PebHmong Discussion Forum
General Category => Debate Central => Topic started by: w1s3m0n on May 18, 2018, 09:05:30 PM
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After watching the movie I cannot but feel something for Thanos. He sacrificed his only love so he could obtain enough power to safe the universe from itself... What a conflicting feeling I have about Thanos. Is Thanos a good guy?
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Lol..
Thanos is a good guy inside of his delusional mind.
Hes a role playing lunatic, pyscho enough to kill his love to save the universe from self destruction and believes mass genocide is good because he is thanos the henceman..lol
But then again.. his ideology is what made the money good.
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I have yet to see this movie. But do you approve of him killing his love?
Sounds to me like a power-hungry guy only. To save the universe is to conquer it by and for himself.
After watching the movie I cannot but feel something for Thanos. He sacrificed his only love so he could obtain enough power to safe the universe from itself... What a conflicting feeling I have about Thanos. Is Thanos a good guy?
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Screw Thanos. Even though he's stronger than the Hulk why he need the infinity stones for anyway? :2funny:
There's a scene where both Drax the destroyer + Star-Lord + Mantis and Iron Man + Spider team up against Thanos alone. Like Star-Lord said, "Not so strong at all, aren't you Thanos?" Thanos is more of a brawn than a brainy. 8)
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I have yet to see this movie. But do you approve of him killing his love?
Sounds to me like a power-hungry guy only. To save the universe is to conquer it by and for himself.
I'll say my answer later...this is a debate zone ;) Curious what everyone thinks. The nature of Thanos have been played out in real life...perhaps the Thanos character in this version of of him is inspired by another bigger than life individual too!
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Screw Thanos. Even though he's stronger than the Hulk why he need the infinity stones for anyway? :2funny:
There's a scene where both Drax the destroyer + Star-Lord + Mantis and Iron Man + Spider team up against Thanos alone. Like Star-Lord said, "Not so strong at all, aren't you Thanos?" Thanos is more of a brawn than a brainy. 8)
Thanos is smarter than what you think..
But sometimes even the smartest people are caught..etc.. Enron.. lol
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Screw Thanos. Even though he's stronger than the Hulk why he need the infinity stones for anyway? :2funny:
Because it's not for the hulk.
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After watching the movie I cannot but feel something for Thanos. He sacrificed his only love so he could obtain enough power to safe the universe from itself... What a conflicting feeling I have about Thanos. Is Thanos a good guy?
One could say, that's selfish. Killing others to satisfy his wants.
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haven't even seen the movie yet.
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Ash,
My initial reaction was one of trying to understand Thanos, and questioning myself if I had this character all wrong because at the end Thanos wasn't satisfied with his decision. He honestly felt remorseful for his decision but in his mind face with two bad decision, he choose the lesser evil. That was my initial thought looking at the movie thinking of the end and looking back. Do the means justify the end? To your point, it really depends on the person. A few points I want to make.
First, in my younger days I thought the means justified the end. I would purposely do bad things to manipulate people to do what is best for them. In fact, I learned this first from my parents. The carrot or the stick principles is such means. As I grew more mature in my thinking and understanding of philosophy and my moral principles, I changed to the means does not justify the end. I firmly believe good can only be achieve through good means and under no circumstances should evil action be done. Principles matter and is all we have. I reserve one condition were killing is acceptable, and that is self defense. Under this condition, perhaps Thanos can argue for this too. If others want to read the beginnings of the means justifies the end, the Prince by Machiavelli sparked the great debate during the Renaissance. You can download for free and enjoy this amazing book. It teaches that leaders are sometime require to use evil means to control the mass, or achieve good means, and it is the burden of leadership to act. Hence, only Thanos had the fortitude and gumption to take the proper action to save the Universe through sacrificing many. In the world of Corporate America where there is downsizing, M&A, and etc... America corporation will lay off people to make the books. Livelihood are sacrificed to hit the numbers and enrich the rich and keep most people employed. No leader likes to fire people but they do...
Second, the person most like Thanos is a philosopher named Mao Tse Tung. Mao watched as his people were raped and pillaged by foreigner over and over and he could no longer stand the fracture state of China. Mao vowed something must be done and a movement begin. This philosopher eventually turned into political leader. In the people's revolution to unified China, over 30 million Chinese people were murdered/killed. Today, many Chinese people remember the lives loss to during the cultural revolution and say it is worth it. To those who benefited from the loss, they cheer Mao as a great hero. To those who families were torn and lost, they cursed Mao. Who is right?
Third, if you have not heard of these two philosophers then it might be an interesting time listening to them. The Chinese Political Philosopher Zhang WeiWei argues that the West cannot understand the sorrow and situation China was in during the people's revolution and therefore is not in a position to judge China's leader during the people's revolution or the leaders today. His philosophy reminds me of another philosopher who states that modern people cannot judge ancient people as being barbaric because norms have changed and people should be judged to the norms of their time. Zhang makes compelling argument that justifies China PRC cost. Zhang argues for pragmatism and utilitarian approach. Harvard Professor, Michael Sandel teaches the Harvard Justice class online free on youtube. His course gives us deeper insight and clarity into the concept of justice and morality and we can choose who we are. Do the means justify the end???
I, too, struggled with this question after seeing the movie. Initially I thought I was going to hate Thanos. He is, after all, the antagonist of the movie. But as I watched, I started feeling uncomfortable because I didn't hate Thanos. He showed compassion! He showed kindness! He loved! Aren't villains supposed to be evil and devoid of all the soft emotions that we tend to associate with the "good" guys? I was torn and confused, unsure about how to feel about him. And I sense that this ambivalence that we feel about Thanos was done deliberately by the screenwriters and director.
Before I go any further, I will add that all my observations here are based solely on the movie and not the comic books.
Thanos's compassion: When Scarlet Witch killed Vision, Thanos showed compassion and empathy for her. Instead of being annoyed or angered, he said something like "I understand your pain, my child." Why would a villain show understanding to his enemy's pain?
Thanos's kindness: When Thanos took young Gamora away from her people, he distracted her from seeing the slaughter of her people. He gave her his knife and showed her how to balance it on her finger (the theme of perfect balance is introduced here, showing his mindset). Even when she turned to look, he turned her back and wouldn't let her see what was happening. I thought this was kind of him. A crueler master would have made her look upon the destruction of her people in order to break her spirit.
Thanos's love: I always wondered why Thanos didn't go after Gamora after she stole the infinity stone from him. He could've easily tracked her down and punished her for betraying him. Yet he let her go.
So to answer the question: Was Thanos a good guy? I suppose it depends on your definition of morality. At the most basic core of the matter, can you justify killing half of the universe's population in order to save the other half? Obviously Thanos does. He witnessed the destruction of his home planet because his leaders didn't want to follow his suggestion of culling the population. In his mind, the means justifies the end. He told Gamora that the other half of the population on her home planet are thriving. No child is going hungry. To him, this end result is justified. He sees himself as righteous in his mission, and he is willing to sacrifice everything to attain it. Even if it breaks his heart. Some might call this crazy. Others say it's the true mark of a leader. How many can make hard decisions like this, and still hold true to their vision?
So whether Thanos is good or bad is up to each person to decide. Personally, I understand why he goes to such extremes to put the universe back in balance. I don't hate him for it. I even admire his strength, his focus, and the sacrifices he made in order to make the universe a better place. It takes true strength of mind and spirit to do what he did, and to still show empathy to his enemy. He exhibits kindness but he's also cruel. He loves yet he sacrifices that love for what he thinks is a better world. In his mind, his intentions are good, even if his methods are not. I respect that.
But I also respect what Captain America said. All life is precious. Life should be treasured and guarded, not sacrificed. It's the classic philosophical question: would you rather one person die to save many, or would you rather save that one person and doom everyone else?
In contrast to Thanos, let's also look at Scarlet Witch who also sacrificed someone she loved, also with the hope of saving the universe. How is she different from Thanos? Is there actually a difference? I think there is. Because even with her sacrifice of killing Vision and destroying the mind stone, even though in effect she did the same thing that Thanos did, her aim was to ultimately save all lives because all lives are precious. That is a direct contrast to Thanos's view.
While watching the movie I felt troubled to be conflicted about Thanos, that I couldn't just hate him as the bad guy. Now, after some time to process it, I think it's actually good to feel that way. People are multifaceted and complex. So it makes sense that emotions are also that way. Sometimes things are just not simple, and sometimes simplicity is also a blessing. What's also simple is the message I gleaned from the movie, one that resonates within my soul, that yes, life is precious.
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Harvard Justice Course
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBdfcR-8hEY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBdfcR-8hEY)
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After watching the movie I cannot but feel something for Thanos. He sacrificed his only love so he could obtain enough power to safe the universe from itself... What a conflicting feeling I have about Thanos. Is Thanos a good guy?
If he has the power to change the universe, why doesn't he just bring her back? duh!
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If he has the power to change the universe, why doesn't he just bring her back? duh!
He has the power to change the universe, but not the power to change the infinity stones themselves. The MCU is different from the comics, but in the comics, even the infinity guanlet couldn't destroy itself.
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After watching the movie I cannot but feel something for Thanos. He sacrificed his only love so he could obtain enough power to safe the universe from itself... What a conflicting feeling I have about Thanos. Is Thanos a good guy?
There's no good/bad guy... Your perspective perceived that's bad and good.
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There's no good/bad guy... Your perspective perceived that's bad and good.
Thanos kills your entire family... Good or bad? :idiot2:
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Read this some time ago;
"What is good and what is evil?'; Philosophers of all ages have thought over this question. Each reckoned that he had solved the question once and for all, yet within a few years the problem would re-emerge with new dimensions. In fact, most of the answers would be later found inadequate or unsatisfactory . Religious thinkers also joined in presenting a solution in this regard but only added confusion. The Qur'an also offers a solution to this question and an effort will be made to explain it later in this dissertation.
A few basic questions need to be answered in order to arrive at some satisfactory answer. They are:
(i) Are good and evil absolute or are they relative to the conditions associated with time and place? Do conditions surrounding a particular situation make an act good and at another time make it evil? Does an act appear to be good in the overall perspective, but when torn away from its environment appear to be evil?
(ii) Is the concept of good and evil imbued in the nature of man or has he been given divine guidance? If not, how are good and evil identified? If reason is the only guide, is there some criteria to determine what is good and what is evil?
(iii) If good and evil are independent, do they have the same creator? Or is God the Creator of good alone? If so, who has created evil?
(iv) If the knowledge of good and evil is instinctive, there should be uniformity of thought between various nations, religions and groups; but there are vast differences among them in almost every aspect. What are the reasons?"
Thanos was made evil due to his actions and not necessarily his intent.
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lol
you guys are funny ;D
just got a chance to watch avenger (i know slow poke)
so i''ll just chip in my thoughts
with the space travel ability in an instant
and tons of planet and universe out there
and universe within a universe
i'm thinking in my head, why don't he and his minion just go to some place
where there no other people
than i realized it just a movie
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lol
you guys are funny ;D
just got a chance to watch avenger (i know slow poke)
so i''ll just chip in my thoughts
with the space travel ability in an instant
and tons of planet and universe out there
and universe within a universe
i'm thinking in my head, why don't he and his minion just go to some place
where there no other people
than i realized it just a movie
LIFE IMITATES ART. That's the POINT. We have to call out messages within the arts so that we never see such come to life into reality impacting our children.
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Thanos was made evil due to his actions and not necessarily his intent.
But does the intent justify the action?
I say, no. When an outcome end with a terrible cost or has the potential to, the intent doesn't necessarily justify the action. And it's especially bad to assume that the end results will be definitely be good without weighing all the possibilities. Or without having much knowledge of the situation. I consider it as just being selfish of just wanting it to be your way.
Ex:
Someone in here once gave some bad advice to his so called "friend" without considering the things that will effect his friend and his family. Telling the friend to tell the parents, who loved their children and didn't want to hurt them, to go confront the other siblings about not letting them throw parties and gatherings for the parents on the assumption of doing it for "show." That someone, Failed to see impact that it could have on that family. Instead, he selfishly, without caring, gave that advice to his friend. And come in here to talk bad about his friend and his family while telling everyone how good of a friend he was and how he was lucky his family isn't bad like his friend's. He was selfishly too concern about making himself look good that he didn't care about gathering all the FACTS before giving that bad advice.