Glorious Stories

I’ve noticed a fascinating phenomenon in the last few years–a bizarre and conflicting attitude in modern U.S. culture and probably elsewhere as well) regarding morality, virtue, and tolerance. There is what seems to me a bizarre contradiction in both the part of our society that consumes and discusses fictional media and the part that concerns itself with real-life social issues; this contradiction lies in the presence of extreme tolerance on one hand, and extreme judgment the other. For a while now I’ve considered making an observation on this phenomenon, and now seems as good a time as any–so in the following post, come along with me as I look into the symptoms of this strange phenomenon and offer thoughts on its cause and potential trajectory, as well as a proposed response from those of us who claim the name of Christ.

THE PHENOMENON

Virtuous Characters Only

A few years ago, while reading a serialized work of fantasy fiction (Made of Stardust), I made a comment appreciating the moral complexity of the main antagonist, Prince Erenel. The character had been shown to commit some villainous deeds, and was additionally presumed to be guilty of even more heinous deeds–though none of those were confirmed at the time. Simultaneously, he also demonstrated a surprising amount of compassion toward both his impoverished people and the main protagonist, whom he was pursuing with the intent to capture. The story hinted at an internal moral conflict for Erenel, and since his motivations were unclear, I found myself fascinated. I’ve always loved the villain-types who have attacks of conscience, or some nuance to their motivations that makes their choices understandable, even if they aren’t commendable.

The comment received more than 10,000 likes, which floored me (I normally just slide under the radar with my comments; I only make them to get them off my chest). However, it also received a lot of backlash. A significant number of readers couldn’t understand how I could enjoy a character who was guilty of what this character had (allegedly) done. I tried to explain that it was the duality of his character that appealed to me, and that I was curious to see what the author might do with his arc, and that my enjoyment did not mean that I thought he was an actively good person, but most of my detractors were convinced that I was propping up a villain as a saint, and that was that.

Well, so be it. I shrugged the matter off and laughed to myself… but it did get me thinking. When did we as fans lose the privilege of liking the villains? When I was a teenager, everyone in my circles was obsessed with Loki, and the Onceler (ugh, *shudder*), and Damon Salvadore, and Anakin Skywalker… you name it. It was more popular to like the villains than the heroes. Probably because the villains wore sexy leather pants, but we’ll leave that discussion for later.

Our bad-boy-love was usually with the understanding that we liked to dig into their odd psychology, or their twisted motivations. That deep down, we wanted to redeem them, or help them be better understood by their adversaries. “We can fix him!!” we gushed, while filling our Pinterest boards with fanart, fanfics, and headcanons that would make the best of us cringe to look back on now.

Now, apparently, it was… uncool to like bad guys?

People seemed to equate appreciating a morally objectionable character to being morally objectionable myself, and afterwards I saw the same phenomenon play out many more times, as real people of my own tastes were blasted for ‘supporting’ vile perpetrators of heinous evil–which is to say, fictional antagonists.

The shallow misunderstanding was odd enough in itself, but what really had me confused was the other side of the coin: the Cultural Demand for Tolerance.

Tolerance is God

For a long time now, the prevailing thought in modern culture has been to live and let live; an individual’s choices regarding their personal life must never be judged, scorned, ridiculed, or prevented by anyone else so long as it was not directly illegal–and in many instances, battles were fought to make even the illegal choices lawful and permissible.

Christians like myself are regularly blasted for being hyper-judgmental and toxic since our worldview insists that there are objective moral standards that people should universally respect. Morality is considered subjective, and therefore anyone who suggests that one moral law is better than another is considered toxic and dangerous.

I am very much aware that there has been a lot of harm done in the name of Christ by people who bear His name but do not demonstrate His fruits (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness). Complaints about this kind of behavior are perfectly legitimate and deserve to be addressed.

But more and more, it’s getting to be that this is not the complaint we are receiving. Rather, the very nature of our beliefs is so offensive to secular society that it has earned us nearly universal social scorn.

All of this is due to a desire for tolerance. Tolerance and the ability to accept and congratulate different ideologies, lifestyles, aesthetics, cultures, and ethnicities with equal celebration. This is upheld as the highest virtue in our society, and anyone who is unable to perfectly demonstrate it earns a reputation for being nefariously bigoted.

Considering this societal standard, I was frankly shocked by the number of people who could take issue with loving a morally complicated fictional character. How could we insist on tolerance and moral subjectivity in real life, yet completely lose it in fandoms?

THE HITCH

As I reflected on the contradictory attitudes I was witnessing, I began to notice another pattern; a twin set of smaller related phenomena which I believe are intrinsically connected to the first two.

Consider Them Canceled

The term cancel-culture has been thrown around so much it’s starting to hurt my ears, but I’m gonna talk about it just briefly.

I can’t quite pin down exactly when this started happening, but it is an incredibly common occurrence, to the point where I think it’s safe to say that canceling public figures, organizations, or media that has done something objectionable is considered a moral obligation by most of society.

If it’s bad, have nothing to do with it.

If this person has ever said anything offensive to a race, religion, orientation, or gender, have nothing to do with them.

If this company received funding from a group we hate, boycott it.

If it’s intolerant, don’t tolerate it.

Furthermore, this attitude of complete societal shutdown for anyone who offends the majority seems to be permanent. If you misstep and get called out on it, you are permanently labeled as scum to be avoided and derided at all costs.

No one is immune either. Actors get caught in a texting scandal and lose their careers, or say the wrong thing in an interview and lose half their fanbase. Politician’s youthful opinions are brought up and lose their constituents. Edgelord content creators are called to account for their insensitive jokes and bullied off of their platforms. Movies cast a controversial character in a positive light and are demonized before they hit the theaters. Left or Right, Conservative or Liberal, Christian or Non-Christian, Society makes it clear, “If you do not align, we will not tolerate your evil”.

There is no room for nuance; once you find yourself on the wrong side of the majority, you are dead in the water.

Glaze Over It, They Literally Did Nothing Wrong!

On the flipside, we have the second related phenomenon; complete villainy-denial.

A few years after noticing that we are apparently no longer allowed to appreciate villainous characters for their complexity, I noticed a huge number of bad-boy fangirls popping up again, but this time with a new twist: “My favorite character did nothing wrong!“

I hear the kids call this glazing. Characters like Sukuna or Toji from Jujutsu Kaisen, or Jinx and Silco from Arcane (sorry to anyone who loves the aforementioned characters) are designed in such a way that fans cannot deny their attraction and appreciation.

But unlike in the old days, when we Loki fangirls openly admitted that we were in love with a bad guy (and usually wanted to save him), these fans argue that their objectively awful favorites are good, actually. Misunderstood at worst, but many will make the case for their favorite antagonist being actively virtuous! They take the characters’ objectively bad traits and explain them away as well-meant, untrue, perfectly justified, or even admirable.

It’s almost laughable, the extremes to which some of my fellow fans will go to defend their love and appreciation for a bad guy. Rose-colored glasses doesn’t even begin to cover it. These fans even vilify and demonize the heroes to better support their love of their troubled favorites. It’s as if they have to believe that their beloved characters are good, because if the character is bad… so is the fan.

And therein lies the hitch.

The Connection

In a society where tolerance is god but a single misstep can permanently blacklist you, appreciating moral complexity is a dangerous game, and therefore glazing is safer. One must insist on one’s own virtue, and never be caught being anything less than perfect lest they earn the ire of the majority.

This is a much, much bigger mess than I can sort out in a single blogpost, but in a nutshell, this is it: When inconsistent morality is enforced without mercy by an imperfect majority, nuance is impossible.

Whether we’re talking fiction or real life, this is what happens: real personal faults are glazed over for survival, and the infractions of others become grounds for instant condemnation.

So what is our response? How can a person exist within such a polarized, contradictory, and inconsistent cultural standard? We who bear the name of Christ and seek to embody His principles, how do we approach this bizarre double standard with any kind of effectiveness?

The Response

Irony of Tolerance

Though we as Christians have many times been accused of intolerance and judgmentalism, the times are shifting in such a way that we are soon going to be far more tolerant than our secular counterparts.

These days, committing sexual assault is one of the fastest was to assure that your name is mud and you are forever condemned as the scum of humanity. And, while sexual assault is abjectly heinous, from a genuinely Christian point of view, the perpetrator is no less eligible for redemption through salvation in Christ than a kid who stole a pack of gum from the gas station once. Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” (Matthew 12:31)

That means, with the exception of an outright rejection of God’s Holy Spirit, every sin no matter how wretched can be forgiven. Every person, no matter how evil, can be saved. That is a very hard pill to swallow when we consider the monsters this world has known–yet it is vital that we accept and embody this principle, for there is not a single one of us who has not, at some point in our life, offended the supremely holy standards of God and earned a just condemnation. “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

Jesus said, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” We have an obligation to afford mercy to those who do wrong.

There is, of course, a need for justice to be done and the law to be upheld, and I fully support that reality. It is good that wickedness should be punished. But that still does not absolve us of our obligation to offer mercy in such measure as is possible with us. For every day, if you are in Christ, you receive the same mercy. God renews his mercies for us each morning, and thank heaven He does.

Right now, in our hot-tempered society, the constant controversies and the threat of public decimation can make a person feel like they’re walking on eggshells–or cause us to develop the same vicious, black-and-white, cutthroat attitude toward those we deem to be against us. But when it comes down to it, Christianity’s ‘judgmental, intolerant, toxic’ culture will turn out to be infinitely more gracious and forgiving than the society that claims Tolerance as god; for because of Christ’s forgiveness, we can afford to give a second chance to people who don’t deserve it.

Now. Does this mean it’s good for a Christian person to glaze their favorite ficitonal villain and excuse every wrong they’ve done, and idolize their toxic behavior?

Nah.

But does it mean we can’t appreciate the nuanced characterization of flawed and complicated characters whom we wish we could redeem?

I’d say no again. I’d say that such appreciation regarding fictional villains and antagonists demonstrates a capacity for compassion and understanding that is, at its root, Christlike.

God knows the end from the beginning. When Jesus, the Word of God, created the world, there was not a sin He did not know we would commit. When He humbled Himself in human form and allowed Himself to be unjustly tortured and executed, He knew full well how each of us would disgrace ourselves and fail to match His glory.

And He also saw the qualities he etched within us; the remnants of holiness glimmering in the ashes of our sinful nature, left over from the fact that we are all created in the Image of God. Jesus looked on us in our complicated, shameful, sinful state and said, “I love you so dearly that I will give Myself for you and make a way for you to be forgiven.”

“For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

IN CLOSING

In our bizarre, contradictory culture, tensions are high and they will continue to be so long as this double-standard of moral subjectivity and toxic tolerance persists. But the ability to love an individual despite their faults is a glimpse of Godly love; a glimmer of heaven on earth.

If appreciating a flawed fictional character helps develop that quality, go for it and more power to you. Don’t listen to the haters.

But also don’t glaze that character’s faults. That’s just silly, and it hardly gives the character or their creator the respect they deserve for their complexity.

And above all, do not be dragged into the compelling fervor of the majority’s rage; moral indignation falls short of the true glory of God. Mercy, grace, and justice are the qualities to which He calls His people.

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