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Isn't Thanos the villain? Why is this any worse than Joker shooting Batman's parents or Snow White getting poisoned.

lifeisstillgood 8y ago
Because Thanos is the protagonist - it is his story, he drives the narrative. His desires (to collect the stones) is what causes all the action and reaction. We are asked by a story to place ourselves in the position of the protagonist- which is why reading Lolita is uncomfortable or worse. The killing Joke is the jokers story. Batman is just in it. Infinity war is Thanos story. The Avengers are just in it. So the decisions Thanos makes are important - especially in a under nuanced blockbuster as opposed to say Lolita as above.
- nextlevelwizard 8y ago
  I still don't get what the big deal is. It is just a movie. A 12 year old should be able to tell what is real and what is not. Kids are dumb, but maybe not as dumb as you make them out to be.
  - CptFribble 8y ago
    Learning is more than rational examination of facts. A person whose mind is not fully developed, especially the rational emotional control portion, may still internalize something about how to behave without realizing it. Many people grow and change by merely being immersed in culture and behaviors that are different from their current selves, rather than holding everything at arm's length and saying "what is this, how does it affect me." This is especially relevant for young people, who have little control over their environment and who and what they interact with. Think back to your early years at school. How much of what you thought of the nature of the world around you was because of your particular school environment? How the teachers interacted with students? The emotional messaging in the posters on the wall? Most of us have no idea how much of that stuff formed who we are and what we think as adults, because growing up is a long and complicated process, and no one is fully aware of how they're changing day-to-day as 12 year olds. Many of us don't know how we're changing as adults.
- CM30 8y ago
  Nah, he's not the protagonist. Villains in general have to be proactive for there to be a story, at least in situations where the bad guys aren't ruling the world as a dystopia. It's like real life to be honest. Real life police officers don't go pre emptively looking for crime to stop, and the crises they stop come about because the criminal is trying to get something. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VillainsActHeroesReact https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VillainsActHeroe...
- mrxd 8y ago
  It sounds like you're saying there shouldn't be stories with villains in the leading role? We shouldn't ever empathize with or put ourselves in the shoes of flawed characters? There's a school of thought that says that portraying moral complexity is a more mature, realistic approach to storytelling than simplistic black-and-white narratives where the villains are pure evil and the heroes are pure good. Part of the reason for doing that is so that we, the audience, realize that although we might think of ourselves as good, we are capable of doing bad things. We learn that moral purity and moral certainty is a form of self-deception. Think about the moral certainty of war, for example.

Because Thanos is the protagonist - it is his story, he drives the narrative. His desires (to collect the stones) is what causes all the action and reaction. We are asked by a story to place ourselves in the position of the protagonist- which is why reading Lolita is uncomfortable or worse. The killing Joke is the jokers story. Batman is just in it. Infinity war is Thanos story. The Avengers are just in it. So the decisions Thanos makes are important - especially in a under nuanced blockbuster as opposed to say Lolita as above.

nextlevelwizard 8y ago
I still don't get what the big deal is. It is just a movie. A 12 year old should be able to tell what is real and what is not. Kids are dumb, but maybe not as dumb as you make them out to be.
- CptFribble 8y ago
  Learning is more than rational examination of facts. A person whose mind is not fully developed, especially the rational emotional control portion, may still internalize something about how to behave without realizing it. Many people grow and change by merely being immersed in culture and behaviors that are different from their current selves, rather than holding everything at arm's length and saying "what is this, how does it affect me." This is especially relevant for young people, who have little control over their environment and who and what they interact with. Think back to your early years at school. How much of what you thought of the nature of the world around you was because of your particular school environment? How the teachers interacted with students? The emotional messaging in the posters on the wall? Most of us have no idea how much of that stuff formed who we are and what we think as adults, because growing up is a long and complicated process, and no one is fully aware of how they're changing day-to-day as 12 year olds. Many of us don't know how we're changing as adults.
CM30 8y ago
Nah, he's not the protagonist. Villains in general have to be proactive for there to be a story, at least in situations where the bad guys aren't ruling the world as a dystopia. It's like real life to be honest. Real life police officers don't go pre emptively looking for crime to stop, and the crises they stop come about because the criminal is trying to get something. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VillainsActHeroesReact https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VillainsActHeroe...
mrxd 8y ago
It sounds like you're saying there shouldn't be stories with villains in the leading role? We shouldn't ever empathize with or put ourselves in the shoes of flawed characters? There's a school of thought that says that portraying moral complexity is a more mature, realistic approach to storytelling than simplistic black-and-white narratives where the villains are pure evil and the heroes are pure good. Part of the reason for doing that is so that we, the audience, realize that although we might think of ourselves as good, we are capable of doing bad things. We learn that moral purity and moral certainty is a form of self-deception. Think about the moral certainty of war, for example.