Relating to a Villain

One of my favorite shows, Heroes, has a character in it named Gabriel, AKA Sylar. Through most of the seasons, this character was the main villain, although villiany in that show is spread around a bit and characters are more complex. When I first started watching the show, the character I liked the most was Peter, who basically always did the right thing. The truth is, though, nobody is really like Peter, or very few. We all mean well- well, most of us anyways, but few of us really follow our conscience as we should. In season one, it did seem for the most part, that Sylar had no conscience. Over time, however, it became apparent that he was complicated. It also is revealed that he wasn't solely responsible for his becoming a killer, that he had a little bit of help on that end. Also, in one timeline in the show, Sylar completely reformed himself. There were scenes, too, where Gabriel did the right thing, against his normal nature. The truth is, he was complex, as far as villains go. Most villains of television or movies are pretty flat. Gabriel, though... he's been complex for awhile, and the most recent season ends with him saving the day. How his transformation happened, he spent what felt to him like five years in a dreamlike state, alone for the first two years and then with Peter the last three years. I've known for awhile, though, that he was capable of good. I was cheering him on. I was always hoping he'd make the right call. Somehow, he was the character I cared about the most. It's weird how that happened, how I became attached to a serial killer. Perhaps because the show creators showed multiple facets of who he is, and gave a more complete picture of his history, how he got that way. We all have stories, there are always reasons why we do what we do. Everybody is complicated in one way or another. Maybe I related to Gabriel because he was understandable, I don't know. CS Lewis talks about how people who are great towards evil are also capable of being great towards good, that it is the people in the middle who have no real strength are the people also incapable of being a significant hero; I think that has something to do with intensity of purpose. At some point in watching Heroes I became convinced that Gabriel was worth saving, and that made his conversion all the more meaningful when it happened.

I know there are people in our lives that have hurt us and caused us pain. My hope, for me and for others, is that we would try to see the humanity in all of us. No matter how evil the villain, there's always a story of how they got that way- I'm not saying that their story justifies their actions, but it might help to ease the bitterness and the pain. Forgiveness only comes through understanding, and forgiveness is really for ourselves and not them.

Sincerely,
Sean