Avengers and Free Will

[ericadawn16]

"Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

It was July when we saw The Avengers at Muvico. Afterwards, we were walking through International Plaza when my mom admitted...what made Loki so convincing was that he was right about a lot of things...especially free will.

My mom was raised Methodist in a small town in Indiana in the 50s and 60s which means that her parents were ULTRA conservative. There was no need to decide things for yourself because it was already decided...men couldn't have long hair, no one could divorce, no one could have premarital sex, no one should fraternize with those who aren't also Christians aka Protestant and so on and so on.

It is simpler. My mom has admitted this. When people tell you how to think, you don't have all those problems of thinking for yourself.

Look at all the self-help books so people can tell us how to fix our lives...the diet books to tell us how to eat...the news channels to tell us how to vote. Society even insists on us being restrained and telling us what to do. If we're single, everyone says we should date. If we're dating, everyone says to marry. If you marry, everyone says to buy a house and/or have children. More and more shackles even if some of us are quite happy to add them but the point of it is that society likes to have rules for everyone to follow. Humans do crave an order and rule to their lives and are more than happy to impose it on others in order to "help" them.

Comments

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

My sister is a biogeneticist, and she thinks everything we do, everything we are, everything we think and feel, is hard-coded into our genes. There's a gene that says we like chinese food, there's a brain chemistry that makes us respond to people who look a certain way. It's such a... weirdly deterministic world.

[ayaneva.livejournal.com]

I would think it was more a case of the gene determining that we were predisposed to like a certain thing or behave in a certain way. It doesn't mean it will happen but that the probability that it will is higher than it would be for someone who has a different genetic code.

[lil-1337.livejournal.com]

I totally agree that it is easier, but easier doesn't necessarily mean better. There are always going be people who want someone else to tell them what to do because they are too weak willed or unsure to figure it out for themselves. However, I like to think that the majority of people would rather do the hard work and make their own decisions.

[zoaster-toaster.livejournal.com]

I think humans are dualistic by nature - we want to be able to self-determine and control our own selves but at the same time, we want certainty to life and guidance to our lives. It's hard to say that people are just one thing or the other, but then again, the most interesting heros and villains are the ones who both are justified for their actions.

[ayaneva.livejournal.com]

I felt Loki was right too. I grew up in a cult and can attest to this fact. Making decisions is hard. Really thinking about things can be uncomfortable and requires effort. A lot of people would rather someone else make the decisions for them.

I noticed that the old man said, "We will never kneel to men like you." He did NOT say, "We will never kneel." His issue was not with the act of subjugation but rather with Loki as an individual or as a type of leader.

[hermione-vader.livejournal.com]

I have to agree with the idea that Loki was right that subjugation is easier, but it doesn't make people happier. My dad's family is the perfect example. My paternal grandparents have controlled most of the choices their children have made throughout their lives, even making my spinster aunt a third parent to embody their power when they're not present. Also, since my grandfather is a really influential (but now semi-retired) defense lawyer in our city, my aunt and my three uncles all became lawyers, most likely because they felt they had to. My uncles all secretly wanted to be other things (the youngest should have become a forest ranger), but couldn't say no to their parents. My father, the oldest son, made it his goal in life not to become a lawyer, and at least one of my grandfather's colleagues has mocked him for it. My grandparents also made fun of one of my uncles for becoming a Communications major, not an English major (though they're really close)---this uncle rebelled a lot when he was younger, but now he lives exactly the way they live because it's so much easier than rejecting it.

It's funny---we'll rebel (or pretend to rebel) against political figures and some more general authority figures, but we can't do that with family. We kneel before the patriarch and matriarch because asserting ourselves would break everything apart. Thus, we can't talk about Harry Potter in their presence, but they can talk about how blackface is a good form of entertainment. Man, Loki would love my grandparents---they got the power he wants without any bloodshed, just shame and fear.

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

(hugs)

[spankingfemme.livejournal.com]

Yes, lambs to the slaughter the majority waving their pitchforks ;)

[i-llbedammned.livejournal.com]

Loki is nothing if not perceptive. One of his strength is that he does say somewhat correct things, just skewed. It is very easy to follow directions, it takes a lot of strength to do things on your own. But it is much more worthwhile to blaze your own path than look for directions. It's harder and more painful, but the end result feels less empty.