Kusanagi wrote:I'm both amazed and delighted that Caleb is getting such hate. I've literally written murderers contemplating about rape who got more sympathy than him, or at least there weren't immediate calls for an ass kicking.
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I think I realized some of the more fundamental issues going on with Caleb . . . granted, a lot of that's been touched on in one way or another above.
But, specifically, there's a great deal of several themes/tropes that come to mind:
abuse of power,
power corrupts,
with power comes responsibility (yes, I know, derivative of the Spider-Man quote)
He almost falls into the supervillain category in that sense, but not quite the typical one necessarily.
On further reflection, I'm certainly reminded of Ozymandias of Watchman canon. (also an intensely unlikable character with "all that and more" . . . being "the real deal" and such . . . but intensely offputting in his smugness and cynicism -almost like more of an antihero, but without the typical mixed/dark sympathy typically felt towards those types -in that canon, Rorschach fits much better, both as an antihero and as a complex, dark, yet fundamentally sympathetic character)
I think it also kind of hits close to home just how close one can come to being like that . . . and how much power is really down to a person's own integrity of character and personality (both fundamental and developmental -as in family/social upbringing).
I never knew anyone similar to this growing up, no "super smart, talented, popular jerk" types in high school, but I knew the other end of that, and I don't mean the "meek geeky kid" either.
I had several friends (at least one a very long time one too, though not super close) who fit all of those qualities, but also managed to be fundamentally nice and good people: tall, good looking, outgoing, popular, smart, studious, talented, >4.0 GPA taking accelerated classes, captain of the football team AND on a swim-team outside school, or in another case, similar but female, the cheer captain (for a while at least) and accepted into Stanford straight out of high school.
Sure, there were jerks too, and decently smart popular jerks too, but the truly exceptional ones were all actually nice people.
Going a step further, I myself am not all that far from being in that same area, and, again, personality is the main distinction. (if I was more organized, had more focused ambition, better work ethic, no weird anxiety conflicts, less scattered and conflicted general interests, more interest in sports, more an interest in self-image, etc, I totally could have been that -in terms of physical and intellectual aptitude, it's all there . . . tall, smart, reasonably good looking, etc -more focus, more ambition, more drive, and general inclination towards such etc and I could have been the "tall, well-built, popular overachiever" type rather than "tall, but kind of chubby/flabby, average looking, smart, geeky, weird, reasonably likable intellectual kid with above average -but far from perfect- academic performance" -which I was absolutely OK with, I mean no regrets or resentments, but just speaking hypothetically here)
There's also my odd "not quite outgoing, but not quite introverted" aspect that makes it feel like I'm walking in bother worlds at times, so to speak. (weird, situation-specific, and kind of complex to get a handle on, but enough that I can kind of understand the points of view of both really outgoing and super shy/introverted types)
Oh, and of course, in that hypothetical, part of that personality difference also could include being a smug asshole if I had the inclination and upbringing for that on top of the ambition/drive/desire for achievement and/or status. (and I'll say this much, my parents were ANYTHING but the types to encourage that sort of "holier than thou" smug, entitled sort of behavior . . . respect, tolerance, humility, and compassion are really big things with both of them, so pretty much polar opposites to that)
Hell, both of them (parents) kind of fit the bill of that same "potential" too . . . which I guess makes sense for me ending up like I did (genetics and all). Though, my mom actually was more the popular types of sorts in high school and college (certainly not a smug jerk, especially being the eldest child often responsible for defending her 3 younger brothers from bullying).
Well, damn . . . I guess she's actually one of those sources of inspiration for my liking the whole "strong female persona" thing, well that and reinforced by some of the female friends I had growing up.
Huh, good thing I'm not super introverted and shy about sharing that sort of thing.
