Speaking of birds of prey
Feb. 29th, 2012 08:35 amBack in 2009, ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
archteryx wrote that the villains in the V reimagining could just as easily have been hawks as lizards -- and in fact would fit being hawks much better than lizards: sharp beaks and talons, and ruthless nature to guide them.
A few days ago, I stumbled across a story having just that kind of creature. Not a hawk - rather, he was thought and idea made real - but with all the aspects of how I imagine Arch's hawks. A complete focus on what matters (in the story's case, the accrual of power), a disregard for everything outside that purpose but as a means; and in the context of the story, the means by which to warp both reality and the people inside it to further those ultimate ends. These critters are not fuzzy featheries but birds of prey, not cute dragons but rather of the semblance of Smaug.
Why are they so easily remembered when done well? Why do they stick in my mind longer than I'd want them to? From a logical-rational point of view, they're simple. They're utilitarian beyond measure. Their evil is consistent and logically not very complex. Yet they persist, so I am led to think that this has little to do with reason. What is it about adversaries?
Maybe my imagination is strong and so sees the actions as a character within the story might, saying with all force, "get away now!". Maybe the evil critter makes so much impression because he defines the story by his presence? Yet, I can't help but think there is more to it than that. Just what, I do not know yet.
archteryx wrote that the villains in the V reimagining could just as easily have been hawks as lizards -- and in fact would fit being hawks much better than lizards: sharp beaks and talons, and ruthless nature to guide them.A few days ago, I stumbled across a story having just that kind of creature. Not a hawk - rather, he was thought and idea made real - but with all the aspects of how I imagine Arch's hawks. A complete focus on what matters (in the story's case, the accrual of power), a disregard for everything outside that purpose but as a means; and in the context of the story, the means by which to warp both reality and the people inside it to further those ultimate ends. These critters are not fuzzy featheries but birds of prey, not cute dragons but rather of the semblance of Smaug.
Why are they so easily remembered when done well? Why do they stick in my mind longer than I'd want them to? From a logical-rational point of view, they're simple. They're utilitarian beyond measure. Their evil is consistent and logically not very complex. Yet they persist, so I am led to think that this has little to do with reason. What is it about adversaries?
Maybe my imagination is strong and so sees the actions as a character within the story might, saying with all force, "get away now!". Maybe the evil critter makes so much impression because he defines the story by his presence? Yet, I can't help but think there is more to it than that. Just what, I do not know yet.
