Back when I was a kid I heard Michael Jackson sing these lyrics in smooth tones:
Chorus
If they say -
Why, why, tell 'em that is human nature
Why, why, does he do me that way
If they say -
Why, why, tell 'em that is human nature
Why, why, does he do me that way
I like livin' this way
I like lovin' this way
Have you ever noticed that when people refer to so called 'human nature', it's usually in the context of rationalizing something bad that someone has done? Rarely do we invoke 'human nature' when in the presence of love, sacrifice, generosity, or compassion. Such qualities are viewed as extraordinary, perhaps even 'super-human', certainly not what should be assumed or expected as part of our 'nature'.
Two summer blockbusters followed a long tradition in the arts of reflecting on this ancient issue of 'human nature', "The Dark Knight" and "Hellboy 2". In The Dark Knight, the Joker sets out on a campaign of death, destruction and terror essentially to prove the point that 'civilization' is a "bad joke" and those like Batman who seek to defend it are suffering from the delusion that human beings something other than what they are: selfish, ignorant, beasts. Batman's unconventional approach to crime fighting is based on faith in humanity, in direct contrast to the Joker's misanthropy. The various chases, fights, and explosions are the dramatic background for a clash between these competing views of human beings. The film ultimately offers the hope that Batman may be right after all. Hellboy 2 approaches similar issues in a very different way. In this film the clash is between humans and various magical/mythical creatures like elves, ogres and trolls. This film begins with a description of human beings as having a "hole in their hearts" and being driven by greed, while the magical/mythical creatures are the noble ones. Eventually one of these creatures, an elvish prince decides to make war on humanity, a kind of military intervention to save the world from human nature. Ironically he finds humanity being defended by a demon (Hellboy) who wants to be a "man" but faces fear and rejection from those he protects. This contradiction serves as a kind of inner conflict for Hellboy which is the beating heart of this fantasy/adventure. Similar to the Joker, the elf prince challenges Hellboy to consider whether or not he is on the wrong side of the contest between good and evil, light and darkness. In the closing words of a character from George Romero's "Diary of the Dead", "Are we (humans) worth saving?"
The question of human nature is not simply inspiration for artistic meditations like these films. How we conceptualize human nature has profound spiritual and social implications:
"The winds of despair", Bahá'u'lláh wrote, "are, alas, blowing from every direction, and the strife that divides and afflicts the human race is daily increasing. The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order appears to be lamentably defective." This prophetic judgement has been amply confirmed by the common experience of humanity. Flaws in the prevailing order are conspicuous in the inability of sovereign states organized as United Nations to exorcize the spectre of war, the threatened collapse of the international economic order, the spread of anarchy and terrorism, and the intense suffering which these and other afflictions are causing to increasing millions. Indeed, so much have aggression and conflict come to characterize our social, economic and religious systems, that many have succumbed to the view that such behaviour is intrinsic to human nature and therefore ineradicable. With the entrenchment of this view, a paralyzing contradiction has developed in human affairs. On the one hand, people of all nations proclaim not only their readiness but their longing for peace and harmony, for an end to the harrowing apprehensions tormenting their daily lives. On the other, uncritical assent is given to the proposition that human beings are incorrigibly selfish and aggressive and thus incapable of erecting a social system at once progressive and peaceful, dynamic and harmonious, a system giving free play to individual creativity and initiative but based on co-operation and reciprocity. As the need for peace becomes more urgent, this fundamental contradiction, which hinders its realization, demands a reassessment of the assumptions upon which the commonly held view of mankind's historical predicament is based. Dispassionately examined, the evidence reveals that such conduct, far from expressing man's true self, represents a distortion of the human spirit. Satisfaction on this point will enable all people to set in motion constructive social forces which, because they are consistent with human nature, will encourage harmony and co-operation instead of war and conflict.
(The Universal House of Justice, 1985 Oct, The Promise of World Peace, p. 1)
How refreshing it would be the next time you experience someone displaying kindness, patience, compassion or love, you heard another person smile and say, "Well you know, that's just human nature." This simple shift in talking about our 'nature' just might change the world.
Phillipe: nice blog and interesting take on the summer blockbuster scene. I would however, disagree with your fundamental premise: I think that the majority of people believe that 'on the whole' we are good, and that is why, from a humanism perspective, it is difficult to justify the need for religion. Comic books owe a great debt to the 'Romantic myth', that the world requires salvation in the form of a Hero (as poet, or caped crusader e.g.). Whilst the Carlylian view of the world has resonance with the Baha'i perspective that the world-edifying influence of religion renewed in the Person of the Manifestation of God, I feel Romanticism is flawed in not allowing the generality of mankind to be the instrument of salvation.
ReplyDeleteOn a similar note, unlike you, I did not feel there was a message of hope in "The Dark Knight". Rather, the Joker was right, since the embodiment of hope in Gotham, Harvey Dent, does ultimately yield to the Joker's anarchy. Only the rather unhinged Batman is untouched by the tragedy that surrounds him, and only then by his false belief in the fidelity of his dead beloved.
Hellboy I'll leave to another time, but briefly: humanity is worth saving, but not because of who we are, but because of what we can be. "Hast thou heard that friend and foe should abide in the same heart?".
B.
Phillipe, I enjoy reading your film analyses. But I still never get around to acutally seeing most movies until they are a minimum of 10 years old.
ReplyDeleteFor example, in the thoughtful science fiction vein, I just saw, for the very first time "Brother From Another Planet." Seriously.
I don't think anyone is going to review or discuss this low-budget venture again anytime soon. Except, possibly, Phillipe Copeland...?
PS congrats on all the new events in your life.
Judith W
a/k/a Old School
Babak, this is an interesting point that you're making. I wonder if people claim that they believe human beings are basically good but their actions suggest otherwise. People seem to have contradictory views. For example believing that people are basically good or can figure out morality for themselves as an argument against religion is more about the effort to discredit religion than because people actually believe that goodness is in our nature. Or people may believe that they and people they know are basically good, but would not be willing to generalize that to include the rest of humanity.
ReplyDeleteAlso in The Dark Knight there is a critical scene where people are presented with a moral dilemma in which to save themselves they would have to kill others and do not do so. This is the hopeful part of the film.
Judith aka Old School, thanks for your thoughts as always. I've never seen the movie you are referring to but hope you get to check out at least one of the ones I just mentioned. I found them thought provoking.
Random thoughts....
ReplyDeleteThis argument always reminds me of a quote from the Blessed Beauty: "He hath endowed every soul with the capacity to recognize the signs of God." Even human beings bent on harming others have this capacity. Whenever I read of some horrific act committed by a human being, I think of this quotation and wonder, "What is preventing them from realizing the capacity to know and love God, and follow His precepts?" The obvious answer is a lack of education.
Shoghi Effendi states that children are "naturally inclined towards evil" and require moral and religious training to realize a heavenly nature. From a Bahá'í perspective, to be "basically good" is to receive a moral and spiritual education that focuses on heavenly attributes. In light of the Bahá'í emphasis on education, I believe human beings are in fact basically amoral. With proper education, however, they can become "basically good" souls interested in the welfare of other human beings.
Interestingly, Bahá'u'lláh links obedience to parents with obedience to God, knowing parents serve as the first teachers of children: "The parents must exert every effort to rear their offspring to be religious, for should the children not attain this greatest of adornments, they will not obey their parents, which in a certain sense means that they will not obey God."
So many people in human society have been spiritually corrupted by forces like poor parenting, abject poverty, physical neglect, child abuse and more, on and on. Is it any wonder that there are people capable of harming others in unspeakably horrific ways? Only someone with absolutely no moral compass could commit such acts. Due to free will, however, they remain accountable for their acts, no matter how ignorant they are spiritually.
Free will is a tricky thing, though. We all have this awesome capacity of free will, and yet some of us are slaves to our base desires -- desires that are the result of corruption in childhood. Of course, anyone who commits a horrific act against another human being is accountable for their actions, but it is sad to consider that some people have been so thoroughly corrupted that they do not recognize the evil within them. I have met a few such people and their vacuous souls truly frightened me.
Britt your thoughts are not at all random. Thanks for including the issue of the education of children into the mix regarding so called human nature, it is really central especially when you consider the current emphasis in the Baha'i world on the education of children and youth.
ReplyDeletePhil,
ReplyDeleteI like the way you linked the suffering in Dark Knight with the suffering the world around us. I really agree that pop-culture, fiction and the media seem to have this idea that the human race is corrupt. I loved the quote by the Universal House of Justice.
I've always loved Batman. As a kid I would watch the old Adam West show with my dad (When you're 6 it's not even slightly campy). Then the darker versions came along and I really resonated with them. Here was a man struggling with internal and external darkness. Here was a man, single, alone, and very human, standing up against the hopelessness of the world.
But in Batman Begins I began to outgrow this mythos. I could no longer agree with his choice to reflect the darkness back on itself. He used fear and anger, violence and aggression to establish peace. Clearly this won't work.
I charge you all that each one of you concentrate all the thoughts of your heart on love and unity. When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace.
A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. Thoughts of war bring destruction to all harmony, well-being, restfulness and content.
Thoughts of love are constructive of brotherhood, peace, friendship, and happiness.
When soldiers of the world draw their swords to kill, soldiers of God clasp each other's hands! So may all the savagery of man disappear by the Mercy of God, working through the pure in heart and the sincere of soul. Do not think the peace of the world an ideal impossible to attain!
Nothing is impossible to the Divine Benevolence of God.
If you desire with all your heart, friendship with every race on earth, your thought, spiritual and positive, will spread; it will become the desire of others, growing stronger and stronger, until it reaches the minds of all men.
Do not despair! Work steadily. Sincerity and love will conquer hate. How many seemingly impossible events are coming to pass in these days! Set your faces steadily towards the Light of the World. Show love to all; 'Love is the breath of the Holy Spirit in the heart of Man'. Take courage! God never forsakes His children who strive and work and pray! Let your hearts be filled with the strenuous desire that tranquillity and harmony may encircle all this warring world. So will success crown your efforts, and with the universal brotherhood will come the Kingdom of God in peace and goodwill.
(Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 28)
Dark Knight, I think begins to address this in the way it contrasts Batman, the Dark Knight, with Harvey Dent, the White Knight. Although Batman has the integrity and resolve to change Gotham, he goes about it in the wrong way. Dent, on the other hand knows how to inspire and encourage but has a dark side that is waiting to get out, and does when he becomes the villain known as Two-Face. At the end of the movie, Batman and Gordon resolve to blame Dent's crimes on Batman. Gordon's son asks him why, and Gordon responds, "Because he's the hero we deserve but not the hero we need."
I think that in this society we have a tendency to praise darkness and edginess. And while I love to see struggle as much as anyone, I am frustrated that we don't really appreciate those who bravely seek to be light and not dark, joyful and not full of angst, those who choose to obey that constant injunction of the 'Abdu'l-Bahá that we "Be Happpy!"
Jalal, what an amazing commentary and I like how you including the Baha'i writings to illuminate your points. Batman truly is a tragic and complex figure and his methods are questionable indeed. Ultimately they will not succeed which is why a Harvey Dent is necessary. Of course, like all of us he had a dark side and in his own pain and rage succumbed to it. This could happen to any of us. For some of us it has already happened!
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ReplyDeleteDear Philipe, I read your text and wanted to make a comment, but after all these outstanding conversation on the relationship between the Bahá'í Faith, human psyché and these two movies, I think anything I might say to be senseless.
ReplyDeleteSo, just thank you all for the comments, and thank you, Philipe, for the text.
I am surely, now, motivated to see Hellboy too. After Batman... Hellboy now!
SAM no worries, your comments are welcome regardless of how senseless they may be. Enjoy Hellboy and tell Baha'i Thought what you thought of it.
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