Grey Areas

Blog post three-Tori Leggett

"Besides, the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are." -Sirius Black

I don't think there's black and white when it comes to anything, lines blur, and so do morals. I think that good people are capable of bad things, and bad people are capable of good things. I don't think anything is ever clear cut right and wrong. I think there are some things that are irredeemable from: murder, rape, abuse. But those are the extremes, the small portion of horrible people compared to the majority of the population that fall into the grey category. I don't think you can look at someone and damn them, or make them a saint. It's not that easy.

Voldemort was the worst of the worst villains, and the epitome of evil. Which is what storytellers often to, it makes the story interesting, gives it morals. But if you actually look into Voldemort's story, he was conceived under a love potion, making him incapable of love. So, this poses the question, was it his fault he was so bad? No, maybe not. But it doesn't excuse his actions.

Darth Vader was the villain, but he was bad because he wanted to be good. He wanted to protect his family. So does that excuse everything? Does his final act in Revenge of the Jedi redeem him? Maybe in the end he was forgiven, but the things not forgotten.

In minority report, they kill the murderers before they even murder anyone. Preemptive strike. Which kinda sucks, what if there was a reason for the crime? What if at the last second they decided against it? Or worse, what if they were wrong? Sometimes the good trying to defeat the bad, ends up with the good people doing bad things. This is where the line blurs. So no, ultimately there will always be a struggle between good and evil.

In stories, good always wins. It gives hope to the kids that read them. I mean, who wants to tell kids that sometimes the bad guys don't get caught? And that sometimes the good ones screw up? I don't even like to admit these things sometimes. Good guys don't always come out on top. And bad guys get away sometimes.

Shit happens, I guess.