[ExI] Heroism without self-sacrifice

[PJ Manney]

On Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 10:50 PM, PJ Manney <pjmanney at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 6, 2008 at 10:13 PM, Bryan Bishop <kanzure at gmail.com> wrote:
> > We call an unempathetic protagonist a supervillian.
>
> No.  Villains can be very empathetic, just terribly misguided and
> immoral as a result.  Also, protagonists can be very misguided, even
> immoral, and still empathetic, too.  Empathy doesn't involve white
> hats, white horses or anything else white for that matter.  It just
> means you can imagine being in their shoes and you understand why they
> made the choices they made.
>
> If you can't generate empathy, meaning you can't imagine being that
> person, then you've got either a dull villain or a duller hero.
> Yawn...

For some reason, I was thinking of this song: Jonathan Coulton's
"Skullcrusher Mountain" to show a ridiculously cliched (and mythic!)
supervillain for whom you can have empathy:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-htGFyvkzDU&feature=related

Welcome to my secret lair on Skullcrusher Mountain
I hope that you've enjoyed your stay so far
I see you've met my assistant Scarface
His appearance is quite disturbing
But I assure you he's harmless enough
He's a sweetheart, calls me master
And he has a way of finding pretty things and bringing them to me

I'm so into you
But I'm way too smart for you
Even my henchmen think I'm crazy
I'm not surprised that you agree
If you could find some way to be
A little bit less afraid of me
You'd see the voices that control me from inside my head
Say I shouldn't kill you yet

I made this half-pony half-monkey monster to please you
But I get the feeling that you don't like it
What's with all the screaming?
You like monkeys, you like ponies
Maybe you don't like monsters so much
Maybe I used too many monkeys
Isn't it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you?

I'm so into you
But I'm way too smart for you
Even my henchmen think I'm crazy
I'm not surprised that you agree
If you could find some way to be
A little bit less afraid of me
You'd see the voices that control me from inside my head
Say I shouldn't kill you yet

Picture the two of us alone inside my golden submarine
While up above the waves my doomsday squad ignites the atmosphere
And all the fools who live their foolish lives may find it quite explosive
But it won't mean half as much to me if I don't have you here

You know it isn't easy living here on Skullcrusher Mountain
Maybe you could cut me just a little slack
Would it kill you to be civil?
I've been patient, I've been gracious
And this mountain is covered with wolves
Hear them howling, my hungry children
Maybe you should stay and have another drink and think about me and you

I'm so into you
But I'm way too smart for you
Even my henchmen think I'm crazy
I'm not surprised that you agree
If you could find some way to be
A little bit less afraid of me
You'd see the voices that control me from inside my head
Say I shouldn't kill you yet
I shouldn't kill you yet
I shouldn't kill you yet


Coulton specializes in empathizing with his monsters.  BTW, I love
this Coulton song:  "The Future Soon"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=G4SGACSLdRY&feature=related
The destruction of humanity will occur because some geek got turned
down for a date...  and listen to the audience go, "Awwwwwwww..."
:),
PJ