I kind of hate the way the concept of âredemptionâ has taken root in this fandom.
I understand why, itâs a very appealing way of looking at things (and itâs kind of baked into every strongly Christian-influenced culture, aka all of Western culture). But the idea of a moral binary, where youâre either good or youâre evil, and the only way to tip over that boundary one way or another is with a single decisive act⊠itâs just bad. Itâs not realistic. Thatâs not how people work, and trying to simplify the characters down to either âredeemedâ or ânot redeemedâ does them a disservice and also does you, the viewer, a disservice. And when itâs applied to society at large, it does everyone a disservice.
People are complicated. Iâve said it before and Iâll say it again. People are never just one thing or another. Most people try to do what they think is right, or what they think needs to be done, or just what theyâve been forced into.
Letâs look at Wilbur - thereâs been so much focus on whether heâll be âredeemedâ or not when heâs finally brought back to life. But who, in-universe, decides that? Who says whether heâs redeemed or not? What single thing could he possibly do to make up for all the hurt he caused? If he is redeemed, does that mean that every person who still holds a grudge for the things he did is in the wrong, and now theyâre the bad people?
Redemption is a meaningless concept. It tries to simplify something very personal and complicated - forgiveness for the harm one person does to another - down into a universally applicable rule overseen by some vague absolute arbiter of morality. In reality, some people - Fundy, for example - will probably never forgive Wilbur for what he did to them. And thatâs okay. They donât need to. They get to decide that. And other people, for example Tommy and Philza, will forgive him, and thatâs also okay, because they also get to decide. No matter what he does, there will be people who hate Wilbur forever. That doesnât mean that he doesnât deserve the other peopleâs forgiveness, or that he shouldnât be allowed to try to make up for his wrongs.
Thatâs how redemption works in the real world, and on the Dream SMP. In the end, what matters isnât whether someone is a âgood personâ or not, because the answer to whether they are will change with every person you ask, and every personâs answer is just as valid and meaningful as the next. What matters is if theyâre trying to do better than theyâve done before. If they work to do good in the world to balance out the bad theyâve caused.
Redemption isnât a binary. Itâs a process that takes a lifetime. Itâs something you do, not something you are. It involves a lot of mistakes and a lot of backsliding, but what matters is that you try. As long as someone wants to become better, I believe they should be allowed to, no matter what theyâve done. Everyone deserves the chance to try and fix the damage theyâve caused.