Anti-hero

August 3, 2007

As can be gleaned from the previous post, I have no moral compunction whatsoever. In juxtaposition to that statement,  I'm wary of people who have high-regard of themselves as a virtual authority on values (specifically of the religious kind) and impose that knowledge on others by being generous with their scathing comments or scorn, whichever can generate more spite, when you stumble.

Sure, taking back what the kid stole would have been the correct thing to do but always doing the "right" thing never held much allure for me. And I don't think I'm alone in this. After all, the urge that drives people to a certain action is not really defined by how acceptable it is but because it feels good. The better it feels, the bigger the stake and in that regard, the term charity is most ominous because it is a selfish act cloaked in altruism. The lie is to help improve the lives of others when the motivation is selfish — to feel good. But I'll take charitable frauds to critics, who dish out vituperation without its pecuniary counterpart, any day. 

The times make it very hard for heroes to thrive. You know, those larger-than-life individuals that you look up to even if one day you grew taller and find yourself looking down on them? In this age of fast foods, Chinese knockoffs and pirated 16 in 1 DVDs, the laid-back, cigar-chomping, women-loving, and uncomplicated hero who sees the world in black and white just overstayed his welcome. In fact, this kind of hero when played in the movies is panned out by critics as “two-dimensional.” In its place, we now have the anti-hero. The angst-filled character who’s neither a protagonist nor an antagonist; the man we love to hate; the man who’s got more edges than a googolgon.

I belong to a clan with old-family values. Not unlike the Mafia (and try reading this aloud using your best impression of Marlon Brando’s Corleone), "family comes first." And like the Mafia, we have skewed sense of values. Church is for sissies, and so are pink shirts and uncircumcised men. Pretty much, everything in the 10 Commandments is fair game: stealing, adultery, taking the Lord’s name in vain, killing (I’m not exaggerating here), judging everybody else (and gossiping about it afterwards), or coveting (which predicates stealing).

However, there are two rules you should never, ever violate: Honor your parents and spare the women and children. Those things earn you a bitch-slappin’ right there. 

The result is bringing up a clan of rogue hybrids and anti-heroes. People who have no problem stabbing you to death right where you sit, seducing your wife, mugging you for talking funny, doing drugs, or gambling away that TV set. These are people who think prison is no badge of shame but fuck me if you won’t see them fight to death to prevent that from happening. Sa laktod na pagkabisaya, dili padakop ug buhi.

Yet I could never imagine myself raising my voice to my parents even if the accusations seem unjust or however I may think my position is correct nor could I fathom raising a hand against a woman or a child. 

Never.

And in all that distorted sense of values and mafia mumbo-jumbo, the implicit lesson is clear, for me at least. Anything that is justifiable is excusable. Try thinking of any crime or offense and I’m sure you will find a valid reason if you put yourself in the offender’s shoes, though admittedly you have to lower your standards from the communal to totally subjective point of view.

But I still think there’s no excuse for rape, beating your child silly, or talking back to your parents, which brings us all the way back to our bottom line: Honor your parents and spare women and children. Everything else is fair game.