#gale rants

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale Rants: The seven deadly sins

So I have come to realize that the way the Seven deadly sins in media is portrayed is often either "Too vague" or "Inaccurate." Because its often seen as the cliche stereotype, but never actually gets to the ROOT of why the sins are considered... Sins.

So I will be going through all of them, what they are portrayed as and what they actually are. (Note: Now I get that the "Sins" as characters are trying to be humanized or whatever in some cases... but my problem is that at the START they dont get it right.)

Lets start with (For this I will be using random portrayals of seven deadly sins as pics. and there are several interpretations)

Envy:

Now in fictions for the most part, this is the sin that is portrayed with the least amount of issues. Its a self explanatory of the sins. I want something that someone else has. In the bible. "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor" Exodus 20:17 Basically means dont try to take things that dont belong to you. Pretty straightforward, shouldnt be an issue in portraying this concept right?

Well the problem is people often mix up Jealousy and Envy. Jealousy is VERY different. In fact Jealousy should be the OPPOSITE of Envy. (Though Its mostly due to biblical translation errors and language evolving that confuse the two. The biblical language has different words and thus can result in some words can be used that are similar or the same but have different meanings)

Jealousy is when you believe someone is trying to take something or someone away from you. And unlike with Envy, Jealousy can be either positive or negative depending on the result.

Another wrong portrayal of envy, is when its downplayed. Envy isnt just being like "Oh look at that loving relationship, I wish I had one like that." because thats not it. Envy. is "Oh look at that loving relationship. I want the girl/Guy in that relationship so I can have it." Its the desire to take that which is not yours. Thinking something is one thing, but actively wanting something someone else has. Or a more tumblr related example

"Oh wow, that guy has a lot of money. I wish I also had a lot of money so I can live like that, that would be cool." (Not a sin) "Oh wow, that guy has a lot of money. I wish he didnt and that I and other people could have his money instead because he has too much." (Coveting/Envy) Thats the point of envy, you want what someone else has and dont give a f*** how its attained even if it hurts someone else. That is envy.

"But Gale," I hear you say, "I mentioned other people getting money too, how could that be envy?" Because you want to take what isnt yours and dont care about the feelings of the other person. This is one of the cases where people try to moralize their envy and its still envy.

But that is where envy falls in with the portrayals in media, either its downplayed/moralized OR mixed up with Jealousy.

Greed:

Greed is often the sin that is just defined as "Me want more money" and at a very basic level that's part of it. But there is more to greed than just that. (Above character is fascinating and the point is that he develops but as a concept of greed... he kind of misses the mark) But to properly describe Greed, is that its "The insatiable desire for more, Whether its food, money, land, power, possessions. and having no qualms about how one attains this more."

Now wanting money or power, or land, or things does not make you inherently greedy. Its fine to have ambition, it is when you treat that thing you desire as a god. Making sacrifices of things and people in order to try and satiate the desire. The bible characterizes greed as Idolatry. 1 Timothy 6:10 states "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." The problem with the portrayals of Greed in fiction is that sometimes, they will have the aspect of Greed NOT be self serving and care about other people.

Ironically, there is one portrayal of greed that I have seen that actually works... and its in Helluva boss. That is unironically the most accurate portrayal of Greed. (The portrayal of other sins is inaccurate its almost funny, but hey, they get 1 point there) Wanting to have things isnt bad, its when wanting to get more because the desire in which you sacrifice others to attain.

Sloth:

My problem with Sloth is that its always seen as just "Person is too sleepy." Being sleepy isnt the sin. But the problem is no one knows how to properly portray sloth. (I argue the above is a bad interpretation because once he is awake he is VERY ACTIVE and destructive)

Sloth as a sin, is lazyiness, apathy, and spiritual idleness.

Now I hear you say, but Gale. The sleepy people dont do anything but sleep. Isnt that lazy? No, there are people who are constantly sleepy because they work long hours, or have conditions that make them that way and thus is not a good example of laziness.

Resting and relaxing is not a bad thing. In fact, God made the sabbath as a day of rest.

The problem with Sloth is when there is zero work being done and not caring about anything. Its the apathy that makes sloth the sin that it is.

(There are several verses that refer to sloth as a means of apathy.)

Romans 12:11: "Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord." Hebrews 6:12: So that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Revelation 3:16: So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

My problem with the portrayal of sloth in media... Ironically is that its a lazy portrayal. Its the mix of Apathy and laziness that makes Sloth a sin. Its the hampering of potential. And I wish more media portrayed Sloth better (Seven deadly sins King actually was a good example of the apathy and laziness and then he developed)

Wrath:

Wrath can be defined as uncontrolled feelings of anger, rage, and even hatred

So, Wrath, anger is one of those areas where there has been translated as either good or bad.

And all portrayals of Wrath do fall within BOTH fields of anger rage and hatred. Losing ones self to the emotion of anger is usually negative, but some cases wrath has been justified, Like when God's "wrath" is used against those that have committed sin.

But God's Wrath is righteous fury and even some cases in the bible humans have shown similar Wrath and it was okay.

God never loses himself to his "wrath", he is always controlled and the anger/judgement is justified. Its never about "to do harm", its about doing what needs to be done as a just punishment.

Wrath as a sin is not the anger part, its the loss of control of hatred, its the desire to do harm. Its the vile rage that one loses all control and does not care who or what gets hurt until its done.

Wrath as a sin is also NOT just. Its not about objective unfairness or against evil, it is the escalation, it is the going too far. When control is lost and all thats left is rage. Its about making the person, people or place pay. for what they did and not caring who gets hurt as collateral.

James 1:20 states that "human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires".

Its the non-righteous fury that is the sin of wrath and anger. If the desire is to do harm first, then its clear its the sin. And media simply portrays Wrath as just anger when its so much more than that.

Lust

Now we get to one of the bigger ones. The sins that have the WORST portrayals.

In media, Lust is simply displayed as sexual desire, or just desire in general. And they just make the lust embodiment hot nymphomaniac. Which is the biggest misconception.

Lust is the embodiment of selfish, uncontrolled desire (often sexual) that disregards God and objectifies others.

The portrayal above is actually one of the WORST portrayal of Lust because it doesnt actually truly embody what lust actually is.

Thats right the horny demon on top SUCKS (hehehe) as a portrayal of what lust actually is and the horrors that come with it. Lust is not love, should never be confused as love. It is a selfish desire for something in which you defy taboos in order to get what you are lusting after. Its all taboos you dont pick and choose.

I say he's the worst because he says Lust needs consent. Lust doesnt need consent. Lust is just that, it goes after married people, old, young, men, women, animals, objects. The point is Lust is bad and f***ed up. Lust as a sin is supposed to be vile. It is saying, I want to do xxx for pleasure and dont care about the consequences.

The problem is Portrayals of lust are confused with Passion and love.

Passion is an intense, driving emotion or overwhelming love directed toward an activity, person or thing. Combining deep interest with motivation and often requiring sacrifice.

Lust doesnt require self sacrifice, it is a selfish action that is a very dangerous sin. It sacrifices OTHER things.

It isnt simply seeing an attractive somebody and thinking "Man that person is hot." Its seeing that person, whom you know is married, or your married and still desiring them sexually and even acting on that desire when you shouldn't.

Having sexual desire for someone by itself is not what makes Lust a sin, Sexual desire is something that occurs. Its when it breaks the taboos and leads to sexual immorality or an immorality of some kind and the user acts/dwells on it that makes it a sin.

The bible has many verses about Lust: (too many to list but its one of the sins specifically stated one should flee from) 1 Corinthians 6:18: Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.

James 1:14-15 : But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. But my problem with media is that they never outright show the horrific connotations that come with lust.

Gluttony

Gluttony is a sin that people actually understand the least. Or at least, they dont understand why its actually a sin.

Even the oxford dictionary definition doesnt grasp it right.

Just describing gluttony as excessive greed or over-eating.

Eating too much isnt what makes Gluttony a sin. What Gluttony is, it is overindulgence. But not just having too much of something, its using that thing one over indulging in as an escape. Gluttony is what I call the Secondary sin that follows. Because often when one indulges in sin it is always in excess.

The bible goes far to describe gluttony as an act of self worship

Philippians 3:19 states "Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things."

Now the character above is both a great and horrible example of gluttony. The first part is, that she is super into partying, sweets, drinking, just pleasure indulgence in all aspects. And it isnt just eating... the problem is that she shows restraint, she even points out when OTHERS have a problem with Gluttony, Restraint is the POLAR OPPOSITE of what Gluttony is. (Interesting character, horrible execution).

My problem with Gluttony characters is that its just usually food or they dont embody what Gluttony actually is. Its a lazy interpretation.

Which is the Overindulgence and self worship. Its turning to pleasure to distract and satiate one's self instead of turning to God.

But finally lets get to the main sin

Pride

(Modern media really does not know how to write Lucifer, fun fact, if you arent portraying him as a heartless evil bastard that worships himself and will do anything to spite God, you arent writing him right.)

But the question is What is Pride? What makes Pride so bad? Isnt it okay to take pride in one's work? Pride in its definition as a sin is this an excessive, selfish love of one's own excellence and a refusal to acknowledge God's authority. Pride is when you say its just me, its only me.

Pride characters are actually very easy to write. Just make them self aggrandizing pricks that are self-absorbed narcissists. Characters that care about nothing but themselves and will do anything and everything because they want to do it and have no qualms about right and wrong so long as they get what's there's.

Pride is EGO that is unchecked by God.

Its saying "Look at me, look how awesome I am." and not acknowledging the help or work of others in what you did. Its fine to find pride in one's own work when you do great work, but do acknowledge that God had some involvement in it. Pride is Narcissism at its peak There are so many verses about pride (so many verses actually)

But the main ones I want to point out:

Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Isaiah 2:11 The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

But what makes pride the most dangerous of Sins is that it is the base for all sins. Pride is what makes you justify your greed, your gluttony, your lust, your wrath, your envy. For if you cant have it, no one can. For is it wrong for me to take what I want, punish who I hate, take what is mine, hurt those I hate, and avoid the work I dont want to do?

All sin stems from pride. So for a character that embodies pride, pride should have all the indulgences and sins connected to it.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

Gale Rants: What makes a hero?

Heroes are people that don’t hesitate to help.

Heroes don’t decide who deserves to be saved, they try to save everyone they can.

Heroes don’t do what they do for fame, for power, for wealth, or for ego. Heroes do what they do because they have the chance to help others and do some good.

If the hero refuses to save someone because of personal dislike, disagreement, or anything of that sort, that isn’t a hero, nor should they EVER be called one.

“But what if they are villains?”

You stop them, you don’t murder them. If it comes down to saving more lives but the villain has to die, then you do what you gotta do, but if there is another way, a Hero always tries that way first.

To be a hero isn’t easy. That’s why they deserve the title. Because a hero is someone that goes above and beyond, a hero saves as many as they can.

Heroes save everyone, that includes criminals, that includes racists, that includes political opposition. Heroes don’t choose who is worth saving, they go and save. Now if those individuals try to harm others, then heroes stop them. That’s how it is.

Heroes save, that’s what a hero does.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

“Fit check for my Napalm era.”

This line infuriates me.

Not because it’s bad. No, it’s actually an amazing lyric.

Like it might be one of the greatest lyrics ever put to paper.

It’s a Pun, a declaration, and perfectly fits the song it’s in.

Napalm, like Bomb. Like being “Da Bomb” or being a “Bombshell beauty”

Napalm also works because Lip balm, napalm, it is so close to make up.

Fit check, explosive fashion.

And then this line is said as Mira is FALLING OUT OF THE SKY LIKE A MISSLE, APPLYING MAKE UP CASUALLY.

It’s such a good line.

And the fact I didn’t come up with it infuriates me, but I’m so glad it exists

[gale-gentlepenguin]

I feel like people do not understand Batman or Joker as characters at their core anymore.

You want to know what type of Characters they are? Let me tell you.

Joker: Society is a joke, and I am the punchline. Everything he does is a joke/ for the lolz. He is not some agent of chaos, he is not in love with Batman. Everything he is doing is because he is an insane clown trying to make jokes. Thats it. He wont do a scheme if there is no JOKE to it. And by joke, I mean something thats funny. Its that simple.

Batman: He fights crime so that no child will ever lose their parents to some Criminal with a gun. Batman wants Gotham to be a better place, thats why Bruce wayne has all these projects to try and make Gotham better, and Batman fights the criminals. Batman tries his best to rehabilitate Criminals, often offering jobs to ex cons and struggling communities. Batman also has a soft spot for orphans, and its why he adopts Dick Grayson, he goes to great lengths to ensure kids DONT end up like he did. Its not just 'Im rich and have preptime so I can kick everyone's ass." He is a detective that wants to stop crimes and prevent crimes in the future for a better place. He's not just plotarmor incarnate. Thats Batman at his core.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

I think having God in your life is very important to morality.

I was really thinking about this because I remember hearing the atheist statement on “If you need God to tell you what’s moral, then you’re the one that’s messed up.”

I think about this and go, “It’s impossible to define Morality without God being involved.”

Our Culture, societal rule are all defined by the belief systems our society has.

The rules here heavily based on Judeo-Christian values in the west.

If we take God out of the equation, let’s start looking at a law. How about no stealing

(Perfect example here)

Stealing? Why is stealing wrong?

Most people would say

“It’s against the law.”

Okay, but why is it wrong? Why is it a bad thing for me to go and take something from someone else?

Now after removing the “Legal aspect” the person would say.

“Well, you are taking something that doesn’t belong to you.”

Exactly, someone had something I wanted, therefore I took the thing I wanted. And I can even argue that the person may have had more of the thing I stole. So who cares.

The response then could be.

“Well you are hurting someone else?”

Now if I simply took it, I’d say I didn’t inflict any physical harm. But let’s say I did. I snatched it out from their grasp and took it. What reason is there for me to care that I stole from this individual. They had something I wanted and I took it. If the person wants it back they can try to take it from me or take it from someone else.

“But they are a person like you.”

What reason do I have to care about a person I’m not related to? What reason do I need to respect someone outside of legal repercussions or Physical harm? If there is a benefit to me, it is in my best interest to take the thing.

Morality needs to be defined by a being that has a higher power.

Because human based morality changes and alters.

People often add caveats to when something is right or wrong.

Hurting certain people can be seen as fine.

Some places have laws that say things we call f***ed up are perfectly legal.z

Whether you believe in God or in other religions. Or in zero religions.

Dismissing Morality as something that can be handled within mortal hands will result in only the worst of the worst surviving.

there is a reason we call terrible places Hellholes. Because hell is a place where God does not dwell.

[gale-gentlepenguin]

We need to stop making people hotter when they go through trauma.

Trauma is not supposed to be sexy. Trauma f***ing sucks.

You know what we should be doing, Glow ups with recovery from trauma! Encourage people to get well and that trauma doesn’t make something or someone better. Healing and growth does

[bag-0f-b0nes]

It's so annoying when people hate on a villain who's genuinly sickening and has zero redeeming qualities. We've gotten so used to sexyman villains and glamorizing their crimes that we hate on villains who don't have pretty privileges, and those who don't have a single kind fibre in their body.

Very good example of this is Mori Ougai from Bungou Stray Dogs. He's a terrible, abusive guy, and a pedophile (and y'know. Boss of the mafia)

And people are CENSORING his name because god forbid a villain is actually bad!!!

[gale-gentlepenguin]

The reason Superman is as powerful as he is in the comics isn’t because the writers need him to be (actually this is true if the writer is lazy). Superman is as strong as he needs to be because he represents hope. He isn’t just a symbol of hope, he IS the embodiment of hope. That’s why Superman’s death hits hard, that’s why worlds that don’t have Superman fall into despair. Superman IS hope. Hope for a better tomorrow, hope that whatever challenges we face can be bested just by persevering. The reason why the sun makes him stronger, because of the hope of seeing the sun rise the next day.That’s why Superman is the greatest hero. Because he represents hope.