Eva, and only gave in when he realized that a severely injured Rei would otherwise have to do it in his place. And let's face it, if that hadn't been enough to sway him, he would have been a dick. The girl could barely sit up. But his refusing to pilot the Eva, while not necessarily the decision a standard shonen hero would have made, was asserting himself. So was disobeying Misato's orders in Episode 3 and attacking the Angel instead of retreating. In fact, that resulted in a victory against the enemy.
He expresses clear disapproval of Misato's lifestyle and while you may agree with his views, that is again, him showing a spine. He refuses to attack Unit 03 even though it's trying to kill him, because he knows there's another kid inside it. That's taking a very strong stance against killing (humans), and again, while you may not agree with it, it's definitely him showing a spine.
He reaches out to Rei at the end of episode 6, and while this isn't 'brave' in the classic, warrior sense, it's a great example of him showing compassion and standing up for something that he believes in (that she's a person like anyone else, and worth being cared about for her own sake).
While he obviously frequently expresses fear and doubt and gets embarrassed and intimidated, I really don't think it's fair to say he doesn't have a spine. He always had a spine. It's there and quite evident, even if he doesn't use it as much as he should.
He's a useless lump during EoE.
Well, he is. But people with severe depression tend to have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning, and I think a good case can be made for him being severely depressed at this point...with good reason. Remember all the stuff about Anno putting the cutie through a meat grinder? Yeah. Watched one friend get crippled by his own mecha, killed another, found out Rei was a clone, lost Asuka to a coma, etc, etc. He's broken.
My point being...by the time of the movie, he's not quite himself. He's mentally ill. So I don't judge him by the standards I'd use for a normal person. I see him as a person with mental illness. So it's really no surprise that he's not particularly heroic here. And I think it's pretty understandable how he got there.
I think he's a sweet kid who got a raw deal. Anno didn't just break the cutie here, he ran the cutie through a meat grinder and then stomped on the little bits afterward with steel-toed boots.
Some of my pet peeves about things people say about Shinji:
That he's a whiner.
He honestly didn't strike me as a whiner; certainly not compared to Asuka. I never saw the dub and I've heard that his voice actor was whinier in the dub; that's just something I'll have to reserve judgment on until I see it.
That he has no spine.
Actually, I think he always did have a spine and displayed it from the very first. He tried to refuse to pilot the Eva, and only gave in when he realized that a severely injured Rei would otherwise have to do it in his place. And let's face it, if that hadn't been enough to sway him, he would have been a dick. The girl could barely sit up. But his refusing to pilot the Eva, while not necessarily the decision a standard shonen hero would have made, was asserting himself. So was disobeying Misato's orders in Episode 3 and attacking the Angel instead of retreating. In fact, that resulted in a victory against the enemy.
He expresses clear disapproval of Misato's lifestyle and while you may agree with his views, that is again, him showing a spine. He refuses to attack Unit 03 even though it's trying to kill him, because he knows there's another kid inside it. That's taking a very strong stance against killing (humans), and again, while you may not agree with it, it's definitely him showing a spine.
He reaches out to Rei at the end of episode 6, and while this isn't 'brave' in the classic, warrior sense, it's a great example of him showing compassion and standing up for something that he believes in (that she's a person like anyone else, and worth being cared about for her own sake).
While he obviously frequently expresses fear and doubt and gets embarrassed and intimidated, I really don't think it's fair to say he doesn't have a spine. He always had a spine. It's there and quite evident, even if he doesn't use it as much as he should.
He's a useless lump during EoE.
Well, he is. But people with severe depression tend to have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning, and I think a good case can be made for him being severely depressed at this point...with good reason. Remember all the stuff about Anno putting the cutie through a meat grinder? Yeah. Watched one friend get crippled by his own mecha, killed another, found out Rei was a clone, lost Asuka to a coma, etc, etc. He's broken.
My point being...by the time of the movie, he's not quite himself. He's mentally ill. So I don't judge him by the standards I'd use for a normal person. I see him as a person with mental illness. So it's really no surprise that he's not particularly heroic here. And I think it's pretty understandable how he got there.