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baileyjn8 OP t1_j3q85rm wrote

Reply to comment by AmbushJournalism in The Effect of Philosophical Libertarianism on Popular Media as Portrayed by Comic Book Villains by baileyjn8

I mention that he is evil insofar as his killing is indiscriminate. So I don't say that he isn't evil. I say that his evil is paltry because he thinks he is doing the right thing and is portrayed as a somewhat relatable character, and that the fundament of his evil, killing, is something that good guys do as well.

The villain that I would say was hardly evil was Ego. I don't mention it in the essay, but he is somewhat evil because he doesn't ask people if they want to be fixed. But his evil is also paltry, because he basically just wants to fix people.

But these two just pale in comparison with Darkseid because he is absolutely unrelatable and the portrayal of his slavery is to turn the hero of the series evil.

So they are all three evil. Ego just barely. Thanos moreso. But Darkseid absolutely. And the difference is in the application of libertarianism.

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WesternIron t1_j3ra6vz wrote

Based off your article, I feel like you have a disconnect between characterization and the banality of evil.

Just because a character is relatable doesn't make their evil paltry. Thanos is evil and his actions are in no way paltry. We understand why he's doing it, and it seems reasonable and he can justify it. We understand that justification, but the result and method are undoubtedly evil. Which makes his actions even scarier because he's thought it through and done the calculus.

I am bringing up the Nazis, sorry, but they provide the best analog to real life and thanos. The nazi's had strong justification for their genocide, they were making the world a better place, like Thanos. Individual Nazi's can be relatable, like its recorded that the Nazi's were "normal" and relatable at a personal level. But committed horrendous crimes. Can you say that the Holocaust was paltry, because we can relate to those that perpetrated it? Because from the view of the Nazi's their actions were justifiable? That they had a "good" reason to kill jews? Hell no.

Another example is Ed Kemper, he was extremely well liked, had a good "character," too him, and made friends with guards and cops. He also had a justification for his actions. Yet was his evil paltry?

Also, you seem to be making an ends justify the means argument with Thanos, which....eh? You want to go down that road?

Thanos' plan is downright evil. You take any system, deontology, utilitariasm, virtue ethics, etc. He's evil, not just his "indiscriminate killing," but all his actions to get to his goal of mass genocide for the "greater good"

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zugglit t1_j3rg76a wrote

The logic here is flawed. Nazis are NOT relatable because killing jews doesn't make the world "better".

Explain how Nazism and master race ideology makes the world a better place.

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WesternIron t1_j3rhwqv wrote

I'm glad we agree that the logic of the nazi's was flawed.

I was making an analogy and representing what Nazi's thought, I was not advocating for it. Reading comprehension is important you know?

Please read: Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil by Hannah Arendt. Then you will understand what I am trying to do. Maybe.

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mckili026 t1_j3rzsu6 wrote

It was Nazi ideology that exterminating what they saw as dangerous and disgusting people would be improving the world. It was very well propagandized into popular thought, and antisemitic views were held by many worldwide at the time. The Nuremberg Trials are very eye opening because you see that most everyone tried was normal, sane, and reasonable, but many had committed atrocities beyond our imagination. The ideology is obviously flawed from our modern standpoint, but it serves as a warning that regular and otherwise moral people can be susceptible to dangerous views.

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ancientevilvorsoason t1_j3qhazk wrote

Ok, he is not evil, he is just dumb af.

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[deleted] t1_j3rgn3k wrote

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ancientevilvorsoason t1_j3rl9ox wrote

Have you read the comics? Nothing neolib there. He was literally trying to impress a deity. It was not because he believed in anything or because he had any political goals, opinions or intentions.

The movies were the moment when I genuinely gave up on them because to this day not a single character has called out the ridiculousness of killing poor people because of the negative consequences of capitalism (or whatever disbalanced power dynamic is present in the other worlds where there were the same issues at late-stage capitalism).

I have to admit, I don't see the movies as neo-lib, because that would imply an attempt at a political analysis or understanding. Which there isn't. It was even more obvious in the Falcon and the Winter soldier.

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