Do you have a real life example, perhaps historical, where someone changed completely?
How likely is it that a real person would discover that friendship is magic?
Do bad characters deserve redemption arcs and forgiveness?
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October 17 2020, 20:05:04 UTC 3 months ago Edited: October 17 2020, 20:08:45 UTC
also, exploring the idea if the labels good and evil are applicable. was it just ignorance versus better choices through knowledge and experience? but, again, perspective will color the viewpoint.
October 17 2020, 20:31:31 UTC 3 months ago
With that perspective, I wonder if the goal of this story arc isn't so much to persuade the children who relate most to the heroes to be forgiving of evil and cruelty-- but to give the children who relate to the evil and cruel characters hope for themselves and in their own ability to transcend circumstances and make changes for themselves?
October 17 2020, 21:25:53 UTC 3 months ago
Holy moly, thank you so much for commenting! I didn't consider this angle at all. In FIM, Starlight Glimmer enslaves a whole village and then goes on to discover friendship is magic after trying to beat Twilight Sparkle in a time travel showdown. I guess I was seeing it as too black and white an issue...one doesn't imagine someone with all the power giving it up easily. For example, Sauron thinking "Eh, this was a bad idea from the get go...I should try inviting Gandalf over for tea to settle our differences" :-D
October 17 2020, 23:58:55 UTC 3 months ago
What about stories like Pete's Dragon where the dragon isn't evil,... but everyone THINKS it is, which makes the villagers attack it, so it defends itself and so confirms that it is evil to the villagers, but then all you gotta do is NOT attack it, and woah... dragon be nice and just waiting for friends. Like... that goodness can be hidden behind hurt feelings,... or bad behavior is hidden in feelings of self-defensiveness. These sorts of more subtle interplays of emotion without going for the pure anti-hero set-up (ie: lets care for/root for the villains, like Breaking Bad.. because we understand their motivations, even if they are doing evil) but showing that cruelty is kinda pointless and not everyone who has BEEN cruel is unforgiveable, shows room for growth and kindness on both sides of the false dichotomy of good v. evil.
October 18 2020, 17:06:33 UTC 3 months ago
We noticed when watching the new She-Ra that the baddies are not necessarily bad--just kind of misguided--but they eventually grow and change too.
It's such a stark contrast to when I watched cartoons as a kid. There was hardly room for shades of grey.
October 18 2020, 21:57:22 UTC 3 months ago
I read a lot of children's books from the 1880s to the 1930s... and they are WILDLY diverse, complex, interesting, and are much less interested in trying to impress on kids that there is only one way to be... or that heroes are ALWAYS heroic and villains are ALWAYS villainous. One of my favorite stories is called "The Jester's Sword" about a hero/knight who is The Hero in all ways... he is tall, strong, handsome, young, brave, he is a prince who will be king, he is courageous and good natured and wants to help people, but is also ambitious and believes he is invincible... a Lancelot sorta character, almost.
Until he has an accident and he is crippled.
And most of the book is him trying to figure out what to do NOW... and how to tackle his pride and humble himself so he can stop feeling self-pity, stop being embarrassed of his new condition, and start living life again. Its like... 50 pages and was written in the 1890 I think and it is AMAZING and is probably written for children ages 8-12. It's way more complicated than many adult novels I've read.
My friend told me he was liking the new She-Ra which he was watching with his kids. That it was atmospheric and complicated and very interesting.
October 17 2020, 21:40:18 UTC 3 months ago
October 18 2020, 01:40:49 UTC 3 months ago
October 18 2020, 03:33:19 UTC 3 months ago
I think that could happen, because I talk to a lot of people who are closed off to opening up to people, but once they have that opportunity, they find that it helps.
Yes!