If this video gets at least 10,000 likes, I will do the One Punch Man Workout for 100 days. You might think I'm kidding. I'm not: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mc6hjb2pyqizgI0.html

“Perfection and power are overrated. I think you are very wise to choose happiness and love."

There's 2 main ways to measure someone's character: 1) Who are you when no one is looking? 2) Who are you when no one can stop you?

There is no better example than the Justice League animated series. The women characters were just as powerful and impactful as the men characters. They had their own weaknesses they over came, they kicked as much butt, and just well written.

I saw online the following criticism: The Acolyte is adopting the philosophy of Voldemort. "There is neither good or evil; only power and those too weak to use it." I know people love to dunk on The Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter nowadays, but this temptation is poignant. We must be like Harry and see through the lies Voldemort is telling him, lest we become just like Tom Riddle - a man scared of death, clinging to power by any means necessary. He was a man who never knew love, as Harry said, and look at where it lead him.

New favorite quote: "power doesn't care about your favorite flavor ice cream"

Anakin chose power over love and lost both Luke chose love over power and gained so much more

“We have only to remove who oppose us” is so much more relevant today.

I love Prince Phillip and the fairies in Sleeping Beauty because it’s that perfect balance of men and women working together with their unique abilities for the sake of others.

it baffles me that hollywood seems to think that love, whether romantic or platonic, isn't one of the most powerful motivators known to mankind. There's a trope excessively present in anime and manga called, "the power of friendship," where a character's love for their friends gives them the strength to overcome literally anything. Japan seems to understand this, why can't hollywood?

I'm so glad you brought up Luke Skywalker in your Power vs Love segment. The contrast between Luke's redemption of his father and Rey just girlbossing her way to victory is the perfect example why the first succeeds and the second fails. The LOTR example I think does a better job about dissecting the dangers of power vs the strength of love within a single story, but Star Wars is a better example of how far Hollywood has fallen in storytelling.

“People say, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” My point is that power attracts the corruptible.” -Frank Herbert, Dune(1965)

I think you’ve touched on what makes the “strong female protagonist” feel so stale: she’s usually just the archetypal male protagonist with a splash of Oppressed Girlboss for flavor, and the Standard Model Male Protagonist was already a tired cliche. Media companies can’t imagine anything besides hyper-individualistic greed as a motivation for action, so most protagonists act out of “I am dissatisfied with my situation, so I will go take what I want” or “Somebody took something from me, so I will go get it back and/or get revenge on those who took it from me.” The protagonists are rarely motivated by selfless reasons, and rarely seek out companionship unless it fulfills a specific function in their mission. It’s even rarer for them to use “soft power” or anything other than blunt force and violence to achieve their goals. I find it incredibly cynical and, quite frankly, boring to watch. I suppose that for people who experience society through the lens of cable news and online discourse, that approach might seem “realistic,” but we find plenty of people acting selflessly in real life, in the real world, and I’d rather hear about those people.

This brings to mind a quote from Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: "There is no good or evil. There is only power, and those who are too weak to seek it". A brilliant line from a villain, that should never be applicable to a hero.

buttercup didnt need to be more manly, she needed to show us that Wesley found more to value than her looks. Loyalty, empathy, and intellect are all virtues she possessed yet weren't well fleshed out like his bravery.

Hollywood didn't make films 'for men' when it was male dominated. They understood that some groups have marked and predictable preferences. So they made romance, drama and romantic comedies understanding who would like them, and they made action, war and violent movies with full understanding of who would enjoy them. The fact that action movies outshone most other genres at the box office is not an indication of a top-down decision 'made by men' but rather a reflection of who in the population was more willing to pay for movies suiting their tastes.

Thank you for this channel and for saying what I have been saying and believing for AGES! I've been wanting female main characters treated with the same care and influence to the plot as male characters since I was a teenager (two decades ago now T_T) and when we finally get our "feminist" movies...they got the "female main character" right, but not the "treated with the same care" part and it's just frustrating at this point. I'm just glad I am not the only person noticing this issue.

Fairy Godmothers: "We can't interfere!" Also Fairy Godmothers: "Here's a +5 sword of dragon-slaying."

"With great power comes great responsibility"

This is a great Video. This brings back painful memories which i have been enduring. My relationship of 5 years ended 3 months ago. The love of my life decided to leave me, I really love her so much I can’t stop thinking about her, I’ve tried my very best to get her back in my life, but to no avail, I’m frustrated, I don’t see my life with anyone else. I’ve done my best to get rid of the thoughts of her, but I can’t, I don’t know why I’m saying this here, I really miss her and just can’t stop thinking about her.

Hey, Sam. Great video, but i have to disagree about one thing. Superman is not a boring character. He is a good man, just trying to do good in the world. The character has just had some bad writers for him. A great example to watch is Superman vs The Elite.

One thing I really like about the HTTYD trilogy is that Astrid is still "strong", but she loves Hiccup, and the trilogy told a beautiful love story. Astrid was not just "I'm tough", which is sadly all her voice actress saw in the character. She never said, "I like how Astrid is strong but still is Hiccup's love interest." It was always, "I like how Astrid isn't just the prize to be won."

"My series posits an agreement but reworking of the theme that power corrupts. Rather, we see that power attracts the corruptible." - Frank Herbert, author of Dune

So true, one bible verse comes to mind: "There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." That is the type of story people like - one of self-sacrifice in which the protagonist is willing to have great courage and perseverance, not for their own gain, but for the good of those they love. And paradoxically, living like that will usually bring way more peace and contentment than just living to gain power and wealth for selfish reasons alone. "Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life."

The combined voice over of "the rich and powerful" cut with Jar Jar Binks as a senator killed me XD Also, the trend of recent stories focusing on "the victim deserves to seize power in whatever way they can to be triumphant and we are supposed to sympathize with them regardless of their actions" is an idea that's been bouncing around in my head lately that I haven't been able to articulate, and you nailed it, so thank you!

I liked this video and made good points. If I had to make a criticism, and I will, it's that I think it should be explicitly clarified that "love" being used in this context is more than just romantic feelings.

I remember in the Inazuma Eleven anime when Endou Mamoru mastered the 'Fist of Justice' technique. Endou thought by learning the technique he would be able to stop any football shot (yes its a football anime), but this was never its purpose. The purpose of the technique was to continuously evolve, growing stronger and stronger every time it was performed. That's why the technique is also described with 'The ultimate technique has no completion'. Endou derived that this doesn't mean the technique is not completed, but that the ultimate technique was a process, not a state of being. I think this is why uncle Iroh says: 'Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source.' I think when you see yourself as perfect, you will eventually hit a roadblock because you aren't open to the idea of learning or becoming a better person. This roadblock will make you feel ashamed of yourself, which is why: 'true humility is the only antidote to shame.'

There were no noncombatants on the Death Star. They were all wearing military uniforms. The Death Star was like a contemporary aircraft carrier, which typically has a complement of 5,000 sailors, only 75 of whom actually fly airplanes. The other 4,925 are doing work as mundane as cooking, doing laundry, and cleaning toilets...but in war, they are all justly under attack by the enemy. _They are all drawing combat duty pay._ If you are the pilot who takes out an entire aircraft carrier, you nation will award you with a medal, no moral questions asked.

Pausing for a moment to comment on the Princess Bride. A lot of her character did not make it from the book to the screen, which is a real shame. In the book, Princess Buttercup was the one that got them out of the palace at the end when guards blocked the way. When they tried to stop the party leaving, Buttercup commanded them to let then pass, and when they hesitated, she stood up in her saddle and yelled "I AM THE QUEEN!" Buttercup in the book is mostly the same, but she does have a little autonomy.

Definitely don't understand why it's being poised to young girls as some sort of binary choice... "be a girl boss OR find a boy and get married. You can't have both." Um, why the heck not? I have Both. And plenty of other successful and happy women do too. Ps, loved the sneaky Gustav Holst piece creeping in at the end.....gorgeous composition!

While I couldn’t agree more with the core messages of this video. I would like to propose two ideas that I think can add to the discussion. 1: Power doesn’t corrupt, it enables. 2: Power doesn’t corrupt, weakness does. Both ideas lay the source of corruption/evil/villainy at the feet of the power seeker, not power itself. An individual’s character flaws were always there before they came into power, attaining power may have caused them to reveal themselves, but it did not create those flaws. Villains use what power they have to do terrible things, great or small, typically for self-serving purposes. Weakness of character is what drives villainy, thus weakness corrupts. Contrastingly, Heroes use what power they have in service of others. Strength of character allows them to resist all manner of temptation that power potentially allows them to indulge in. Any thoughts?

Avatar : The Last Airbender until today still the best show with female characters, Katara, Toph, Sukki, Azula, Mai, Ty Lee, Princess Yue, Kioshy...

It is a blatant lie whenever someone says: "The message of the Barbie movie is that both patriarchy and matriarchy are bad!" The Barbie movie tries to have its cake and eat it too. The Kens start off as oppressed second-class citizens, pining after Barbies because that's how their society is structured. They're particularly ignorant and vapid, and why wouldn't they be? They don't have the opportunities or the social structure that permits them to better themselves. But then, when Ken sees patriarchy at work in the human world, he sees an opportunity to better his situation, and the situation of all the Kens. Yes, it comes at the cost of oppressing the Barbies, but let's be honest, how much can we really blame him? Anyone kept under the thumb of a tyranny is going to dream of overthrowing that tyranny, and subjecting those tyrants to the same treatment. It doesn't make it right, but it makes sense. But the movie then frames this as "uh-oh, the Kens brought patriarchy to the Barbie world, how could they?? All of our favorite girlbosses are being oppressed." So Barbie and her acolytes overthrow the Ken tyranny, and...what do they learn? They give the Kens some scraps of freedom and autonomy to convince them that they got a good deal, but did they? Hell, the narrator literally says "eventually, the Kens have as much power as women do in the human world", or whatever. And yet, aren't we supposed to be disgusted by the amount of "power" that women currently hold, and the manner in which they are treated? This whole plot wants us to laugh at how stupid and silly the Kens are, then get upset that they oppress our beloved Barbies, and finally for us to say "oh look, the Barbies were good all along, because they let the Kens hold onto some scraps of autonomy." It's a snarky little revenge story, where they can chuckle and say "oh those silly little Kens -- sure, they get some power in due time...but only enough to match that of women in the human world. Take that, Kens!"

hey! been around since around 100 subs, back when Obi-Wan first came out. Great to see how far this channels come in such a short time!

😭 Frodo and Sam are both the heroes of the story, not Sam alone. Neither could have gone far without the other. It hurts that people always put them into some manner of hierarchy.

Never heard of The Terminal List before. Sounds like The Punisher for people who wear the shirt like a badge of pride but don’t understand what the character stands for. Great video!

For some aspects, wanting some power can be good. Imagine the hero of a story, his village is being attacked by monsters. I would say wanting that power can be good, the power to defend others. But as the hero doesn’t have it yet, they want it. Its the craving of massive amounts of power, mostly over others, that is bad. At least, thats a take i have.

The issue is they cant just make powerful female characters without degrading the male characters. Arnold wasnt stronger in terminator because Sarah Connor was weak.

3:39 he is NOT A BORING CHARACTER MY GOOD MAN!

I am a complete feminist, and yet I could not figure out why this type of "power" talk (like how Rachel Zegler put it) wasn't sitting right with me. Thank you for articulating it so well!

Highly recommend actually reading the Terminal List by Jack Carr, theres a lot of inner monologue and nuance that is lost in the TV adaptation.

I don't mind strong female characters. And not to sound sexist but boy, the modern ones are terrible because of their activism, making them bitter and angry and have the "I don't need a man or romance and my career comes first" attitude and never got hurt emotionally or physically. It's so unappealing to me. And another thing, there is nothing wrong with giving a female character some romance which Rachel Zegler despises for Snow White. One of my favorite movies, The Mummy with Branden Fraser is a good example of why love can make people stronger. That film is a terrific swash-buckling horror adventure movie and I would never get tired of. It has a manly hero named Rick, a classy dame named Evey, a comedic sidekick, an evil villain all together in this wonderfully constructed story. And there is this amazing romance between Rick and Evey and how their love for each other makes them stronger. Hollywood movies today, especially in action and female-centered films, doesn't want romance. They are afraid to put in their movies, as if it has no place in modern day story-telling. Hell, almost every action movie I've seen doesn't even show people "kissing" as much. I feel like Hollywood today sees romance as a weakness to men and women. Not to me, it doesn't. There is strength in two people loving each other. Hollywood needs to put love and romance back. Oh yeah, and it sucks that villains can't be villains anymore. Hollywood has to make them sympathetic, misunderstood and making people pity them. Why? Can't villains just be bad because they are evil? Why do they make these villain stories where you have to make them look like the good guy? Would you pity the Nazis or Hitler? Of course, you wouldn't. They are horrible human beings and making a story that makes them look like good guys is horrible.

Reminds me of the song "Cost of the Crown". Makes frequent association to a queen being like a mother. There are few things so opposite to this trend of selfishness as morherhood.

modern writers confuse theyre own ideas of strength... being a bully, with what real strength of character is, its so easy to fall into your oen ego your own desires and sel fimportance, to be greedy and vengful and to put others down to uplift yourself, but none of that is strength, its weakness, strength is the ability to push past your own ego and needs to give somehting for others, its so easy to submit to your own anger but restraint takes real strength, the modern strong waman trope is a bully, a tyrant unworthy of theyre physcal or social power becuase they abuse it. just like the tyrant men of history they hate so much... funny... for all theyre hate of theyre idea of toxic men... they wasted little time in becoming just like them.

Alright we getting canceled with this one

Wrong about Superman, but great video.

Okay I can't be the only one whose heart didn't melt and how he used the music from Bluey's "Sleepytime" episode, right?

This was an extremely excellent video essay. Well done, sir.

9:08 Fun fact: it was originally planned to have the prince be kidnapped by the Queen and then he'd break out to find Snow White. This was scrapped due to difficulty animating the prince and then later used for Prince Philip.

The "moral ambiguity" of Luke Skywalker blowing up the Death Star and killing many none combatants is not a new or post modern concept. That is something that has been touched upon in Star Wars media long before Disney's acquisition of the brand. I'm sure that nobody believes that Luke is in the wrong for what he did, but it certainly isn't a decision that came without tremendous loss and consequences not related to Luke or his journey.

I have a quick random question have you seen Furiosa? I believe it is one of the gold standards of raw modern writing. Anyway the problem of power that it should ideally be given to those who don't care for it but that is contradictory: how would you single out that someone when they usually avoid that very thing? Someone so self sacrificing especially when their tenancy is to trade power for hope? You can't unless by extreme chance. Real role models are a rare commodity to find which is why we should treasure them. Oh and about oppression, I do agree it seems people are becoming more confused on who the "evil enemies" truly are and when you are that confused, how will anything be done? Pretty much as you've said before Theoden opposing Saruman.

No one went after Gal Gadot because...she obviously does NOT care about this movie. She doesn't. She's just doing it for a few bucks.

The pursuit of power is exhausting.

Samwise did it again, another masterpiece. Very well said dude!

Really enjoying this kind of content you have been recently doing, please keep em coming .

Didn't watch the Barbie movie, but I disagree about the supreme court thing. The Kens wanting one of them on it isn't a male/female thing. As absurd as it is, the Kens and Barbies aren't just male and female, they're distinct political factions. Having the court be all-barbie isn't just stacking the court with women, its giving one political party 100% control of the supreme court.

It's a really strange moment we're in. A lot of these "girlboss" type movies are either stale or irritating to watch, and I have to wonder, who are these movies being made for? When people called for more inclusion in movies, I don't think this is what they had in mind. The "girlboss" trope hinders character development for the sake of "empowerment." The reason for inclusion should be beyond surface level; it should present women, people of other races, etc as three dimensional who are as human as anyone else. I wish Disney and the rest of Hollywood could stop using this empty character trope.

if hollywood were astute, they'd take notice of the rise in K-dramas where romance is the highest watched variety. People want stories about love in all forms: romantic, filial, platonic, ect. . It's seldom about a power-struggle, and more often about the burden of power/wealth (usually on the love interest) because the character lacks meaningful connections with others

Hiroshima and Nagasaki being bombed with nuclear fire killed tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands. The estimated MINIMUM casualties for a land invasion of Japan were 1,000,000 people.

So Terminalist is just The Punisher, but... worse??? I mean things that are critisized in Terminalist are things that The Punisher has, sometimes

I still stick to the point made by Nietzsche, as it also leads to a lot of super heroes that there are plenty who are powerful but that it's turning away temptation and pettiness that their power is used to do good for the sake of others. It's not power that corrupts, it's weakness; those who give in to temptations or make their ambitions to destroy others. Power can for sure tempt those who hold it, but it's the corruption of those weakest to dark desire that seek to claim power; a process I've even beared witness in others.

One of the best videos I’ve ever watched on KZfaq. Keep up the great content

Thank you for this video. It is great (as always), but it is particularly meaningful to me. I am writing a book that deals in many similar themes to this with the main character, but I've always struggled to put it (and the other themes) into words, since they are the higher level ideas rising out of the base text. But this video does it perfectly; it's about the lust for power particularly as a reparation for past victimhood and the simple fact that that is evil.

holy fuck what a banger of a video. really encapsulated all of my disjointed feelings about hollywood and stories over the last 10 years into one cohesive video. thank you master samwise once again

Gotta disagree about the Terminal List. He gets diagnosed with a terminal brain condition, and is basically a dead man walking, on top of being disconnected from reality due to the symptoms of his tumor. After his family's death, he's just dragging the perpetrators down with him in an overly elaborate and dramatic suicide. The same could be said for his friend, who outright knew he would find out and helped him anyway after his family was killed. There is nothing good about it aside from him actually somehow "minimizing" collateral damage. The best revenge stories are usually like that, where the protagonists aren't automatically good, just not as bad as the antagonists. Yes the language is intentional. Comparisons between the two make a revenge story better, imo. I am happy you mentioned the series to your audience, even if there's a heavy spoiler in there. C'est la vie.

Nice take on power

This video was 😗👌 Staying tuned for sure.

This feels like a Greg Owen video, and I like that.

The point of Superman is not Superman anymore than the point of Batman is Batman. Marvel and DC have a fundamental different philosophy on how to define their heroes. Marvel defines their heroes by internal struggles. DC defines their heroes by external struggles. Superman isn't interesting because he's Superman, he's interesting because of his villains. It's the interaction and power dynamic between Superman and Lex Luther along with the rest of his villains which makes Superman great. Lex's view of the world is diametrically opposed to the existence of Superman, and he's not exactly wrong in his thinking. Superman is everything Lex says he is. So to fight something as powerful as Superman is what sends Lex to the scale and scope of the crimes he commits. Superman is interesting because we have two separate yet equally powerful individuals, all be it in different areas, in moral opposition to each other. Not to mention the moral problem that in a way Superman creates Lex Luther, remember, Lex's moral stance on Superman isn't exactly wrong and an invalid viewpoint. Only the lengths Lex goes to to stand against Superman. In DC it's the villains who shape the heroes. All of the major villains define some aspect of them. To the point we can't even talk about Superman without his villains. Superman cannot exist as he does outside of the threats of his antagonists. DC has just done a HORRIBLE job of putting that dynamic with Superman to film since forever. They do a much better job with Batman. Superman as he exists in the comics could have been a way forward for Hollywood if they wanted the all powerful girl boss with no flaws. Two un-apologetically powerful characters who know exactly who they are in opposition to each other for a real moral reason. That would be interesting, that's why Superman is interesting. It's why Batman is interesting.

Power is like money. You will never accomplish anything without having a certain level of them. However if you want them just to have them your mindset is wrong. They are tools. A means to an end. They should never be the end itself.

Power reveals the character of those who wield it. That was said by the man who wrote "absolute power corrupts absolutely" at a later point in time. For example, George Washington could have been king, but he refused that power and helped set the foundation for a constitutional republic.

Like the problem with Disney movie Wish as the problem with forgetting the oldest human idea be careful what you wish for. Like how did they forget that.

The greatest "strong female character" - and possibly my favorite character in all of fiction - is Hildegarde von Mariendorf in Legend of the Galactic Heroes. She is not a soldier, or a badass, or even superior to the men around her in any aspect. But she is a woman in a patriarchal society in which women have no place in government or in the military or any position of power, and through her good sense, practicality and moral uprightness becomes the advisor to the *Galactic Emperor,* receives an honorary military rank (making her the only female in the armed forces) and is a major power player in crafting policy both domestic and international. She is *strong* based on the strength of her character, not her sex - the men around her acknowledge this and she is given responsibility to match her strength. The same show also gives us Frederica Greenhill and Jessica Edwards, both of whom are very strong female characters for similar reasons - the strength of the morals and intelligence and compassion is such that they become key figures in the galaxy's history, even though they're not military geniuses like Reinhard von Lohengramm or Yang Wenli or that greatest and most wily of Galactic Heroes: Fritz Joseph Bittenfeld. They're good people who use the strengths they have to change the world around them.

While not all movies have strong female characters, a lot of them do. Just because female characters aren't all female James Bond doesn't mean there aren't a LOT of older movies with female heroes and with plenty of agency. Even super old movies made by "the patriarchy" have strong FEMININE characters. We have just been conditioned by modern feminists that if a woman isn't doing 110% of the action that she doesn't have agency.

Modern heroes are written with the motivations of villains, because they are written BY villains.

21:24, “there is neither good nor evil. There is only power and those too weak to seek it”

Yes! Exactly!

Great video, this is pretty much the reason why I have been unable to watch anything made by hollywood with these shallow characters over the past 10 years or so. The second half of the video about power and the cost of justice really reminded me of that game I played, it's called Full Metal Demon Muramasa. It's amazing and it really tackles that paradox of doing evil for good. It has the highest quality of writing in the words used of any media I ever consumed, highly recommend!

This video is a such great inspiration.

They don't even write strong female characters. They write their own fantasies of being stronger and better than men in every way. Watching a story where every single men is weak, stupid, evil, or any combination of the three just for flawless female to shine is not inspiring, it's like watching someone playing on cheat mode.

The Girlboss Code: Peace is a lie, there is only hatred. Through hatred I gain strength. Through strength I gain power. Through power I gain victory. Through victory my chains are broken. The feminism shall free me.

My favorite line is in Book of Boba Fett "Jabba ruled with fear. I intend to rule with respect " 19:57 The Bane Trilogy was about Darth Bane. He clearly was a villain, and the protagonist. You did sympathize with him but he was clearly evil. And ironically, his apprentice was a strong female character

Another great video

This was such a great video

Best KZfaq channel 👍

Another great video Master Samwise! Love, empathy, and care for one another should drive a hero forward, not the thirst for power. True heroes stay true to their morals and ideals despite the hardships and challenges they face. That's what makes them heroes. A tragic past shouldn't be used to "justify" a hero's shortcomings while still casting them in a positive light. Power is just a means to an end; love for one another is the true end. We're all tired of seeing shallow, power-seeking characters portrayed as heroes in Hollywood these days! We want well-developed characters with genuine growth and depth!

Excellent video. This analysis really made me understand what I hate about modern storytelling.

Power doesn't corrupt, it just show you and others who you really are.

Great video. I agree. I hate how villains are now seen as sympathetic if they had a bad history. It doesnt matter. It's not who you are (or were). It's what you do that matters. And people like Wanda did terrible things.

Heros give of themselves, hold nothing back for themselves.

Its concerning that their morality excuses nearly all evil so long as the person doing evil faced a hardship for which they can claim victimhood status. Quite telling how they view the world.

I like where this is going

Sharing this video.

What is the music at the end?

Okay, let me ask you: Are there ANY modern Hollywood films that you think do give good empowering female leads? I for one can think of plenty.

First time watcher. Loved it. It’s like if current-day Steve from “Blue’s Clues” was inspired by Tim of “Hello, Future Me” and delivered all the great criticism of modern stories without sounding like a certain alcoholic Scotsman. Well done.

In regards to the Strong Female Character, it seems Hollywood has made it into a Not Like Other Girls Trope. In that our leading lady is different from the other people around them (and there better than them) for whatever reason that can labeled (marketed) as "feminist". Thus Galadriel is turned into a vitriol-spitting warrior to show that she is strong, capable, and determined, even though she was already all those things just without the armor and bad attitude and Tolkien's stories are just *not* the place to try and debate moral relativism. The most ironic thing is that as we become more obsessed with the the powerful and powerless, the oppressed and the oppressors, there is an absolute line in the sand drawn between the two with little to no nuance, but at the same time many of the main players of the story are morally ambiguous or at the very least self-serving and thus far more likely to be corrupted by power. There is no room in these kinds of stories to show how the abused can become the abuser (like ATAB The Puppet Master), no room to show the growth of someone from a dark place to the light, no room cast an ring into a volcano to save the world, there is only control and authority and thus there is no hope in these stories, and I can't imagine a more grim fate, even in stories, to be banished to live and be without hope. As Sir Terry Patchett said: "Let there be goblin hordes, let there be terrible environmental threats, let there be giant mutated slugs if you really must, but let there also be hope. It may be a grim, thin hope, an Arthurian sword at sunset, but let us know that we do not live in vain.”

You can learn a lot about a person by looking at the heroes they write. I see a lot of self-absorbed writers obsessed with power and attention.

To me, hollywood heard women's fight to put women in the spotlight once n awhile and Hollywood said "ugh fine" and created a formula that would sell, but it does not actually represent women in a fair light.

Brilliant as usual. When I watched the terminal list, I saw Chris Pratt's character as an anti-hero. It seemed that way in the books as well. I do agree we should not create heroes out of everyone. How would you say Luthen from Andor falls into this categorization? "I am condemned to use the tool of my enemy to defeat them."