I'm a simple and shallow person, I actually really liked Megatron from the Earthspark series. So I took the barrage of negativity towards him… Let's just say I took it a little too personally. I was even kind of offended that my favorite uncle was being berated because of Starscream! Why? Why is an aggressor who has repeatedly tried to kill, overthrow, harm, deceive, and so on being made out to be a victim? I'm not excusing Megatron for physical abuse, it's no doubt horrible, but why does someone who works to get forgiveness get so much self-hatred? What did Starscream do to be pitied? Most of the time he's a vile character that makes me genuinely disgusted.
And I got so burned up about it, I went to complain to Kozner about it. Because he doesn't like Star either and I wanted support for Megatron. But Koz tactfully shut me up and our argument eventually came to the point where we were analyzing the characters together. "Why they did it?"
And it seemed like Kozner, the one who hated the show, was sitting there calmly explaining the interactions between the two Decepticons. I jokingly or casually said that if he was so knowledgeable about the subject, then he had experience in it, is this kind of relationship really that common in TF?
I didn't like the answer and would like to hear some more opinions on the subject.
Kozner replied that it's good to bring up topics of helping with physical aggression, but for some reason many people don't care about mental health violence. The final nail in the Earthspark hate was the relationship between Bumblebee and Optimus.
"Almost everyone admires the audacity of showing the interactions between Megatron and Starscream, their long journey when each wanted to hurt the other. But no one sees how Optimus Prime, once the hero and idol of many, has turned into an aggressor. He's far worse than Megatron, because Bumblebee's violence is psychological. Yes, it's great that finally both Megatron and Starscream will get help, understanding, and most importantly healing from each other's abuse. And Bumblebee? With each new project, he's allowed the noose around his neck to tighten more and more. Why is it that someone deserves to be rescued and someone else is being forcefully drowned pretending everything is fine?"
We were never able to finish this picture.
