I love movies. To be more precise: I love a good story. Especially science-fiction, fantasy and mystery stories find a grateful audience in yours truly. As I was born in the late sixties, my very first hero's were Arthur Fonzarelli from the tv-show "Happy Days", Bruce Lee from the movie "Enter The Dragon" and many more, and of course the first hero I ever saw at the cinema: Luke Skywalker from "Star Wars" (it didn't have the "Episode IV" or the "A New Hope" additions then).
Luke Skywalker's hero's quest in particular made a huge impression on the little boy I was back then. And now, having passed the age of 50 this year, I understand very well how the stories we are told very much help shape the personalities we become in real life. Imagination is available in abundance in those years before society and responsibilities grab hold of us. I remember very well how every time my friends and I saw a Bruce Lee movie, we suddenly "became" Bruce Lee... or at least we thought we did; we stood facing each-other, trying to mimic the graceful Kungfu moves shown to us by our hero, while making the funny high pitched cat-like noises and emotion-filled, almost crying faces he'd make when dealing the final blow to his enemy.
source: Wikimedia
Same with Star Wars: those light-sabers, the noble and in our eyes all-powerful Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi...: my best friend and I lost it when he waved his hand and spoke the immortal words "these aren't the droids you're looking for", making the evil stormtrooper do his bidding. Yeah, those were good days, things were simple then. Good and bad were clearly defined in those stories, and good usually prevailed. Luke Skywalker and his quest from a simple moist-farmer on Tatooine, to the Jedi padawan pilot that saves the Galaxy, communicates a clear message: have great, noble goals, work and if necessary fight hard to realize them, protect and fight for the ones you love... and you'll be able to make a difference in your Galaxy.
So today I went to the cinema to see the film I've been eagerly anticipating...
Because I understand how much I was influenced at an age where all kids are nothing but hungry and absorbent, curious and eager learners, impressionable to the max, I am very worried about the main message in the story of Marvell's latest blockbuster. Now, if you haven't seen "Avengers: Infinity War" yet and don't want the story to be spoiled, please leave now, go see the movie in a good comfortable cinema (it is a well made and highly enjoyable film if you're in to this kind of stuff), and then come back to finish this post. Spoilers ahead, last warning!
It must be a coincidence that some days ago I did a piece on overpopulation: if you haven't yet, please read that. In it I show that overpopulation is a myth: it doesn't exist in the real world, it only exists in the economy. The ultimate villain in Infinity War is Thanos, a super powerful Titan who dedicates his life to one goal only, which is to save the universe from overpopulation. Throughout the film we see how he invades planet after planet to kill half the population. At the end of the film, Thanos succeeds in collecting all six Infinity Stones, he becomes all-powerful, a God essentially, and kills half of all life in the universe with a snap of his fingers, literally.
After the finger-snapping, we see in some dramatic scenes how a lot of the superheros we have come to love in this series of films die: Spider Man, Black Panther, The Winter Soldier, Falcon, Doctor Strange... They all just fade away, after Loki, Heimdal and Vision among others had already died earlier in the movie. And so Thanos succeeds in his mission and saves the universe from a terrible overpopulated future...
Now, this misguided message wouldn't have been a problem if Thanos would have been portrayed as an evil mad man only. Sadly this is not the case: this murderer of trillions is made to look completely sane, caring at moments even with cold and calculating spells in which he calmly explains why it is necessary to kill off half the citizenship of our universe: there just aren't enough resources to feed all mouths and we would eventually devolve into a barbaric, hungering and warring society that would slowly kill itself. Thanos is doing us a favor, you see?
source: Flickr.com
This is troublesome in my mind, scary even.
Don't misunderstand: I do not accuse brothers Anthony and Joe Russo of anything. As far as I know they are just some of the many confused souls who really do believe there's a shortage of vital resources. Maybe they can't see that it's not the oil but just the energy we need, and that there's tons of other methods of getting it, existing and yet to discover. Maybe they don't know about the megatons of food we simply throw away... I truly believe the Russo brothers are to be commended for making the best Marvell movie to date, in my eyes at least. And that is why I'm so worried. The film is great, and deserves all the applause it gets. After all I said about the use of Thanos and the dangerous message he brings, he still is the best antagonist of all Marvell Movies. And that's what really makes him scary.
Good and bad aren't as clearly defined anymore. In our times, when everybody seems to have a right to not only their own opinion, but also to their very own truths and facts, when empowerment of the individual is all that matters, when fake news is likely to cause mistrust and even war, we could do without affirmation of one of the most common and evil untruths out there. The mainstream news, the magazines, all think-tanks and climate-committees, they all conspire to make us believe there's too many of us. And now mainstream art has gone that way to.
After coming home from the cinema I immediately checked if I was the only one with conflicted emotions after the movie, and I saw a great video-essay on this very topic by one of my favorite Youtubers, David Stewart. Watch it if you have the time:
It's sad the creators of this effective piece of story-telling, to make their antagonist more human, used the widely held misconception about overpopulation. Some mainstream quotes make this clear:
Thanos' way of thinking about how to bring balance to the universe is obviously abhorrent, but when he shares his reasons for wanting to do so, it's easier to understand where he's coming from.
According to Thanos, he was ostracized for his radical ideas, but when he tells his adopted daughter Gamora about how her home planet is now flourishing after he killed half the population, his ideas begin to make sense, even if he's going about it the wrong way.
source: IGN
source: Flickr.com
The way he solves the problem is abhorrent, but his reasons are valid, and never is there a question if the problem is a real problem in the first place: in the mainstream overpopulation is the reality of our world. And the results of his abhorrent methods are good. In the original comic-books, Thanos also wanted to kill half the universe, but his motivation to do so was much different, while still giving the character some humanity: he wanted to impress Mistress Death, the personification of death in the universe, on whom he had an incurable crush. Why would they have changed that?
If you're still here and haven't seen the movie yet, I ask you why: go out and see the movie! At least, if you're a fan of the series like me, you owe it to yourself to experience this great ride. And if you take young, impressionable minds with you (it has a PG12 rating here in the Netherlands), please make sure to remind them it's only a movie and that the overpopulation problem is fantasy, just like the rest of the film.
I know, I know... This is not the kind of content you've come to expect of me and no, I'm not a professional film-reviewer nor am I educated in the art of cinema or story-telling. Well, I got news for you: I'm not an economist either, but from next post on you'll be reading my opinions on that again ;-) As always, thanks for stopping by and reading. If you really liked this content, if you disagree (or if you do agree), please leave a comment. Of course, upvotes, follows, resteems are all greatly appreciated, but nothing brings mem and you more growth than sharing our ideas. It's what Steemit is made for!