I talk about Kevin so much even my friends who have never heard of aftg know who he is and immediately know who Iâm talking about when I mention a Kevin. Safe to say they will hate me when his books come out I will be INSUFFERABLE
The analysis that Kevin was both a victim and and enabler really irks me SO MUCH.
(this ended up getting too long, so there is more bellow the cut)
To enable is to "give (someone or something) the authority or means to do something." An enabler therefore is someone who enables
Example: Zane was an enabler to Grayson because by leaving the room when he COULD have done something to stop It, he gave Grayson the means to hurt Jean
So the main problem I have with the analysis that Kevin in some way was an enabler is that there was nothing he could have done to stop Riko (beyond the things we already know he did, like trying to convince Riko to stop). Kevin wasnt in anyway giving Riko authority or means to abuse Jean. Riko already had the authority to abuse BOTH of them from the start.
The worst of this stupid analysis is that it indirectly implies Kevin enabled his own abuse. When Jean arrived, Kevin had already been living in the Nest for 7 years (Kayleigh died when Kevin was 9 and Jean was sent to the US when Kevin was 16). For those 7 years, he was Riko's sole victim. There was no one in a better or worse situation than him because it was literally just him. Through out those 7 years, he wasn't able to do anything to stop his own abuse, both at Tetsuji's and Riko's hands. He had no power to defend himself whatsoever.
Jean himself says Kevin was "the first body upon which Riko could practice his fledgling cruelties". So we know for sure during the time Kevin lived alone with Riko that he was being bpth physically and psychologically abused.
If we are assuming he could have stopped what was being done to Jean and didn't because he was afraid, then we also have to assume he could have stopped what was being done to him before and didn't. In other words, this would make him an enabler or complicit in his own abuse, and I hope you all realize how bad this sounds.
Suffering less physical abuse for the sole reason he had to look okay for a camera doesn't mean he had any power whatsoever to stop Riko. We know he used his priviledges in the ways he could, but straight up fighting isnt exactly smart and wouldnt take anyone any where.
The only time in canon Kevin tried to stop Riko from hurting someone, Riko elbowed him in the face in the middle of a tv Studio (this happens right after Kathy's Interview: "A black look twisted Riko's expression into something ugly and unrecognizable. He reached for Neil, but Kevin caught his arm to stop him. Riko slammed his elbow back into Kevin's face without missing a beat"). All of this taking in consideration they were in a public space, where anyone could come in at any time and that Riko didnt know who Neil truly was, so to him this was just a random boy. That was Riko's first instinct. He did It without missing a beat.
Suffering less drastic physical abuse doesn't equate being in a position to stop abuse from happening. We know that Kevin used the small "priviledges" he had to help as he could (like taking the Ravens' attention from Jean so that they wouldnt notice where he was hurt, trying to convince Riko to stop or not do certain things, taking care and staying with Jean after, bringing him presents, etc.), but there isnt much more that can be expected from someone who was essentially still a child too, and also being abused.
It always baffles me how the fandom somehow thinks that Kevin should have had the power or capcity to protect another when he couldn't even protect himself, neither before Jean arrived nor after.
Another thing that makes me so annoyed is him being called a coward for not fighting Riko. I am sorry, but straight up defying Riko wouldn't be brave, it would be stupid, for a number of reasons. Firstly it wouldn't stop Riko from abusing Jean, and now instead of being in conditions to help and protect Jean from the other Ravens, Kevin is hurt too and the both of them are hurt (was he supposed to make Riko punish him too in solidarity? Because that is most definitely not the revolutionary take yall think it is). Second, and most importantly, it would probably make the abuse on Jean worse. Jean himself says that Riko already hated how much Kevin cared for him. Now, image Riko for 7 years has this obedient pet, with whom he is obsessed, that has been oh so well trained and conditioned. He knows his place, obeys and lowers his head, everytime without fail. Look how cool, Riko can beat him and he won't even try to defend himself, he has a brother and a personal punching bag, isn't that amazing? But then, all of a sudden, this french kid arrives and Riko's ever so obedient brother/pet starts openly defying Riko. Kevin, who has never sided against or fought Riko for seven years, is now actively and openly siding against Riko and with Jean. What exactly do yall think Riko would do to Jean?
I know we are used to seeing Neil run his mouth and only think about the consequences (both for him and for the ones around him) later. This is what ultimately gets Seth killed. But I dont think Kevin not being like that is a bad thing. That's how he survived and how he made sure Jean survived too.
Kevin would have been a coward if he didn't do absolutely anything to help Jean, but not doing the one thing that would make it so much worse for both of them and not having the power to stop the abuse from happening does not make him a coward.
If you ask me, the fact Kevin kept on going behind Riko's back for Jean, even though Riko would hurt him if he found out, is actually pretty brave. A coward would have never asked to learn french or gotten out of his way to see and talk to Jean or tried to talk Riko out of hurting Jean whenever he could or actively brought the Ravens attention on him.
Honestly, for someone who spent 7 years alone with Riko and Tetsuji, being conditioned to think he was inferior and that he owed the Moriyamas obedience forever, the fact Kevin, time and time again, rebels and disobeys, even if in secret, shows more courage than 90% of the fans calling him a coward would have.
The most upsetting thing about this argument that 'Kevin is such a coward because he didn't do anything' is that it completely crumbles when we bring it to reality and compare it to actual situations of opression. My country lived a military dictatorship and during this time many common citizens would, in secret, do things against the regime, from housing people who were victim of political persecution to printing or helping give out censored material. Those people didn't invade detention centers where there were others actively being tortured, they didn't openly scream against the regime (which would have landed them on one of said detention centers). Still, can you call them cowards or say they were complicit with what was happening? Because in my books, these people were still brave as fuck even if they weren't openly defying a power that they had no way to win against.
There is a difference between courage and stupidity.
(Also worth to note that you can literally make someone go mad without physically hurting them in anyway. This myth that psychological abuse is a lesser form of abuse when compared to physical is a lie. So the fact Kevin was mostly psychologically tortured does not mean he was chilling or less of a victim of torture. Jean himself says there were forms of mental abuse that were RESERVED for Kevin. So if the fandom could actually stop comparing deeply debilitating trauma, that would be wonderful. This shit is not trauma olympics)
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