[EVA] Gendou - man or monster?

[Rachel K. Clark]

@Carl (et al.): If this discussion is just going to be about moralizing, I 
don't see much of a point. It doesn't stimulate productive conversation or 
encourage closer examination; it's forceful rhetoric that's remarkably 
unhelpful when it comes to a well-rounded analysis of -- yes! -- *fictional 
characters*.

NGE was never about moralizing. I don't think Anno assembled his motley cast 
of characters so that viewers would slap judgment upon them for their 
superficial behavior and leave it at that. That's simplifying things quite 
an awful lot. While the characters are like real people in many ways, the 
fact remains that they aren't, and never will be. They're fabricated 
constructs being used to deliver the narrative, communicate various aspects 
of human nature, and so forth. They must be treated as such.

I mean, seriously. "Character A managed to accomplish more than Character B 
even though they both had fucked up lives, and people in real life did 
better than one or both, and blah blah blah..." These observations aren't 
incredibly relevant (unless, of course, measuring cartoon characters with 
your ethical ruler is all you're interested in doing) or interesting, 
especially when they're wielded like a 200-kg steel mallet. What does the 
story tell us about the actual characters and their interactions with 
others? What are we supposed to take from this, as viewers? (If Anno was 
just going for "Gendo is a dick", either he would have left a lot of 
material out or he is even more insidious than I think he is.)

Believe it or not, it's possible to talk about Gendo without patronizing him 
in any way OR "making excuses" for him. You just talk about him as a 
character. It's that simple. Want to try sometime?

Not sure if this message will accomplish anything, but I can always hope. 
<_<

-Reichu