So here we go for this whole blog thing, time for my first
non-introductory post! Judging by the page views, approximately no one
has stumbled upon this page, and I kind of like it like that-- for now
at least. I was considering making this post some take on the Linsanity
phenomenon with a race angle (you know, like EVERYONE else is doing),
but I'm not for all that zeitgeist-y stuff. Maybe I'll get back to that
at a later date. For now, I'm just going to write about an off-hand,
outside-the-box type topic that I thought up before falling asleep. I
sort of imagine this as being a shorter version of a paper I wouldn't
have minded writing in college, if I didn't abhor literary research so
much. Thankfully this isn't being graded, so no sources needed, just
throwing thoughts out there like a monkey flinging crap at a wall, then
trying to make sense of it like some type of monkey poop analyst. Yeah.
Let's just get started.
Last night I happened to catch 90% of a movie I had been searching a while for: Se7en
(or Seven), starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. The movie was
released in 1995, and I had heard some things about it, but mostly made
sure not to look it up or watch bits and pieces, as not to spoil any
twists or the ending (I really hate when that happens). So after getting
home from work, I noticed I had only missed the first 15 minutes of a
TNT airing and decided to hop in, figuring I would have only missed
introductions and trivial matters. The movie didn't disappoint. I'm no
critic, but I thought the plot was great, the acting at least slightly
above average (Pitt was meh, at best), and all that other junk
that goes into movies was good enough to discourage me from flipping the
channels during commercial breaks. I'll try not to ruin anything for
anyone who hasn't seen the movie (and miraculously found this blog), but
the story focuses on two detectives (Freeman and Pitt) as they try to
solve a string of murders by a serial killer (some guy, who I'm sure is
famous, but whose name I don't know off hand) whom bases his murders on
each of the seven deadly sins: Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Sloth, Envy,
Pride, and Wrath. Each of the murders is gruesome in it's own right,
from forcing an obese man to literally eat until he dies, to making a
model (I think) choose between calling for help and living without a
nose or overdosing on sleeping pills and dying before anyone can see her
without her beauty. As far as being most cringe-worthy, the lust murder
takes the cake, and almost by a long shot. But more than being
incorporated for pure shock-value, each of the murders invokes trains of
thought and serve as cautionary tales regarding the dangers of our
modern world, where it is often easy to access and indulge in such
vices. (Geez, I feel like some sort of preacher already, on to the next
paragraph). At the end of the movie, the murderer reveals his ultimate
plot, which also serves as a giant middle finger to the detectives, and
really sets it apart from your run of the mill detective movie/
thriller.
After watching the plot resolve itself with a
semi-expected, but still satisfying twist at the end, I got to thinking
about one of my favorite anime series of all time: Fullmetal Alchemist.
The story of FMA revolves around two teenage brothers in a world where
it is possible to alter the physical construction of matter (like say,
turn a pile of junk into a working clock) through the science of
alchemy, and comes in two iterations: Fullmetal Alchemist--which was the
first to air on TV-- and Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood--which was
released after the manga reached its conclusion in Japan. Brotherhood is
not a continuation of FMA, but rather takes place in its own separate
universe. (I won't link to the second one because the plot is seriously
too good to allow someone to just read about it on Wikipedia. Seriously,
watch that show. If not, you're an ass and I hate you). The two series
feature mostly the same characters and basic plot, but the later version
includes many more twists and turns, as well as involves a much larger
scope and a much more detailed background. So yeah, the second one is
better, in my opinion (and anyone else who isn't a turd). So what's the
connection to Se7en? Well, besides both being awesome, FMA and
brotherhood both also use the seven deadly sins as a main theme. The
main group of antagonists of the series were creatures known as
homunculi, or fake humans more or less. There were seven of these
creatures, each which bore a human resemblance most of the time, and
each was named after, you guessed it, one of the seven deadly sins.
Predictably, the homunculi tended to go about their evil ways in a
fashion that was in some way tied to their name and the deadly sin it
represented. Lust took the form of a beautiful women who mostly tried to
seduce her way into getting evil done, Gluttony was a ravenous,
impish-looking character who was mostly concerned with his next snack
(people!), and Greed generally wanted a lot of stuff. Between the two
series, the homunculi take on different iterations and personalities
(Sloth and Wrath are arguably the two best characters in Brotherhood,
but are relatively forgettable in FMA), but the motives generally remain
the same: do evil stuff that's related to their sin-name and tied into
some intricate overarching plot that's unbeknown to the viewer and
protagonists.
So let's tie these together! I've already spelled most of it out, both works used the seven deadly sins in connection to some overarching theme or plot, simple enough. More interestingly, both works used the seven deadly sins as major plot points and/or characters as a means to shed some light on the human condition. As with the murder victims in Se7en, each of the homunculi in both FMA iterations ends up becoming a victim to the principle vice it associates itself with. The extents to which these sins are carried out are so extreme that the characters associated with them begin to transcend conventional protagonists and antagonists, they become the sin itself. Gluttony from FMA doesn't eat because he's hungry, he eats because that's all he is motivated to do, all he can do. The fifth victim in Se7en isn't a woman so vain she couldn't stand to live without her beauty, as soon as she takes the pills she is vanity. All are examples of what can happen when you leave one aspect of your personality unchecked for too long. The take home message here is obvious; either don't sin in excess, or don't sin at all, and you won't end up being a casualty to your own actions. Since a four year old could probably come up with that sentence in less convoluted wording, I'm going to try and dig a little deeper, and that's where "the Perfunctory Nature of Man" comes in.
For one last little bit of background, no, I didn't watch Se7en and the FMA/Brotherhood series and think to myself, "Man, there seems to be a lot of perfunctory ish going on". Up until a few days ago, I only knew of the word perfunctory in a passing, I've-heard-it-used-in-context-before-and-wasn't-confused-so-I-guess-I-know-what-it-means sense. My knowledge of the word would likely have remained as such, but the other day I woke up mid-train-nap and the word was on my mind. Was it some sort of sign? Unlikely. It was probably more along the lines of my brain doing some random cycling while I slept (brains do that, right?) and me waking up just as it was trying to remember every P-word I've ever heard. A few more seconds before or after and the word might have been completely different (yeah, I know what you're thinking). Regardless of the possibilities, it was what it was and I had the word stuck in my head so I looked it up on my iPhone. Perfunctory more or less means programmed, but in a more human, just saying "Hi, how are you" as an automated response, as opposed to really caring, kind of way. The types of interactions you have with coworkers or neighbors when you run across them while handling your daily business. Good word to know, probably interchangeable with polite in a lot of contexts. Anyway, back to the issue at hand. We've got this all set up pretty nicely, so let's try to finish it off cleanly. That's what she said.
The seven deadly sins weren't chosen at random out of a hat, and there's a reason no one really disputes them (unless I'm missing some larger, probably stupider debate). They seem to sum up pretty nicely the spectrum of different ways someone could go about doing bad things, drug addiction can be seen as gluttony, violent acts obviously go under wrath, and ignorance and bigotry can be filed under sloth and pride. We're all human, and we're all susceptible at some level to all of this, so what keeps us from eating ourselves to death and hurling rocks at each other? That's where society comes in. By establishing a set of rules to govern our day to day existences, which of course vary from culture to culture, we're conditioned from a young age to avoid the recesses of the ugly side of our nature. Movies like Se7en and shows like FMA/Brotherhood play a part in reminding us why these rules exist. This isn't to say that all of us are naturally predisposed towards violence and lust and lack any capability for virtuous acts, but better safe than sorry, right? Better a society of people absentmindedly saying hi and bye to each other than one where douchebaggery and violence goes unchecked, right? Worth thinking about next time you get annoyed by all the "fakeness" and messages being pushed by the media.
That conclusion royally sucked. I started writing this on a Tuesday and finished on a Friday, and lost more and more focus with each passing day. I ended up just throwing a bow on that half-formed fetus of a composition and hit publish. But hey, at least there's a lot of room for improvement.
C
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