Good Vs Evil - Pop Culture Blurs Lines

He was tall, he wore black, even rode in a special black spaceship. From the beginning of the movie when he but clinched his fist and strangled someone over a view screen, we knew this was a man to be feared. In the 70's, when so much of the movie was a mystery, we knew this was the embodiment of evil. Man, were we wrong.

What of his army of foot soldiers? They wore helmets to dehumanize them; each helmet looking like it bore a menacing scowl. They were even named Storm troopers, in American terms we were taught to associate that term with Hitler. Seriously, though, were these kids even evil? No. They simply believed the propaganda of the military might in charge, and enlisting for the betterment of the empire. Which ones was I referring to? You decide. Oh, sure, some of the German troopers had direct knowledge of the holocaust and even participated in the grim efforts thereof, but many of them were on the front lines, facing an enemy that a man credited as being one of the great orators of all time told them to fight. How good of an orator was this guy? He told them a perfect specimen of a man was tall, Blondie hair and had blue eyes. No one questioned the fact that he had none of those qualities.

Now, let's look back to the Star Wars universe. Even Luke mentioned something to his aunt and uncle about joining the Imperial Navy. If he had done that, would we have all gone on to loathe the Jedi? I think so. Darth Vader and Luke would have been fighting against the criminals of the galaxy. And we would have cheered when Vader took out Obi Wan.

Take a look at the movie Jaws. There is a huge shark with animal intelligence strictly trying to survive. Meanwhile, we cheered the humans trying to run off and slay this beast trying simply to survive. I think Disney best blurred the lines in the movie "Brother Bear". Yes, it is a cartoon, but a well conceived story about monsters seen through each other's eyes.

Going a step further, I'll bring in my latest obsession, World of Warcraft. In the opening scene of each peaceful alliance race it tells you of how they get along and struggle against the might of the horde. Then you make a horde character and their opening scenes portray them as someone decidedly noble in their own right. So, who is right? It all depends on which side of the battle you are looking from...

...just like life.

(comments welcomed below, and thanks for reading!)