Morality versus Ethics

Now who would have thought that television has me question heavy subjects?  Thanks to recent television, I have looked into the differences between being ethical and moral.  Your stereotypical protagonist is both ethical and moral.  In opposition your stereotypical antagonist is Immoral and unethical.  In three of my favorite recent shows, The Shield, Sons of Anarchy, and Justified, they have explored a different dynamic.  First lest look at the definitions of Ethical and Moral.  The definition of Ethical is being in accordance with the rules or standards for right conduct or practice, especially the standards of a profession.  Moral is defined as the following: of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong.  In the Shield, Vic Mackey is Moral, but Unethical.  He does all the wrong things for the right reasons.  In the opposite corner we have Clay Morrow on Sons of Anarchy; he is Ethical, but Immoral.  Clay does all the right things for the wrong reasons.  Clay has a code of rules he does not break.  Those rules are outside the norm.  Both shows have these characters devolve as they break their own personal codes as things snowball against them.  The funny thing is Sons of Anarchy creator, Kurt Sutter was a staff writer on the Shield.  That is probably why we some of the same themes on both shows.  Let’s break down the two characters.

Vic Mackey is a hardboiled detective.  He is working in the world of Los Angeles street gangs.  This is not a world of black and white.  Vic knows drugs will never go away, so he tries to control things so the least amount of harm happens to the general public.  His control is an illusion, the more he tries to control the streets the more things get out of hand.  He finds himself so deep down the rabbit hole.  Like the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  Vic’s behavior cost him, lives, friendships, relationships and his reputation.

Clay Morrow on Sons of Anarchy has does some bad things, but he is a criminal.  He wallows in it.  He however is against drugs being in his club and town. Typical of both works, he compromises his beliefs and all that goes out the window.  He broke a big code years ago and the fallout form that leads to more chaos.  In Clay’s downward spiral he sacrifices everything he loves and believes in, his family, his club and his standing. 

What I like about theses shows and Justified, is that they deal in the moral and ethical ambiguities that our world is made up of.  There is never a clear action that is not going to compromise something.  There is never a clear right or wrong.  Also when something seems to be too good or too easy, it blows up in the faces of the main characters.  Life is never clean, easy or understandable.  Good guys do bad things and bad guys to great things.  People are never A or B, they are sometimes both in varying degrees.  That is My Not so Humble Opinion.

Nerd versus Geek

A lot of people not in Geek Culture ask me a question:  What is the Difference between a Geek and a Nerd?  Many people have many answers.  Mostly Geeks are seen as obsessive about their interests to the Nth Degree.  Nerds are intelligent and very studious about their interests.  Can one be both a geek and a Nerd? Yes, they can.  Many a Physics Nerd is also a Star Trek Geek.  In my experience a Nerd can have knowledge and know how to use his knowledge in a practical was.  Computer Nerds can field strip a PC blind folded.  A Computer Geek can make a cool website, but does not know how to parlay that into a career.  Some geeks can use their knowledge practically.  Harry Knowles has done that with his website Ain’t It Cool News.  For Example I am a Comic Book and SciFi/ Fantasy Geek, but I am also a Mythology, Folklore, and Literature Nerd.  I have both the training and education in those fields.  I am more scholarly in my Nerd interests, than is not to say one cannot be scholarly about comics and SciFi/Fantasy.   Many Comic Book Professionals are also studious about their Artistic Format of choice.  Mark Waid and Kurt Busiek are examples of this.

I recently took a Geek/Nerd/Dork test online.  My Results were: 65 % Nerd, 48% Geek, and 26% Dork.  According to the test, a Nerd is passionate about knowledge in an Academic way.  Geeks are passionate about obsessions, many of which are obscure or socially scorned. Like I said in my Geek Button essay, Goths could be seen as Geeky.  Hell, Abby on NCIS straddles those two worlds wonderfully.  Now we are in Geek Renaissance, it is acceptable to be geeky.  It is becoming part of mainstream culture.  This has the old school hardcore Geeks up in arms.  Another difference between Geeks and Nerds in my experience, Nerds want mainstream acceptance and Geeks are torn by it.  Geeks don’t want to be ridiculed, but they don’t want to share in their obsession either.  It is theirs; they feel they have a right to say who is truly into and who is a poseur. 

My Opinion is it does not matter what other people think, even other Geeks or Nerds.  Are there poseur glomming onto Geek Culture, because it is the new big thing?  Yes, those folks will not be around in five years.  The True Believers will still be around once the dust settles.  Is it possible to both a Geek and a Nerd?  Yes, most Nerdy and Geeky people can be Nerdy about one thing and Geeky about another.  Does it Matter? No, be happy regardless.  They are just labels; never let labels define you completely.  Remember it is part of who you are.  It is not all you are.  That is My not so Humble Opinion.

Nardcore WTF

Ok, folks.  I grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles called Oxnard, California.  Oxnard is an interesting place there are parts of it that are worse than parts of Los Angeles Proper.  I grew up in one of the rougher neighborhoods, and area now referred to as the Rio Lindo District.  Oxnard also has some of the most affluent people living there too, especially on the coast.  I am a bit of a Music Geek, but I did not know my hometown had its own Punk Movement.  That Movement is called Nardcore of all things.  The bands from this movement include Doctor Know, Aggression, Ill Repute, False Confession, Habeas Corpus, RKL and Scared Straight.

The Kicker to this is where in Oxnard the Movement was based.  That is the affluent neighborhoods of Oxnard Shores and Silver Strand.   This was in the Early Eighties when I was in Junior and Senior High School.  The Original Punk movement in New York was a Starving Artistic Movement and its successor the London Punk movement was about rebelling against the upper classes and government.  The Nardcore were rich kids most of them Skater or Surf Punks.  Not much to rebel against, except for the size of their allowance and non locals at their beaches. 

I knew of these guys, but due to my economics situation I could not relate.  When I did get into punk from Southern California it was X, Suicidal Tendencies, Bad Religion and Social Distortion.  These bands talked of similar struggles as I saw growing up. Except for X and Suicidal Tendencies I did not get into Punk till I was in College.  In Oxnard I was into Hard rock and Heavy Metal.  Punk was expensive because most of it was new stuff you would have to buy and sometimes you had to hunt down a record store that carried them.  That was due to the fact they were on minor labels.  The kids in my neighborhood would tape copies of their albums and tapes and trade them for ones they did not have.  Most of the Punk kids I knew in Oxnard bought all their albums brand new. 

So in the late Eighties I discover Punk and its various movements.  I love the stuff it was nothing like what I experienced with privileged Punks in Oxnard.  Later about a few years ago I discover that Nardcore existed.  I look up the bands and they are bands that all the guys who used to hassle me in high school listened to, especially the guys from the Shore and the Strand.  I have tried to listen to them, but I still cannot get past the socio-economic differences and my history.  That is just me.  This Is My Not So Humble Opinion.

Uncanny Metaphors

The obvious theme in the X-Men comic books is racism.  For me it had a very interesting resonance.  Having been born with a Cleft Palate and Lip, I am what real world genetic mutation is like.  It is not a beneficial thing in most cases in the real world.  To a teenaged kid struggling with having a facial deformity, though minor, in 1980’s Southern California, the Uncanny X-Men was a revelation of sorts.  It helped me accept my differences.  Yes, the Marvel Mutants had wonderful, amazing and extraordinary powers.  In many cases those offset any negative mutations.  I felt a kindred spirit though to those with more challenges like Rogue, who could not touch another person without negative consequences.  I liked Nightcrawler, who wore his mutation on his skin, like I did.  He like me could not hide his differences.  In 1980’s Southern California’s cult of physical perfection, I felt definitely on the outside of normal.  Now in retrospection, the cult of physical perfection was not normal especially on the altar of plastic surgery. 

I felt that no matter what I did or how much reconstructive I got, I would never measure up.  I was a freak; the X-men taught me that is not necessarily a bad thing.  The X-men themes included not just societal acceptance, but self acceptance.  Some characters like Angel (pre-Apocalypse’s modification) and Beast reveled in their differences.  That exampled helped me realized that being different may not be a curse, but a blessing.  Whether by design or unintentional, the X-men helped many who felt on the outside of society see their differences as something wonderful. 

Many have used the mutant struggle as analogy for the Civil Rights Movement, the Gay Lesbian and Transgendered Rights Movement, Religious and Cultural Tolerance, Body Modification sub-culture, and the Disabled Rights Movement.  With the recent Things Get Better Campaign and Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Anthem, these themes still resonate after almost fifty years of Publication.  Be it race, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, sexual identity or anything that can be used to divide people, the X-men speaks to those who feel left out of the norm or majority.

The Various Writers on the X-men Titles have explored almost every reaction to disenfranchisement: Extreme Militancy, Pacifistic Resistance, Isolationism, Integration, Self Loathing, and Self Aggrandizement.  All of these themes resonate to the feelings of individuals feeling on the outside.  Every human being needs and wants to be accepted by someone, but everyone fears rejection.  The X-men calls to these feelings and fears, they also address those concerns in both a person and societal level.  In the U.S., the idea of being different, but part of something bigger also rings true.  We are a country made up of many cultures, Races, religions, and philosophies.  So the idea of the acceptance of anyone is part of our National Ideals.  These ideals are not always practiced.  The X-Men try to aspire to this Ideal.  I think that is a noble sentiment.