Login
An excerpt from the 1983 Canadian animated film Rock and Rule.
-
Could serve as a nice little daily mind trip, but this scene in particular captured my imagination because of the interesting moral implication of this conversation between minion and villain.
-
This is a conversation between a minion of the vile Mok (the drug addled rockstar in the chair) and his employer takes place close to the end of the film.
-
Why did I post this? First off, I'm a fan of obscure and classic animation and Rock and Rule is notable as Canda's first animated feature film. But also I've been concerned recently about the lack of morality in place of relativism in film. It always seems to me that the heroes are the ones who compromise their original views, or grow to accept good and evil as the same thing in modern stories. Oddly enough, the weird little almost forgotten feature has one of the most interesting arguments against relativism I've seen ever. Here its the villain who claims this neutral stance on morality, as well as being the one who denounces beliefs. Not enough in recent film illustrate this dangerous downward slide of moral relativism. It's only the next logical step to worship and do evil as soon as you declare it to be the same as good. Likewise, denouncing all beliefs, usually leads to the acceptance of evil beliefs. This kind of villain, the most realistic kind, is never shown anymore. The enemy is all modern Hollywood films is the villain driven to murder and mayhem due to money or power, but never the kind of sheer pragmatism that has always led men to evil. Consider though how in this scene Mok uses this 'hip' relativism and evolutionism as a system of control, to convince his conscience troubled assistant to do things against his beliefs. Maybe relativism is not the great freedom Hollywood portrays it as, but a way that evil leaders can control others and make them do evil in turn?
-
So, this small movie, a box office bomb, and almost completely forgotten still I think takes a more interesting and realistic stance on the causes of evil then many films before it or since.
-
Enjoy the classic animation, maybe look up the movie for an odd little nostalgic trip (emphasis on trip) and in the future perhaps consider the implications of this scene.
Does the belief that good and evil are the same, that people should choose their own beliefs, perhaps lead to evil itself?
-
I'm probably reading WAY too much into this, but the issue of flagging morality in the media continues to worry me.
-
Could serve as a nice little daily mind trip, but this scene in particular captured my imagination because of the interesting moral implication of this conversation between minion and villain.
-
This is a conversation between a minion of the vile Mok (the drug addled rockstar in the chair) and his employer takes place close to the end of the film.
-
Why did I post this? First off, I'm a fan of obscure and classic animation and Rock and Rule is notable as Canda's first animated feature film. But also I've been concerned recently about the lack of morality in place of relativism in film. It always seems to me that the heroes are the ones who compromise their original views, or grow to accept good and evil as the same thing in modern stories. Oddly enough, the weird little almost forgotten feature has one of the most interesting arguments against relativism I've seen ever. Here its the villain who claims this neutral stance on morality, as well as being the one who denounces beliefs. Not enough in recent film illustrate this dangerous downward slide of moral relativism. It's only the next logical step to worship and do evil as soon as you declare it to be the same as good. Likewise, denouncing all beliefs, usually leads to the acceptance of evil beliefs. This kind of villain, the most realistic kind, is never shown anymore. The enemy is all modern Hollywood films is the villain driven to murder and mayhem due to money or power, but never the kind of sheer pragmatism that has always led men to evil. Consider though how in this scene Mok uses this 'hip' relativism and evolutionism as a system of control, to convince his conscience troubled assistant to do things against his beliefs. Maybe relativism is not the great freedom Hollywood portrays it as, but a way that evil leaders can control others and make them do evil in turn?
-
So, this small movie, a box office bomb, and almost completely forgotten still I think takes a more interesting and realistic stance on the causes of evil then many films before it or since.
-
Enjoy the classic animation, maybe look up the movie for an odd little nostalgic trip (emphasis on trip) and in the future perhaps consider the implications of this scene.
Does the belief that good and evil are the same, that people should choose their own beliefs, perhaps lead to evil itself?
-
I'm probably reading WAY too much into this, but the issue of flagging morality in the media continues to worry me.