Inferiority Complex - 10/23/10
Most fiction seems to have a reoccurring concept at its core, no matter what the story or how it's told. I'm not talking about the obvious Good vs. Evil conceit either. That idea really just scrapes the surface of an underlying division which came to my awareness recently in the film "Never Let Me Go".
In it, a school of children in England (who are never allowed to leave their boarding school) are raised and taught for years to be perfect youths and keep their bodies in pristine condition for their 20's, when their organs will be harvested by doctors for the humans they're modelled after. It's basically a story about the subjugation of clones, the moral implications that arise from doing so, and whether or not these particular humans even have a soul. But that itself is terribly familiar territory, covered in many books and movies prior to this one. But what strikes a chord with me is the really sort of terrible divide this idea posits, and how it inflicts harm upon ourselves and the world writ large.
The belief in inferiority which persists throughout literature, history, world-views, governments, religions, and philosophies....that there are segments of the population that are somehow inferior or beneath us......is unequivocally false, a fundamental error in our how we perceive our fellow human beings that is undeniably the cause for most of the suffering within our world. It is a solipsistic, egoistic imperative which excludes the Other in favor of the Self. More than good against evil, it really gets to the root of the problem, US vs THEM....or, to take it a step further, ME vs. YOU. The belief that a group of people, practices, or ideas is superior to others is so pervasvive in so many films that I simply must cite a few examples right here.
Titanic: First class is more entitled to survival than the the lower decks
Harry Potter: The wizarding world is vastly superior to the magic-less muggles
The Lord of the Rings: Orcs are inferior to all races, dwarves are inferior to man and man is inferior to elves
Blade Runner: Replicants are inferior to man, and have a limited shelf-life
Battlestar Galactica: Humans are inferior to the cylons, or vice versa, depending on your perspective
X-men: Mutants are superior to human beings
Futurama: Humans (and aliens) are superior to mutants
X-Files: How humans are inferior to aliens (and will be eradicated on December 22, 2012)
Star Wars: Both Sith and the Jedi are superior to the rest of the galaxy
Firefly: Browncoats and those living on frontier planets are inferior to the Alliance and civilized societies
Willow: Daikini are superior to pecks, who are themselves superior to brownies
The Matrix: Man is inferior to Machine (or again, vice versa depending on your allegiances)
And so on, basically you need only add your favorite brand of fiction and you'll find a few noteworthy examples. Not to mention how the real world reflects this premise at each and every turn. How every major religion of the world feels every other religion is inferior, INCLUDING denominations within their OWN religion that they don't happen to agree with. How the rich and elite are superior to the poor. How intellectuals are superior to the ignorant masses. How certain races are superior to other minorities, and how humanity as a whole is superior to plants and animals simply because we believe we're at the top of the food chain and that we're the only sentient creatures on earth.
It's galling, really...how we separate ourselves from one another and assume we're somehow BETTER THAN others. There's no truth in this delusion, no reality in our misconception......and I honestly believe that this, above all else, is the reason why we feel so alone.
