Pirate Films Teach Kids About Good And Evil   by Melanie Dugan

in Family    (submitted 2012-01-06)

In a quest for some light distraction the other evening with my boys, we watched the second of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Dead Man's Chest. Being a children's comedy this was by no means an intellectual pursuit, however one of the scenes made me stop and question the depth to which I have previously engaged the more serious questions in life. In this scene, a foolish pirate named Ragetti, suggests that someone might choose to abandon our world in order to live an eternal life on the high seas due to an inability to understand the dichotomy of good and evil in our human condition.

Now for those that haven't seen the movie, the humour lies in the fact that only a fool would make such a statement. His comrades reply to his apparent idiocy (or is it naivety) with an astonished silence before quickly brushing the question off and resuming their comical antics.

However the root of this of the good and evil paradox in our human nature is perhaps the greatest question that has troubled mankind since we first began asking questions of our world. That it has been relegated to comic relief in children's movies got me thinking as to the degree to which we can even confront the existence of our so called good and evil nature in the 21st century.

A browse of the internet reveals there are very few real attempts to address this issue. For a tool that has revolutionised the way we can communicate our thoughts and ideas, its content appears to be more preoccupied with superficial distraction rather than any profound aspect to human life. I fear the overabundance of information on the latest gadgets, celebrity fashions and the like is contributing more to global apathy than to global enlightenment of our species.

In their defence, the various editors of Wikipedia have addressed this issue of good and evil, but even here I believe postmodern theory has deconstructed the real question to a point where its significance is seriously diluted. Furthermore, I'm afraid the pages addressing such questions are quite paltry compared to the pages devoted to iPads and other less profound subjects.

So without wishing to split hairs on different perceptions of "what is good?" and "what is evil?" I think we could agree that we live in a world where mankind has proven to be capable of the most unspeakable evil, and yet in turn, revealed a capacity for unconditional selflessness. In the past 12 months we have witnessed vicious regimes brutally oppress their people in order to cling to power; and mass murder in Norway. Yet we also have seen examples of extreme heroism such as the workers who controlled the meltdown at the Fukushima Nuclear plant who selflessly put the lives of their countryman ahead of their own. Closer to home, if we search our conscience would we not admit that we can see examples of both good and evil in our own natures.

Now it would be foolish to suggest that profound enlightenment on our good and evil nature is easily achievable. But it is important that the difficulty not so overwhelm us that we stop searching for the answer or even worse stop asking the question. In a world spiralling into chaos, racked with war, poverty and greed, surely now more than ever it is paramount to further our efforts to find understanding of our common human condition.

In having raised the issue, I must admit I would never have ordinarily pondered issues such as our good and evil nature of my own accord, but after coming across an organisation called the World Transformation Movement I realised these are the real questions we should be asking if we are to make any meaningful and lasting contribution to ending suffering in this world.

About the Author

Melanie Dugan's search for understanding was momentarily interrupted by the arrival of her two beautiful boys. While her journey continues to take her anywhere that is rational and interesting, she has recently been intrigued by the ideas of Australian biologist Jeremy Griffith (available at http://www.worldtransformation.com/good-vs-evil/). This somewhat philosophical piece about Pirates of the Caribbean was inspired by the essay titled Good Vs Evil.