(B01C21) Chapter 21: Heroes and Villains

Image: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (movie)

When Pigments Fly

“THE PROGRAM FOR THIS EVENING IS NOT NEW. YOU'VE SEEN THIS ENTERTAINMENT THROUGH AND THROUGH. YOU'VE SEEN YOUR BIRTH, YOUR LIFE AND DEATH. YOU MIGHT RECALL ALL OF THE REST. DID YOU HAVE A GOOD WORLD WHEN YOU DIED? ENOUGH TO BASE A MOVIE ON?” – “THE MOVIE” BY JIM MORRISON

It didn't take long for me to move from black and white shows on Nickelodeon to movies. The more I understood the interpersonal dynamics of various types of relationships, I better understood what it meant to communicate with and understand other living beings—from dogs to old men. Behind each one of their differences was the same light that was within everyone I had met before. However, as I was often saddened by the troubles that many of them faced in each of the television shows I watched, I wondered what it would be like if I had learned from all of their mistakes. I wondered what it would be like if I had created a person who had already learned the lessons that these characters had tripped over again and again.

After watching enough of television, I soon realized that the shows themselves would probably never exist if any of these characters had solved their core issue. Yet, no matter how many times they resolved their issues at the end of the episode, they seemed to have forgotten the next day. Without fail, each of them would return to their ignorance and eventually create yet another situation that would eventually develop into conflict, trouble, or strife.

When I started watching movies, I was immediately hooked. Not only were the stories much longer, but it showed me how the characters themselves were able to solve their problems by the end of the film. I was intrigued at the number of different ways that they were able to actually solve their problems instead of ignoring what they learned, only to perpetuate their issues that caused so much conflict. Movies didn't just seem to solve this problem, they also explained how each character was “built” from their environments. Each character was, of course, different. And yet, so many elements seemed to be similar. Behind these different details was a pattern for each and every hero or main character.

I was dazzled by the mid-1980's special effects, specifically in the science fiction films. These movies not only went beyond the boundaries of the black and white television shows from the 1950's, but they also challenged my imagination in the same way that my computer games had done. None of them were at all similar. Since I wasn't able to quickly suss out the consistencies, I never really got bored and my attention was held for much longer. It was only after I was able to identify the repeating patterns in things, I would just lose interest and move onto the next thing.

Sandwiching an Open-Faced Hero

“IF YOU WANT TO BE A HERO, WELL JUST FOLLOW ME.” – “WORKING CLASS HERO” BY JOHN LENNON

Though movies had many consistencies as they related to the development of the heroes or main characters, each one of them had displayed a completely unique expression of their moral coding. This coding was similar to the main character's programming code in my computer games. The more I was able to define the IF, THEN, ELSE statements of each character, the more comfortable I felt to emulate them in my own life. The closer I was able to emulate these models of character, the more I could feel them work through me. Empowered by the belief that I had the same powers and abilities, I saw myself like my own personal hero.

In a sense, building instructions on how to make myself into a hero was very similar to how I was expected to tell a computer how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Every single aspect of their personality had to be deconstructed in a such a way that I could find all of the base definitions and catalysts that triggered each and every aspect of their character/code. Underneath the details that were portrayed on screen was a complex matrix of rules and patterns. So many of these heroes were displayed in such a sense of purity that I could very easily predict what they would do in just about any situation. Not only did they display this consistency of integrity when they were around other people, but they did even when they were alone. This showed me that what made a hero was to be consistent—whether people are watching you or not.

Each one of these main characters had endured something in their past that caused them to become who they were in the movie. They not only learned from their previous mistakes, but by the end of the movie they were able to use their unfortunate situations in a way that they were able to overcome the problems that arose. If they had never encountered these difficulties, the movie would not have ended the way it did and they may not have been able to solve bigger issues. Each and every “arc” seemed to be perfect in how it not only defined each character, but also empowered them to grow into their own personal hero. Not only were they able to help themselves find a resolution, but they could also help the ones they loved. This made me want to be a hero too—all of them.

“AND THE SHAME WAS ON THE OTHER SIDE. OH, WE CAN BEAT THEM FOR EVER AND EVER. THEN WE COULD BE HEROES, JUST FOR ONE DAY.” – “HEROES” BY DAVID BOWIE

Movies, of course, don't only have heroes. Many of them—specifically in the 1980's—had a clearly defined villain. Both the hero and villain had undergone difficulties in their past; both were shaped by their own personal history. The difference between the hero and the villain was how they perceived their previous issues. For the most part, each hero had used their past issues to improve themselves so they could prevent or protect the ones they loved from ever experiencing the same woes they had to endure. The villains seemed to blame other people—or the entire world—for victimizing them in their past. Instead of using these clarifying catalysts for good, they used it as an excuse to perpetuate the pain in the rest of the world.

Each of these foils had been given a certain energy to incite their abilities to make an impact on the world around them. While one character used their challenges as a motivator to make the world a better place, the foiled villain would attempt to bring others down to the place where they were. Each of them wanted to be surrounded by those with a similar perspective of the world. What made them different is that one of them was willing to grow and change, the other sought to spite the world and bring misery, feeling entitled to revenge.

Tin-Foiled Hate

“FEARLESSLY, THE IDIOT FACED THE CROWD, SMILING. MERCILESS, THE MAGISTRATE TURNS 'ROUND, FROWNING. AND WHO'S THE FOOL WHO WEARS THE CROWN? GO DOWN IN YOUR OWN WAY. AND EVERY DAY IS THE RIGHT DAY.” – “FEARLESS” BY PINK FLOYD

When we are jealous and cannot take responsibility for our actions, we can either accept it and change or we can attempt to force the entire world to suffer so that we don't feel so alone. Instead of just making the necessary changes in our code and moving forward with these improvements, so many of us, by attempting to play the victim, can get stuck trying to force others to take responsibility for us by attempting to play the victim. However, one of the first things that I learned in movies is that the victims never become heroes—only villains. While both of these character foils have experienced things that they did or did not deserve, what made them different was who they wanted to be afterwards.

Even though the villains so desperately want to respect themselves, deep down they have no idea how to do so. This type of insecurity makes them resentful and vengeful on a world that—from their perspective—seems to always get everything they want. As a result, they will attempt to bring the world down, hoping that someone will eventually show them how to get out. In a sense, these villains are so frustrated by their own personal desperation that they break bad into making their pain normal so they never have to be vulnerable enough to confront their own fears.

Facing our fears and overcoming them is what makes a hero—if nothing else. Fearlessness is the only true superpower; every other ability is just a product of this emotional self-mastery. It truly doesn't matter if the story is about fantasy, science fiction, time travel, or everyday life. What gives us the energy to forge a hero archetype within ourselves is our unique experiences—traumas and passions. The crosses we carry are a veritable treasure chest, purposed specifically to see what—or who—we will make out of ourselves.

“NO REASON TO GET EXCITED. THE THIEF, HE KINDLY SPOKE. THERE ARE MANY HERE AMONG US WHO FEEL THAT LIFE IS BUT A JOKE. BUT YOU AND I, WE'VE BEEN THROUGH THAT. AND THIS IS NOT OUR FATE. SO LET US STOP TALKIN' FALSELY NOW. THE HOUR'S GETTING LATE.” – “ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER” BY BOB DYLAN

Perhaps the villains in all of these stories truly wanted to be better people, but their trauma made them hesitant to trust other people. In order to protect themselves, they put on a tough exterior or shut off their emotions. Without being open to others, they simultaneously cut themselves off from being able to model or emulate someone who could show them the light in their own darkness. The biggest fear that each of us faces on our way to self-mastery is our confrontation with vulnerability. Until we free ourselves into our full potential, we are indefinitely imprisoned by our own dharma (singular linear incarnation).

Facing traumas related to vulnerability can feel more dangerous than the destruction of the physical universe itself. This danger adequately mirrors the destruction of the non-physical universe. This non-physical universe is the source of all that is sacred to each of us: our innocence, our light, and our kingdom. When we are capable of living simultaneously in both our dharmic roles and in our infinite kingdoms, we will only then become active participants in our lives. As long as we believe that life happens to us and not for us, we will remain imprisoned within our own rational minds, subjugated to a single dharmic dimension. Once we shift our perspective from favor/preference to acceptance/forgiveness, we will be able to digest all situations to their raw form and then use them to manifest a greater conscious awareness.

Bucking Silver Bullets

“THIS IS THE CALL TO ALL THAT WISH TO BE FREE. FORGIVENESS IS REQUIRED TO END YOUR SLAVERY. CHALLENGE ALL THAT’S CONVENTIONAL. EXPAND ACROSS MULTI-DIMENSIONAL.” – “PROPHECY 13” BY JD STAHL

What created both the hero and the villain was not their problems, but how they chose to overcome them. Our greatest abuser is often the face staring back at us in the mirror. However, when we are unable to forgive ourselves for this personal abandonment or weakness to confront our fears, we turn outwards, imposing our will on the world as a means to fill a bottomless hole in our hearts. Instead of healing what is inside to create harmony with the environment, some attempt to change their environment to match the present level of suffering. This inability to conceive of change within the self is proof that the individual lacks self-forgiveness or a belief system that allows them to change their perspective—of themselves or the world in general.

Though some villains may eventually recognize this in themselves, there are others who seem to exist without the possibility of change or self-realization. Either way, these villains/foils are necessary for each and every hero to emerge and develop. Fortunately, our dharma will never require us to change anyone, only perform that which we feel driven to perform. The characters who refuse change are gifts, each of them a permanent force of negativity and repulsion, from which each of us may pull energy and convert it to its raw form. We can defeat these energy vampires with intuitive “silver bullets,” like how we can use the light of the moon to dispel darkness at night.

“IN THE NIGHT OF NIGHTS, IN THE DARKNESS, A SPARK AND A LIGHT YOU SHALL HOLD. A WONDERFUL TRAVELING CANDLE. AND A HEART MADE OF PURE GOLD. BLENDING THE GRAY INTO BRIGHT COLOR.” – “GODFATHER'S SONG” BY JD STAHL

Just as much as each character uses their environment to teach them who they want to be, we also require examples to guide us away from those who we don't want to be. Seeing things from this higher perspective is how we empower our intuition above duality. This allows us to see everything that happens in a way that it serves us, regardless of if we believe it to be favorable or not. Outside of duality, we can see all energy as equal. Even if some comes in positive charges and other arrives through negative charges, we only need shift our perspective to be able to convert either polarity into its raw form.

From the raw form, we can use everything to empower the hero-making machine inside of us all. This is the basis of unconditional love, the name we award to the internal spark of light within our heart's magnetic impulses. Even though our hearts are forced to remain behind bars (ribs) for our entire lives, it doesn't mean that we have to. In fact, we are empowered with the responsibility to keep our intuitive hearts open as a means to balance the opposing physical polarity. This blending of the physical and intuitive dimensions is the spiritual alchemy that empowers our clairvoyance.

“YOU HAVE CREATED THE ART. YOU HAVE DESIGNATED THIS HEART. NOW IT WAITS IN THIS CHAMBER FOR YOU TO SAVE HER. TURN FROM THOSE WHO TURN FROM YOUR STRANGER. THE WEIGHT OF THEIR SAKE WILL CLEAR ANY DANGER.” – “MANIFEST” BY JD STAHL

Every single day, each of us has a choice. Each of us has the capacity to either be heroes or villains. It doesn't matter if it takes 22 minutes, an hour and a half, or our entire lives. Every situation we encounter—whether we feel we deserved it or not—can help us make both of our universes (physical and non-physical) either better or worse. Every single day we make a conscious choice to either perpetuate the pain and suffering as entitled victims or overcome those difficulties as heroes, giving the world better examples of how to transmute darkness into light. Regardless of what life throws at us, the common denominator is US; our superpower is no greater than our self-mastery in the face of our greatest fears.

Whether we are in a fortress of solitude or on stage in front of millions of people, if we are able to remain true to ourselves in any situation—and do so without imposing will or claiming victimhood—then the part of the hero is ours—all of ours. Even if nobody else notices, it really won't matter—because we do, and that's more than enough. After all, most of these heroes have costumes or other secret identities, showing that one of their greatest abilities is not needing to be worshipped for who (or what) they have created within themselves.

Open Your Eyes

JD Stahl (04/26/2018) Raise my head and open my eyes. The answers are written in plain sight. Look straight into fog and fear. When the hell did you get here? The chambers await your reception. This is gonna be the finest redemption. For I have dreamt of this advancement. Your labored days are ripe for enchantment. I’ve heard I speak of the other side, Spinning yarns where all truth hides. If you’ve even wondered about your selection. You’re already walked in my direction. See, I know of east and western views. From the south I have come for you. Don’t discount my smile for finer things. I had to burn before I got these wings. I live in constant contradiction. I’ve been blinded to all things fiction. The power you hold is pure belief. In the mirror you will find your thief. The fewest of things we know for sure Is that your pain is the only cure. And the hell that you find behind your eyes Is only love that has been lost in lies. You’re right, my friend, for it’s the end. The messages that you’ve been meaning to send Is all that’s left to keep breadcrumbs safe, For your return from the inner space. Back to the cubes we go for now. Blinded by instructions of why and how. We slip softly into our own demise. Wake up. It’s a test. Open your eyes.