Revenge Is All I Live For Now

Revenge!  That's all I live for now!

I'll make them wince and cringe and cry!

I'll spit in their collective eye!

I'll have one thing before I die......

Reeeee-venge!

Those are lyrics from a song in It's A Bird It's A Plane It's Superman (music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Lee Adams), the first musical I performed in, way back when I was in high school.  I was a huge Superman fan, and joined the choir just so I could be eligible to be in it (it was only for members of the musical department).  I played the Mad Scientist, a brilliant man who had felt slighted by his colleagues, and devoted his life to gaining his revenge on them for his mistreatment.

What a waste.  A brilliant scientist who could have invented things to benefit people and progress civilization forward, was instead bent on the destruction of those who he felt had wronged him.  It made for great entertainment, and was one of my favorite characters I've ever had the privilege of playing, but it was a horrible life lesson.  In the end, all he achieved was his own inevitable destruction.

A recent TV show, that is still on but slumping dramatically in the ratings, is a show entitled Revenge.  Alison and I watched the first two seasons, but than bailed, as the plot got too repetitive and soapy.  It centers on a beautiful, intelligent woman who spends all her time and energy on gaining revenge upon a family that she believes is responsible for the jailing and murder of her father.  She devotes herself to the family's destruction, only to find herself more and more becoming like them.  My understanding is in the current season, she discovered that her father was not actually dead!  Great.  So much for THAT motivation.

What a waste.  She could have been an example of doing good with resources and wealth she had at her disposal, combating the other family's evil by instead doing good.  But, no.  She will waste her life trying to harm those who committed a murder that may have never taken place.  Does it make for good drama?  Well, it did, at least for awhile.  But in the end, what has she achieved?  Even the TV audience is fleeing her quest.

Revenge.  Hate.  Anger. Jealousy.  These are all emotions central to drama and stories, but seldom achieve what we want in real life.  They often lead to bitter, empty and unsatisfactory ends.  They often lead you to be as dark and negative as the forces you oppose, if not more so.  They often lead to never ending spirals of vengeance and violence, as we see in the Mideast and other areas of conflict.  It leads you to believe that some people are less worthy, have fewer human qualities, that your pain is greater than their pain.  And yes, it leads you away form the spirit of God and love, and working to improve the human condition.

If you see evil, it is right and good and just to oppose it and expose it.  But try not to do it with a heart filled with hate and the desire for revenge.  Orchestrated take downs can make for good drama on the stage and screen.  In real life, not only can it result in the destruction of your target, it can also result in your own diminution as a human being.

Living just for revenge?  What a waste.