This article was first published on the "Planeswalker Camp" website under the nickname "flity", and may not be reproduced without permission.
Hello everyone, my name is flity.
On November 17, 2017, on the day of the release of the DC comic book "Justice League", an American drama that was also a comic book premiered on the Internet and received a lot of praise. It was "The Punisher" produced by Netflix— -"Punisher".
While watching this American drama, there is such a question that keeps lingering in my mind, that is: Is it justice to use violence to control violence? Next, I will start from three super-English comics ("The Punisher: The Punishment Begins", "Civil War," "Injustice: Gods Among Us") to give my thoughts on this issue.
"The Punisher: Punishment Begins" - The Punisher is the representative of violence against violence
"The Punisher" is adapted from the comics of the same name produced by Marvel. In the comics, the Punisher's real name is Frank Cassell. He used to be a Marine and lived a happy life with his wife and girls. However, one day when he was having a picnic with his family in the park, his wife and children became innocent victims of a gang rush. Frank, who survived, collected evidence and filed a lawsuit with the court. In the face of Frank's prosecution, the gang escaped sanctions through various channels and legal loopholes. Frank, who was completely desperate for justice, in the midst of grief and anger, turned into a "punisher". He put on a mask and wore a bulletproof vest painted with white skeletons, and shot angry bullets at him one by one. The traced murderer.
He vowed to "punish" all perpetrators in every possible way, to take unpardonable sanction against any underworld force and any criminal, and take "As long as you are guilty, you must die" (Youguilty, youdied) as his own life beliefs and code of conduct. In the first edition of the Punisher comic ("The Punisher" V1), the Punisher is subject to the government's people to become a "Vigilante".
In subsequent editions of the comic, the Punisher has been battling the New York gang.
In the story of "The Punisher V8" (2012), two underworld gangs in New York City engaged in a shootout at a wedding scene. In this massacre, more than 30 people were killed, so the Punisher launched a new journey, "he One man takes down most thugs and kills more criminals than those criminals", he tracked down the killer, a brutal "kill massacre"; "The NYPD refuses to make any comment on the impact of the Punisher, Nor is willing to admit that the case has become difficult to solve because of the punisher." At the same time, Frank also let the police solve the case at a loss. The punisher obstructed the police's law enforcement with violence. Is it justice?
In the story of The Punisher: The Punishment Begins (2004), Frank is betrayed by his former assistant "Chip" and arrested by the CIA.
Microchip, once the Punisher's assistant, is good at making weapons and computers. Like Frank, "Chip" also had a tragic experience. After his son was murdered, he felt an inexplicable emptiness and fear all day long. After meeting the Punisher by chance, in order to force himself to ignore his fears, "Chip" rents a computer to Frank to find targets, tailor-made firearms and ammunition for him, turning him from a lone hero into an efficient killing machine.
However, after ten years of working together, "Chip" realizes that crime never stops, that in a sense those criminals are also victims, and these are facts that he and the punisher cannot change.
At the same time, he also realized that Frank's behavioral motives had changed. At the beginning, Frank used "violence" to punish "violence" out of a sense of justice. However, when Frank also realized that the facts could not be changed, Frank did not choose to give up that Wearing a "skeleton suit", he has long been intoxicated by the endless killing. So, Chip betrayed him and cooperated with the CIA to arrest Frank.
In fact, in Frank's mind, the "sin" that the sin deserves is based on his personal values, and the punishment that the sinner should "get" is also performed by him.
Bob is Frank's neighbor. After Frank's experience in the park, Bob kindly came to talk to Frank, maybe to open up Frank's heart, Bob revealed to Frank that he was separated from his wife and had a relationship with an office subordinate. feeling.
However, Bob's kindness did not make Frank feel relieved, on the contrary, his words angered Frank.
"I lost my wife, but you abandoned your wife like garbage." Based on his own life experience, Frank figured out that Bob knew he was ashamed, but let his desires blind him, and hoped that things would turn out. Going in the direction he wanted was against Frank's outlook on life, and Bob "deserves" to be punished by him. After all, Frank shot Bob directly out the window.
Disregarding the law, measuring a person's right and wrong with one's own values, and abusing lynching; pursuing and killing criminals by unscrupulous means to kill, is such violence against violence justified?
Because of this, Frank, who never showed mercy in the face of criminals, was rejected by other superheroes whose "means were not cruel", but were their actions just?
"Civil War" - Conquering violence with violence may not solve the problem, but it will definitely hurt the innocent
In the 2006 Marvel event "Civil War", such a story was told:
The New Warriors are a heroic team composed of teenagers with superpowers. In addition to helping ordinary people, they also act as reality TV stars to film the process of "Xing Xia Justice" for local TV stations. One day, the four members of the new chapter tried to arrest a super-powered criminal hiding in Connecticut. During the fight, the super-criminal Nitroman used his self-destruction ability to turn the heroes present and a large area into ruins, and the dead were as high as hundreds.
There is no doubt that the entire course of the incident was captured on video. At a public funeral, the questioning of a mother who lost her son in a disaster got Stark thinking. Because of this tragedy, the public has turned negative sentiment towards superheroes. Superheroes like the Human Torch began to come under attack from the public. The people are calling for a reform of the way superheroes act. Congress began discussing the Superhero Registration Act, which would require superheroes to reveal their identities and be trained and restrained as federal agents. Some heroes, led by Iron Man, saw the bill as a natural evolution of superhuman social roles, a reasonable request; while superheroes led by Captain America felt it was a violation of civil liberties.
After the bill was passed, the superheroes who refused to register became "criminals", and Captain America led the heroes who opposed the registration to launch an underground resistance movement against the new bill. After a fierce battle, the anti-registration hero Goliath was killed, both sides were bruised and demoralized, they both began to doubt their positions, and some allies chose the hostile camp.
At the same time, the government assembled some super criminals to form a Thunderbolt team to arrest the superheroes who opposed registration. Spider-Man, who chose to leave the Stark camp, was attacked by two members of the Thunderbolt - Pumpkin Head Jack and the Joker ( thejester was not thejoker) and was seriously injured. Just at the critical moment, the punisher-Frank appeared to turn the super criminal into a ghost under the gun and sent Peter to Captain America's asylum.
However, "When did you become one of us" "God, don't tell me we have fallen like the Punisher", it is clear that the murderous Punisher is not accepted by the heroes, in the eyes of some people , the actions of the Punisher cannot be compared with them, and can even be described as low-level, and the difference between Punisher and these heroes lies in whether they intentionally kill in order to punish violence.
"You decide, Captain, should we hand this lunatic to the police immediately, or let's hear what he wants to say first?" Faced with the question, Captain America agreed after a moment of hesitation, considering that the Punisher saved Spider-Man. , and sent the Punisher to complete a very dangerous task - to steal a certain blueprint from the Iron Man camp.
The Punisher did an excellent job, and when he returned to the base, he found super criminals "Gold Bug" and "Sidewinder" trying to join Captain America's team. The Punisher didn't say a word, and in front of everyone he pulled out a gun and killed the two. This indiscriminate killing undoubtedly angered the captain,
"You slaughtering scum!" "They are bad guys, captain. They are robbers from Jiang Yang, and they are murderous demons!"
From the dialogue between the two, it can be seen that they have completely different views on exercising justice and sanctioning violence. Captain America believes that sanctioning violence does not mean taking lives, while Frank believes that "you deserve it" and "kill it if you deserve it".
"Shut up! Get him out! Throw his gun in the furnace! I'm crazy to let this beast join our team!" The Punisher drifted away amid the captain's scolding.
Next, Iron Man and Captain America's two camps launched a final battle. The superhero cloak (Cloak) used his superpower to transport the heroes from prison to the sky over New York City. About to kill Stark to end the civil war, a group of citizens rushed to stop him.
"Please let go! I don't want to hurt you!" Steve howls.
"You don't want to hurt us? Are you joking? It's too late to tell!"
It was only then that Captain America was horrified to discover that the center of New York had been turned into ruins, just like the tragic scene in Connecticut.
If the initial tragedy was only used as a fuse to cause the society's strict requirements for superhero behavioral norms, it would be better to say that it was actually the people's distrust of superpowers. Just imagine, there is such a force or organization in real life, they are not bound by the law, they have their own judgment standards, they rely on their own three views to deal with problems, they have the ability to surpass you and the strength to surpass you , allowing such a force or institution to "uphold justice" by using violence to suppress violence, the consequences would be unimaginable.
We can't say which of the two is the one who controlled the violence with violence, but with the development of the comics plot, the conflict between the Iron Man faction and the Captain America faction became more and more intense with the casualties. In the hero's journal, everyone suffers misfortune from this "civil war", Captain America is shot, Spider-Man's mother and wife are threatened, and more importantly, there is more than the endless violence on both sides more innocent people are harmed.
It is extremely disgusting for Captain America and others that the punisher use violence to kill people, but when ordinary people become the victims of superheroes' "violence with violence", from the results, killing the bad and hurting the innocent The murderer is also a murderer, is the behavior of those who disdain the same path as the punisher just?
"Injustice: Gods Among Us" - The Interdependence of Violence and Totalitarianism
It started like this, one day Superman was delighted to find Batman and told him that Louis was pregnant. However, soon after, the Joker captured Louis and used the poison gas created by the Scarecrow to confuse Superman, causing him to mistake Louis for his old enemy Doom and send him into space. Louis and the unborn child, as well as Superman's urban metropolis, were destroyed by the Joker. Superman went mad, he slammed the Joker through and killed him.
In his grief and anger, Superman heard people from all over the world dislike war and dissatisfaction with unfair treatment. He thought, it can't go on like this. As a result, a totalitarian government led by Superman appeared. Superman believed that with the strength of himself and the members of the Justice League beyond mortals, all problems in the world could be compromised and dealt with under their coercive demands. (threat) is resolved, and the rest of the Justice League heroes are showing their might to force a compromise on the side of the conflict in places of ongoing war around the world.
The killing of whales by humans in a certain sea area caused Neptune's dissatisfaction. He decided to punish these whalers, but was stopped even by Superman who arrived. Aquaman understands that Superman wants to establish a dictatorship on land. He thinks that the ocean cannot be threatened, so he mobilizes underwater creatures to invade the land to demonstrate to Superman, but then Superman's actions immediately make him surrender, and Superman moves the underwater city directly to the desert.
In this action of suppressing violence with violence, Superman prevailed; Superman's totalitarianism also made some people dissatisfied, and they took to the streets to demonstrate, but Superman brutally smashed the demonstrators' vertebrae, so that the people no longer dared to dare voice.
This is the main content of the first year of "Injustice: Gods Among Us". This comic is still unfinished, and the subsequent stories are more tortuous. Those who are interested can read it by themselves. In the follow-up, Superman went further and further on the road of dictatorship. He continued to use violence to control violence, and his methods became more and more cruel. He broke Batman's spine, fought against the Green Lantern Corps, and challenged the Greek gods. Countless, the earth was nearly destroyed. Is this kind of violence justified?
Conclusion:
Through 3 comics published by DC and Marvel, this article briefly discusses, under the theme of using violence to control violence, whether using violence to control violence is out of "violence" or "violence" (the punisher's slaughtering nature), and using violence to control violence. The damage caused by violence is not limited to the parties involved (the conflict between the Iron Man and the Captain has spread to countless innocent citizens), and the front of violence is totalitarianism (Superman goes further and further on the road of dictatorship) These three minor themes .
①Using violence to suppress violence is out of "control violence" or "violence", if projected in real life, it can be extended to the issue of "lynching".
On the afternoon of November 20 this year, two men in Lingshan County tried to steal a motorcycle, but they were found and controlled. Then someone beat the two of them, and someone stripped off their shirts and poured cold water on them. The police who came to stop the illegal behavior of the crowd in time and took the two men away for investigation.
When the people exercised justice, they took the form of using violence to suppress violence, and the damage caused by them gradually increased, and the punishment from the law also gradually increased.
It is true that each of us has a natural sense of justice and the right to exercise justice, but no matter how righteous your reasons may be, when you use lynching to pursue your own justice, you have already overstepped the law and the justice that the law maintains. In this gap, you have also changed from a victim to a perpetrator, and the ruthless web of the law is destined to firmly trap you.
②The contradiction between Iron Man and Captain America actually stems from the American discussion on whether to be regulated by the government.
On September 11, 2001, two civilian airliners hijacked by terrorists crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, USA. This is the famous 9/11 incident. After this terrorist attack, the US government approved the "Patriot Act". .
The purpose of the Patriot Act is to prevent terrorist attacks. The bill expands the authority of U.S. police agencies to search telephone calls, email communications, medical, financial and other kinds of records; strengthens police and immigration authorities' control over residency, deportation suspected, and terror Doctrine related to the rights of expatriates. In the next three years, the United States successively launched the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War. In the same year, 2004, author Mark Miller began to conceive of a comic ("Civil War") with a combination of facts.
Obviously, the Iron Man faction who supports the "Superhero Recording Act" is the party that supports government regulation in real life, while the opposing Captain America faction represents those who believe that government regulation violates freedom. The entanglement between the two factions can be attributed to the contradiction between nationalists and liberals. As for who is right and who is wrong, the author did not give an answer. However, we can see from the comics that after the contradiction, If it cannot be resolved peacefully, through the means of suppressing violence with violence, everyone will not be a just party, and at the same time, everyone will not be able to retreat, and the vast majority of innocent people will also be involved in the dispute.
③Using violence to control violence and totalitarianism are interdependent
In the movie "V for Vendetta", such a totalitarian government was created. In the virtual future world, Britain has become a fascist totalitarian state ruled by the dictator Suttler. The people live under brutal rule, disease , famine, gloom, and the ubiquitous secret police. The protagonist "V" is a "fighter" who uses extreme violence against the government. He is ready to follow the plan of Guy Fawkes in 1605 to use explosives to blow up the totalitarian government. After he blew up two iconic London buildings and seized a government-controlled radio station, he instigated a public uprising and ended up riding a tube full of explosives towards the Houses of Parliament.
Likewise, totalitarianism is also explored in the film "The Wave," where Reiner is a teacher at a German high school that is running a week of "state institutions." He ingeniously proposed a hypothetical "dictatorship" experiment, in which he demanded absolute obedience from the students during the week-long experiment. The students gradually became addicted to the "wave" organization. While realizing the importance of collective and discipline, they also slipped into the abyss of "dictatorship" unknowingly. At the end of the film, Reiner announced the end of "The Wave", which made the most enthusiastic classmate in the class break down. He took out the gun he bought on the Internet, wounded another wave member, and swallowed the gun himself in despair. . At the end of the film, Wenger was taken away by the police, and the students who survived the disaster embraced and cried. (More about the two movies will not be detailed here, and those who are interested can watch it by themselves.)
Don't say that totalitarianism brought about the suppression of violence with violence, or that the suppression of violence with violence brought about totalitarianism. The two are destined to be interdependent from birth. In addition to bringing endless chain damage, using violence to control violence, more importantly, it will make extreme deviations from justice, deviations from justice, and extremes. In the process of going to extremes, violent resistance and violent repression are repeated, and the final result is destined to be destruction.
View more about The Punisher reviews
