Just popped in to say I love your takes on Simon and I hope you're not getting any major hate or harassment from others. I think some of the fandom might feel uncomfortable grasping his past actions, and having to reconcile that yeah, Simon is.... extremely complicated and nuanced. He did awful things, he is objectively a reprehensible and evil person, but at the same time, it's very hard to just slap on those labels and call it a day with the context of Iron Lung's universe.
It's meant to be difficult to discern! The movie is inviting people to really scrutinise the lore, and have to grasp that in times of survival, morality will be cannibalized first. I think the fact that Simon managed to dig through the muck that is The Butcher, and come out cradling his remorse and his hope is such a great character concept, and I'm so glad there's others who see that too!
It's unfortunate that fandoms tend to box characters because I love how utterly messy Simon is. I find it so fun to pull this man apart. He sucks and he's a bitch and he's also the most interesting little bug I'm shaking in my jar right now.
Thanks for the compliments.
Unfortunately, yeah I have to dig through hate sometimes, but it's alright. I'm doing this for the love of the game!
I've repeatedly been "corrected" on calling Simon "evil". I think you're the only other person who has also said it with their full chest. Simon is technically the villain in Iron Lung, from the COI's perspective.
But, see, there's where the nuance hits, because he still does not deserve what happened to him despite that.
I agree with you on that the fandom is having a hard time grasping Simon for what he is. Though, I'm not discrediting the fact that there are many beautiful and wonderful people who have accepted Iron Lung's nuance, and Simon for the kind of monster he once was.
The whole thing is a thought experiment on the audience. There are some people who will be 100% Butcher apologists. There will be people who lean into that middle ground. There will be people who see Simon as someone who deserved what happened to him. Mark knew he would be dividing his audience on that front, and it's glaringly obvious this was a way to start discourse so people would talk about his movie more.
I think that Simon is very strong for choosing to step away from the Butcher, even if it meant surrendering and getting sent straight to hell.
But, ohh yeah, I'm also a messy Simon lover. Love me some muddled emotional turmoil.
Wait, that came out wrong-