Assignment 3: Come to the dark side, Luke--Amir Abou-Jaoude

The great German Romantic composer Richard Wagner was a conceited, egotistical maniac by most accounts. He was a vicious anti-Semite, and his numerous affairs have been the subject of many books. Wagner had children out of wedlock, turned his back on those who admired him, and spent ludicrous amounts of money on meaningless luxuries. He celebrated his own genius while condemning the talents of others. He discounted the innovations of all the musical geniuses that came before him, positioning himself as the foremost composer of his time.

If Wagner was so deficient in character, why are we still listening to his music? Why are his operas performed around the globe, and why do historians write a plethora of books on his incalculable influence?

Simply put, his music is beautiful.

Which category does Wagner fall into? Is he a paragon of absolute good or absolute evil? Or does he fall into the gray area straddling the two?

If I am writing a film, absolute good and evil are attractive. Let's say that I am screenwriting a sequel to Star Wars. I have two hours to tell the story of an epic battle that sweeps through the galaxy. This is a very short amount of time. Therefore, I will pick Luke Skywalker to represent virtue and good, while Darth Vader will symbolize immorality and corruption. In such a short amount of time, I cannot explore Luke Skywalker's many motivations to destroy the Death Star. Furthermore, my audience does not want to hear of Skywalker's nuanced ambitions. This is a popcorn movie, and it's more fun if I can identify one side as just and the other as unjust. The audience appreciates the contrast between the two sides. I present the conflict as one-dimensional, because I have to stay inside the limits of a two-hour, summer popcorn movie.

The truth is not always this clear-cut. Hitler and Mussolini and organizations such as Al-Qaeda and, more recently, ISIS represent evil. However, I do not believe it is fair to contrast extreme examples like these with smaller situations, such as that of Leah Kleppinger. When studying historical figures or even assessing the morality of a modern-day action, it is tempting to simplify what actually happened. To do this is to overlook the complex nature of reality.

I do not believe in absolute good and evil. That would mean that I believe in the gray area between the two. However, this gray area is not just one shade of gray. Rather, there are a multitude of gray tints in the region. I feel that the truth and motivations behind people's actions are often complicated and nuanced. These actions cannot be simplified into good, evil, or in-between. We must look at the whole, messy situation before making a judgment.

President Truman made the decision to drop atomic bombs on the Japanese port cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Had the Japanese not surrendered, a third atomic bomb would have been dropped on Tokyo. In making this choice, Truman was ordering the deaths of thousands of Japanese civilians. This may make him evil, as evil as the Japanese generals that ordered the attack on Pearl Harbor. Yet, we know that Truman's actions could also be identified as "good." By choosing to drop the bombs, he allowed for a quick end to the war, and averted much more death and fighting. The fact remains, however, that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were devastated for years after the war. Truman's decision is neither good or bad. It is extremely complex.

I will return to Wagner. It is possible to acknowledge the Wagner was a conceited megalomanic, an anti-Semite, and a philanderer. However, one can still appreciate his music. To truly understand Wagner as a human being, one has to look at both sides of his personality. On one hand, he was a horrible, "evil" person. On the other hand, he was the composer of some of the greatest melodies of all time. Wagner's contributions to music do not necessarily make him "good," but they allow us to examine Wagner as both a person and an artist.

I would bet that summer popcorn movies about Richard Wagner and the decision to drop the atomic bombs are not forthcoming. To me, these examples represent the large area beyond good and evil. These situations defy Luke Skywalker versus Darth Vader. They lie in the vast nuances of gray.