/-/S'pht-Translator-Active/-/


Evil? Depends...
Posted By: William SpencerDate: 6/20/01 6:55 a.m.

In Response To: Re: Errr... (Grasshopper)

: Forgot about that... nice one, Razel. :-). I'm not saying that the Pfhor
: themselves don't consider their actions evil, as it seems that, much like
: the Spartans, they've little time to spend on anything non-military.
: Indeed, Durandal calls their religion "pathetic."

: From a human perspective, however, the story changes... that's all I was
: saying.

Yeah - that's often the problem with handling alien races - or just other cultures - well in fiction. There's LOTS of cultures on Earth which your culture - whatever it is - would consider evil; it's all relative. No culture considers themselves evil; they always look at things on their moral scale.

Tthe Pfhor embody some of the (to us) worst aspects of military culture: they refuse to adapt to new situations, instead sticking to doctrine - no matter how many men they lose in the process; they have a tangled bureaucracy with utterly no regard for quality of life or civil rights; whatever they capture and can use (including the losers) they keep, while whatever is uncontrollable they destroy to remove the potential threat; they are utterly convinced in the superiority of their own culture, ignoring the hypocritical flaws in the system. ("If we're so superior, why do have to steal our technology?" "Because that's what makes us superior!")

Yeah, I suppose that makes them evil...but the UESC commited many of the same mistakes...and many other governments on Earth, even in the early 21st century, have too. Probably even your own. (I know mine has.)

Heck, in an us-vs.-them humans-vs.-aliens conflict, morality goes out the window anyway. Who cares if the aliens are more or less evil than we humans? If there's only room enough in the galaxy for one of us, we'd rather not be the ones that have to leave, whatever our flaws.

That seems depressing, somehow.

[ | Message Index | Read Prev Msg | Read Next Msg ]
Pre-2004 Posts

Replies:

Did anyone see the pfhor as evil?Some guy 6/19/01 2:44 p.m.
     Re: Did anyone see the pfhor as evil?Soapstone 6/19/01 3:37 p.m.
           Re: Did anyone see the pfhor as evil?[Tycho?] 6/19/01 4:11 p.m.
                 Errr...Grasshopper 6/19/01 7:34 p.m.
                       Re: Errr...Razel 6/19/01 10:35 p.m.
                             Re: Errr...Andrew Nagy 6/20/01 3:40 a.m.
                             Re: Errr...Grasshopper 6/20/01 5:21 a.m.
                                   Evil? Depends...William Spencer 6/20/01 6:55 a.m.
                                         Re: Evil? Depends...Andrew Nagy 6/20/01 5:32 p.m.
                                   On the other hand...William Spencer 6/20/01 7:02 a.m.
                                         Re: On the other hand...Aben Zin 6/27/01 2:13 p.m.
                                               Re: On the other hand...Locucious 6/27/01 4:32 p.m.
                                   Re: Errr...[Tycho?] 6/21/01 10:45 a.m.
                                         Re: Errr...Forrest of B.org 6/24/01 9:33 a.m.
                                               Re: Errr...Alexander S7range 6/25/01 7:22 a.m.
                                                     Re: Errr...Andrew Nagy 6/26/01 11:17 a.m.
                 Re: Did anyone see the pfhor as evil?Tynskel 6/25/01 1:29 a.m.
                       Re: Did anyone see the pfhor as evil?Locucious 6/25/01 6:35 a.m.
                             Re: Did anyone see the pfhor as evil?Jonah 6/25/01 8:06 a.m.
                       Re: Did anyone see the pfhor as evil?[Tycho?] 6/25/01 11:15 a.m.
                             Re: Did anyone see the pfhor as evil?Andrew Nagy 6/26/01 10:15 a.m.
                                   Re: Did anyone see the pfhor as evil?Joe Mahma 6/26/01 10:27 a.m.
                                         Re: Did anyone see the pfhor as evil?Andrew Nagy 6/26/01 11:19 a.m.
                                               Re: Did anyone see the pfhor as evil?Joe Mahma 6/26/01 12:18 p.m.
                                                     Re: Did anyone see the pfhor as evil?Andrew Nagy 6/27/01 6:43 a.m.
                                                           Re: Did anyone see the pfhor as evil?7revor Smith 6/27/01 7:34 a.m.
                                                                 Re: Did anyone see the pfhor as evil?Andrew Nagy 6/29/01 11:08 a.m.
                       Re: Did anyone see the pfhor as evil?Andrew Nagy 6/26/01 11:11 a.m.
                             Re: Did anyone see the pfhor as evil?Andrew Nagy 6/26/01 11:26 a.m.
                             Re: Did anyone see the pfhor as evil?[Tycho?] 6/26/01 4:00 p.m.
     Re: Did anyone see the pfhor as evil?Rincewind MoG 6/20/01 10:38 a.m.



Problems? Suggestions? Comments? Email maintainer@bungie.org

Marathon's Story Forum is maintained with WebBBS 5.12.