I was sitting in the waiting room of the dentist’s office today. Across from me, a boy probably about 4 or 5 played with his action figures. He had one of the characters help someone.
His mom quickly told him, “He can’t be a hero–he’s the bad guy.”
I thought about saying something, and I’m honestly disappointed in myself that I didn’t.
While it is true the boy was playing with the “bad guy” character, I really loved the idea of the bad guy doing some good. As soon as the mom said it, the boy paused, and his bad guy went back to punching people and hurting those around him.
I worry about this type casting.
When we say someone can’t change, we’re making that change even more difficult.
The best “bad guys” in our comic books and films have incredible stories of how they got there.
- Gollum in The Lord of the Rings was once known as Sméagol, until the ring slowly infected him over time.
- Darth Vader in Star Wars was once know as Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi knight, until he fell to the dark side of the Force.
- Magnetto in X-Men suffered a horrible childhood during the Holocaust and uses most of his power to prevent a similar fate from ever happening to him or other mutants again.
All three of these characters have redeeming qualities and redeeming moments. At times they make heroic actions even though most would still claim they are “bad guys” in their respective stories.
These are the fictional examples
What about the real life examples?
Are there people in our schools, in our organizations, in our communities, that we cast in far too strict a role? Do we not allow them the chance to make that role more complex and potentially good? Do we label them, vilify them, dismiss them?
If you’ve ever had a chance to watch a young kid play with toys where they don’t yet know the “correct” role, it’s interesting to see that play scene play out. I’ve watched a three-year-old have school with a T-Rex teacher, a lamb student, and friends that were lions, giraffes, and a car. All of these characters got along. No one tried to eat each other or drive over one another. Actually they spent most of the time becoming friends.
Sure there is evil in our world. I watch too much television news not to recognize that the world has a few “bad guys,” but I still like to think, that many people still have the possibility for goodness. I want to remain open to that hope and open to that idea.
I want the world where Gollum still helps Frodo in his quest, where Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker defeat the emperor, and where Charles Xavier and Magnetto can still discuss the world over a game of chess.
I don’t want this world to just exist in fictional accounts. I want that goodness to be present here as well.
I want a young mom to instead ask her son when the “bad guy” is only punching things around him, “what would it be like if he was good?”
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