The other day I watched Trigun for the first time & it occurs to me that what's notable about that show is essentially the way it paints moral certitude as morally wrong.
-
-
The reason Vash is good is that he puts more effort into finding creative ways to maximize positive outcomes than anybody else, while the antagonist is basically only an antagonist because he has a rigid set of heuristics based on illusory moral clarity.
1 reply 0 retweets 4 likes -
Maybe the appropriate way to disrupt illusory moral clarity is to demonstrate that there are ways to achieve ideal ends & that thinking more carefully is actually worthwhile? (i.e., showing a third option)
1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes -
Replying to @enkiv2 @chaosprime
Knives is a fanatical genocidal nihilist. He has a kind of certitude in his beliefs but I hesitate to describe fanatical genocidal nihilism as a kind of morality. He seems to believe that there are NO humans who deserve to live and has no criteria for distinguishing them.
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Vash is his opposite and also displays a kind of certitude in his belief that ALL sentient beings deserve to live. Vash avoids killing to a fault, as shown by the negative consequences of his mercy on many occasions in the series.
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
it's the human characters in the series that show moral ambiguity and are ultimately the ones with a workable philosophy. Meryl and Milly representing utilitarianism, considering the costs and consequences of actions. Wolfwood representing the Sin/Salvation dialectic as a human.
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Where Vash refuses to kill and Knives refuses to save, Wolfwood is the human who is burdened with choice and free will. He must carefully consider ever occasion where he kills and must learn to live with the consequences of his willful actions.
3 replies 0 retweets 2 likes -
I see it as ultimately about something like environmentalism. What are our duties towards inferiors? Knives is the Nietzsche espie; Vash believes in harmony. Much of the tension has to do with the interplay between timeless ideals and time bound decision making in the real...
2 replies 0 retweets 1 like -
Thing is, the plants are never painted as *that* much better than humans. They have longer lives and shorter gestation periods, and they're smarter. They can emit a lot of electricity. But, they're no blonde beast. They're an incremental step on the rope between man & superman.
1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes -
They are not shown in full power in the anime but note they are WAY smarter than any human, literally powering the world, and likely at least city busters. And they are literally blonde beasts.
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
the angel arm at even a fractional output is a city-buster level weapon. it's implied, but never shown, that a fully powered direct attack from a humanoid plant could glass a planet.
-
-
For sure, I think they are planet busters but I am being careful not to over claim.
0 replies 0 retweets 0 likesThanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.