Civil War

So the buzz right now seems to be about Captain America: Civil War. And though I am (very) late, I feel I should at least talk about it a little bit, because I’d be a fool not to. I watched the movie. So yeah, that’s it. That’s all I had to say on the movie.

Wait, don’t go! I mean, that’s all on the movie, but there is something else I’ve been thinking about recently – conflicts in the mind. We all experience them; and they are some sort of civil war. In this boring rant of mine, I shall be exploring why we go through such conflicts, and why they are important.

Homo sapiens (by which I’m referring to the sad species to which you belong) have wants. We all have specific things we want. And these wants make us do what we do. For example, you want to procreate. This want drives you to make a sad attempt at flirting with people, which in turn results in your being called a creep. And wants don’t stop there. We have various different wants that make us do different things. Take for instance a classroom. The teacher drops something, and a particular student (let’s call him Ramesh) is quick to run and get the thing for the teacher. The natural explanation would be that Ramesh is helpful by nature. But once the teacher leaves, and a neighbouring student, say, Suresh, drops something. Now if Ramesh doesn’t help him, how would you explain his behaviour? One possible explanation is that Ramesh wants to win the teacher’s favour, possibly to get marks. But when Suresh drops the pen, Ramesh doesn't want to put in the effort when he gets nothing from it.

A normal human being has a number of different wants. As we've already seen, wanting to get marks is a want. Similarly, wanting to relax can also be a want. So, what happens when these wants, or shall we say motives, are in conflict? When there is such a conflict, the said person is faced with a choice. And choices are what define a character.

This is a very important concept especially in creating works of art, like books, movies, or TV series. Character formation. Take for instance, the famous character of Harry Potter. In the first book, 'The Philosopher's Stone,' you see the character (Harry) making a choice. He chooses to sympathise with the snake at the zoo. This defines his character as kind. Let's look at a much later book when he is older, 'The Deathly Hallows.' Here, though he doesn't like Draco Malfoy all that much, he still chooses to save Malfoy's life in the Room of Requirement when there is a fire. The conflict faced by Harry here was between being kind and saving his own life.

It is the sum total of choices made while faced with a conflict of motives that define the character of a person. So, if you are a writer or a filmmaker, pay attention to these things. Observe humans around you, and look for these conflicts. They are quite interesting. And if you are not a writer or a filmmaker, you can still look for these things to understand people, and yourself better. Finally, I quote Dumbledore (because it's cool to quote), "it is our choices, Harry, that show who we truly are, far more than our abilities."

And with that, adios!