I've been thinking about duality a lot lately; do we accept it in ourselves and all things, do we fight it and try to control or do we just acknowledge it's existence but ignore it otherwise?
Okay getting ahead of myself here. What exactly am I talking about when I say duality? It's a theme that's come up quite a bit in recent blogs. Head versus heart, good versus evil, religion versus science, hope versus resolve. For me duality is two forces countering each other. You know in your head that last tequila will destroy you, but you'll have it anyway because your personality/soul/spirit (pick your force) wants to have a good time.
I was under the impression that these moments where we know one thing, but do another was a sign of indecisive behavior. I am not the kind of guy who likes being indecisive, I don't like half measures if I can help it so it would irritate me. Up until recently I foresaw my path in front of me, I didn't need to be in two minds. These days so many decisions get thrown under my nose it's hard to keep up and the more decisions you have, the more likely you are to make one that you regret.
Must've looked like a good idea at the time.
At least that is how I felt. Today, I'm embracing duality. For someone like me, who values balance with resolve (which totally doesn't contradict my distaste for half-measure...that's a tale for another day though), how can I know I'm on the right path if I don't have choices. Sure I may make some regrettable mistakes, but the fact they are regrettable must reveal something to me. How would any of us know how good ice-cream tastes if all we ever ate was bread? How would any of us know not to roll in poison ivy unless some poor schmuck decided it would be a good idea and tried it?
Perfectly stable human being. :P
In a world that will eventually rely on compromise to survive, some tough choices will be presented to us all. If we don't embrace the mistakes we will make to get to a point where we know right from wrong, then we will shrivel up and die as those around jump feet first into their lives.
Fearing regret can only perpetuate regret in and of itself.
Welcome to our first episode in which we stuff up the levels for awhile. In fact, the launch episode will be full of tests. Testing how much we can get away with, testing the levels, testing the program etc.
Please note this is NSFW and subject matter may offend (we need to level out content eventually).
I've always identified with anti-heroes. Something about perfect heroes strikes me as incredibly arrogant. Superman, Captain America, Cyclops always seemed to me as holier then thou pricks with their stubborn upholding of a code imposed on themselves. These kind of people seem to be disconnected from the world and truly what's going on around them. Not to mention how easy it must be to ignore everyone else's sense of justice for your own.
A perfect hero is the other extreme to evil madmen.
Some of my favorite protagonists are, I'm proud to say, bastards, but at their core they're the people you want on your side. I will take a bet my list of lovable rogues will destroy your list of do-gooders any day of the week and I'll even put them along side their counterparts to prove the point.
Han Solo - Luke Skywalker
Han ends up with the girl, saves Luke numerous times and seems to have a healthy social life (Wooki and all). Luke is a moaning loner who got romantically involved with his sister before having his arm taken off in the ultimate metaphor for daddy issues. It was only when Luke showed a darker side he was able to get anywhere or be nearly as badass as Han.
Dr.Gregory House - Dr.Eric Foreman
House does whatever it takes to get the job done. While he is mostly a douche bag, he has good intentions and seems intent to do whatever it takes to solve the case, even tricking his patients into getting healed. Meanwhile Foreman will not step out of line of his own moral compass even if it stands in the way of him doing good. If you've seen the show then you know that both Foreman and House can be pricks, but House is far more endearing.
Jack Bauer, Rorschach, Dr.Cox (Scrubs), Michael Westin (Burn Notice), Deadpool, Hank Moody, Eric (True Blood) and Indiana Jones all share their chaotic natures balanced by the will to do good...mostly.
In the world today one cannot think if terms of black and white, but grey. Evil kills while good prevents, but I think the reason rebels tend to be so popular is because sometimes we all wish we could train a gun on the bad guy and just blow them away.
At the very least they make for the most compelling heroes.
