sometimes forgiveness is really unrequired, not to mention overrated
So, watching the Nostalgia Critic rip apart Rock a Doodle along with my friend over the phone brought me back to the time in my life where I was young and innocent...and still a shameless critic. I know everyone hated that movie for various reasons, and deservedly so. It was a long-running crackscapade with very little internal logic, an obnoxious child actor, and a shoddy plot, not to mention constant, obnoxious songs. But child me didn't dislike it for that. Oh no, child me disliked it for one simple reason, and I'm beginning to see a common trend in this much-hated trope and my dislike of other series in my time: All of the Other Reindeer.
So, let me give you a bit of backstory if you haven't seen the film. The main character is Chanticleer, a rooster that sings country rock and brings up the sun with his most bodacious tunes. All is well and good until this evil owl with magical halitosis sends one of his flunkies to beat him up just before daybreak, and the sun goes up without him crowing. At that, the whole farm full of the people (animals) he's lived with his entire life and was apparently very good friends with jumps to the conclusion that he's a lying sack of shit, jeer at him, and basically laugh him off the farm. Cue the owl looking evil and sinisterly pleased,
Okay, so the assholes from the farm come back in the film and state their mission: 'find Chanticleer, and apologize.' Well, okay, as long as they admit they're assholes-
Wait.
No, apparently not.
The only reason they want to get their feathery rock star back is not because they just hurt and betrayed a friend off of a wild hunch, but because...turns out his crow did bring up the sun and they need him back. Which leads me to believe that if it didn't, they wouldn't have cared and would have left him miserable in the city, without bothering to entertain the idea that maybe he was just as surprised by the 'my life is a lie' revelation as they were. What. A bunch. Of bastards. Throughout that entire movie, I couldn't muster a single ounce of sympathy for them, because they showed zero regret. They didn't even bother talking to the guy! The dog hit him over the head with a frying pan (accidentally, but still) and they dragged his unconcious, concussed body on over to the farm, where Noah's flood was in the works.
My ideal ending would be to have Chanticleer wake up, tell them they could all burn in owly, watery hell, take his showgirl, and start up another farm somewhere. Instead, um, he forgives them everything, saves the day, and continues to live his life there.
WHAT.
Okay, this is a recurring theme in a lot of literature aimed at children that I always, always have despised. We have one intrepid hero (or heroine, though I don't remember a female case,) who is constantly put down, abused, and humiliated by his peers and/or loved ones. We see it in Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame, Nestor: The Christmas Donkey, Naruto, and most infamously, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
All of these movies and stories have the common theme of the main character who, for reasons beyond his control, is given horrible treatment by the people lives with, cares about, meets, and generally comes in contact with. He dreams of that glorious day when he will achiee true worth, usually through some kind of grand accomplishment, and be seen as worthwhile by the people of his village/city/nation/farm etc. (Not in the case of the rooster, but generally this is it.) Through the span of the story, he somehow comes into his own and achieves some level of greatness through his own achievements, and his peers suddenly see the light and accept the hero in their gracious arms.
And the hero is completely fulfilled by this. He either harbors no resentment over his poor treatment, or his memories of it are seen as an abstract Past Long Gone. It's not personal. They seem to have no difficulties forgiving his tormentors, and it's usually shown that he continues to stay with them. What's more, the tormentors show no real regret at having been complete jerk-offs to our underdog hero, and only embrace them once they prove to be useful. I really find myself unsatisfied by this. I mean, really. I like stories where the underdog hero accomplishes their dream, finds their purpose, and settles down among people who were by their side before they achieved their grand task. Not these fairweather friends with zero understanding of how wrong they had been.
What's more, I find the hero himself more interesting if they harbor resentment or continue to be upset about how they were treated. In Naruto, I would be really, really pleased if one of those previously-ill-treated teens would just stand up for themselves and shove it in someone's face that they fucked up and now they have to deal with the consequences.
Naruto is just chock full of characters that follow this trope: Naruto, the main character, raised himself among a hostile village who think of him as a monster and treat him with coldness and derision, Hinata, who is verbally and emotionally abused by her family, Chouji and Lee, who are made fun of by their peers...come ON, people. Especially you, Hinata. I would really like her to have a really epic plotline in which she finds her own inner strength independent of Jesus Naruto, tells off her family, becomes Head of Clan, and reforms it. And has a long and complicated relationship with Neji where she makes it clear that she is still Not Cool with the history of abuse and the murder attempt, but will be amenable to his attempts at reconciliation. On her terms.
And Naruto! COME ON. I like that he punched his dad for trapping a demon inside him, but nothing towards the other villagers? Why exactly does he want to protect the village now? Earlier, he wanted to be Hokage as an ultimate 'fuck you' attention getter, to prove that he had individual worth and wasn't what people thought of him. Now that he seems to be growing out of it, he's constantly buoyed by this swelling cloud of empathy that makes him similar to a Jesus figure, and I hate it. Why can't the characters be human? Why can't they feel anger and resentment? Why does it all have to be about unconditional fucking forgiveness, especially when no member of the cast has ever, EVER apologized to Naruto for the long years of him being social outcast and loser? (Adults, I'm looking at you.)
It just seems to validate the point of view that the flawed (physically or mentally) individual is only worth being treated as a human being if they show that they can be equally useful to society as the normal individual. Not that we should show basic human respect and care towards people just because they are people, but rather that compassion and kindness are things an individual needs to earn through a merit system. That people who are treated poorly by society can't blame the people who are cruel to them, but rather to their own physical inability to contribute, and should work towards becoming just as socially appropriate as their fellow peers. Or rather, work at surpassing them and therefore proving worth by putting forth more effort than they ever had to, and why? Just to be acknowledged. Just to get decent treatment.
Screw that. We need more stories where the abused misfit finds out they don't have amazing talents, but that doesn't mean they get to be treated like crap, put their foot down, and get payback. And then leave for people who appreciate them more.
And for putting up with that rant, have a meme:
Give me two characters from different fandoms and I will write something drabble length involving the two.
Feel free to suggest more than one pair. <3
So, let me give you a bit of backstory if you haven't seen the film. The main character is Chanticleer, a rooster that sings country rock and brings up the sun with his most bodacious tunes. All is well and good until this evil owl with magical halitosis sends one of his flunkies to beat him up just before daybreak, and the sun goes up without him crowing. At that, the whole farm full of the people (animals) he's lived with his entire life and was apparently very good friends with jumps to the conclusion that he's a lying sack of shit, jeer at him, and basically laugh him off the farm. Cue the owl looking evil and sinisterly pleased,
Okay, so the assholes from the farm come back in the film and state their mission: 'find Chanticleer, and apologize.' Well, okay, as long as they admit they're assholes-
Wait.
No, apparently not.
The only reason they want to get their feathery rock star back is not because they just hurt and betrayed a friend off of a wild hunch, but because...turns out his crow did bring up the sun and they need him back. Which leads me to believe that if it didn't, they wouldn't have cared and would have left him miserable in the city, without bothering to entertain the idea that maybe he was just as surprised by the 'my life is a lie' revelation as they were. What. A bunch. Of bastards. Throughout that entire movie, I couldn't muster a single ounce of sympathy for them, because they showed zero regret. They didn't even bother talking to the guy! The dog hit him over the head with a frying pan (accidentally, but still) and they dragged his unconcious, concussed body on over to the farm, where Noah's flood was in the works.
My ideal ending would be to have Chanticleer wake up, tell them they could all burn in owly, watery hell, take his showgirl, and start up another farm somewhere. Instead, um, he forgives them everything, saves the day, and continues to live his life there.
WHAT.
Okay, this is a recurring theme in a lot of literature aimed at children that I always, always have despised. We have one intrepid hero (or heroine, though I don't remember a female case,) who is constantly put down, abused, and humiliated by his peers and/or loved ones. We see it in Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame, Nestor: The Christmas Donkey, Naruto, and most infamously, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
All of these movies and stories have the common theme of the main character who, for reasons beyond his control, is given horrible treatment by the people lives with, cares about, meets, and generally comes in contact with. He dreams of that glorious day when he will achiee true worth, usually through some kind of grand accomplishment, and be seen as worthwhile by the people of his village/city/nation/farm etc. (Not in the case of the rooster, but generally this is it.) Through the span of the story, he somehow comes into his own and achieves some level of greatness through his own achievements, and his peers suddenly see the light and accept the hero in their gracious arms.
And the hero is completely fulfilled by this. He either harbors no resentment over his poor treatment, or his memories of it are seen as an abstract Past Long Gone. It's not personal. They seem to have no difficulties forgiving his tormentors, and it's usually shown that he continues to stay with them. What's more, the tormentors show no real regret at having been complete jerk-offs to our underdog hero, and only embrace them once they prove to be useful. I really find myself unsatisfied by this. I mean, really. I like stories where the underdog hero accomplishes their dream, finds their purpose, and settles down among people who were by their side before they achieved their grand task. Not these fairweather friends with zero understanding of how wrong they had been.
What's more, I find the hero himself more interesting if they harbor resentment or continue to be upset about how they were treated. In Naruto, I would be really, really pleased if one of those previously-ill-treated teens would just stand up for themselves and shove it in someone's face that they fucked up and now they have to deal with the consequences.
Naruto is just chock full of characters that follow this trope: Naruto, the main character, raised himself among a hostile village who think of him as a monster and treat him with coldness and derision, Hinata, who is verbally and emotionally abused by her family, Chouji and Lee, who are made fun of by their peers...come ON, people. Especially you, Hinata. I would really like her to have a really epic plotline in which she finds her own inner strength independent of Jesus Naruto, tells off her family, becomes Head of Clan, and reforms it. And has a long and complicated relationship with Neji where she makes it clear that she is still Not Cool with the history of abuse and the murder attempt, but will be amenable to his attempts at reconciliation. On her terms.
And Naruto! COME ON. I like that he punched his dad for trapping a demon inside him, but nothing towards the other villagers? Why exactly does he want to protect the village now? Earlier, he wanted to be Hokage as an ultimate 'fuck you' attention getter, to prove that he had individual worth and wasn't what people thought of him. Now that he seems to be growing out of it, he's constantly buoyed by this swelling cloud of empathy that makes him similar to a Jesus figure, and I hate it. Why can't the characters be human? Why can't they feel anger and resentment? Why does it all have to be about unconditional fucking forgiveness, especially when no member of the cast has ever, EVER apologized to Naruto for the long years of him being social outcast and loser? (Adults, I'm looking at you.)
It just seems to validate the point of view that the flawed (physically or mentally) individual is only worth being treated as a human being if they show that they can be equally useful to society as the normal individual. Not that we should show basic human respect and care towards people just because they are people, but rather that compassion and kindness are things an individual needs to earn through a merit system. That people who are treated poorly by society can't blame the people who are cruel to them, but rather to their own physical inability to contribute, and should work towards becoming just as socially appropriate as their fellow peers. Or rather, work at surpassing them and therefore proving worth by putting forth more effort than they ever had to, and why? Just to be acknowledged. Just to get decent treatment.
Screw that. We need more stories where the abused misfit finds out they don't have amazing talents, but that doesn't mean they get to be treated like crap, put their foot down, and get payback. And then leave for people who appreciate them more.
And for putting up with that rant, have a meme:
Give me two characters from different fandoms and I will write something drabble length involving the two.
Feel free to suggest more than one pair. <3