The Futility of Hate, Obsession, and Stagnancy. Lessons from "God of War: Ragnarok"
There are many kinds of stories. Those that entertain, those that pacify, those that inspire reflection, catharsis, real world change. A good story can change a person, literally. Consider classic examples of stories with extremely potent messaging. Grave of the Fireflies, Come and See, 12 Angry Men, 1984, The Jungle, Uncle Toms Cabin, Roots, the list of pieces of media that have effected real world change, big and small, is immense. Far too immense to cover. God of War: Ragnarok is one such piece of media. The narrative of GoWR is simply too long to be summarized in any reasonable stretch of time. So I will instead cover its core themes, laid out in the title of this post. First, the futility of hate. This story is full of hateful, vengeful individuals. Individuals wronged by the heroes, individuals wronged by the villain, individuals wronged by circumstance. These wronged individuals are driven by the pain of their loss, and indeed the hate that springs...