The Indomitable Will of Man

I submit, for your consideration, the following quotes:

"I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery."

-Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), The Matrix

"I do not stand by in the presence of evil."

-Alita (Rosa Salazar), Alita: Battle Angel

Every day is a reminder of how fucked we are, if you have the eyes to see it. Look around you. Look at the evil that assails the world. Look at the squabbling masses, impossibly mired in differences they will never reconcile. Look at the demagogues, the performers, the elite, and drop your gaze to the loathsome people kissing their feet and suckling at their shadows. Look at the innocent, if violent, natural world that withers under our spiraling occupation. Anybody who isn't regularly in emotional distress at the state of the world is at least one of: stupid beyond the point of respect, uncaring beyond the point of respect, extremely busy, or phenomenal at compartmentalizing.

So, do we all give up? Kill ourselves? I think not. Just because you're likely doomed to lose, that doesn't mean you give up. After all, the human spirit is forged in the heat of suffering and challenge, and our existence here, now - provided you don't believe in the direct creation of Earth by a divine force - is the expression of an unfathomably great victory against immeasurably long odds. Still, how does one so attuned to or made forcefully aware of the horrors of the world fold and reform, rather than break entirely? The answer - for me, at least - lies in art.

We arrive at the point of this piece: the indomitable will of man. When outward is a sea of uncertainty and foes, one may be able only to reach inward for a source of strength, however fleeting, however fractional against the whole of encroaching evil. The ability to do so, however directly purposeless it may be, telegraphs...propagates the idea of courage - the inclination to get up, stand your ground, or move forward, despite a permeating realization that the universe itself is closing upon you.

The sequences below beautifully capture what I'm referring to: humanity, simultaneously at its best and worst. The harrowing intersection of valiance, suffering, and righteous hatred. The gut-wrenching disgust of watching a good person shattered by harsh reality. The moving spectacle of somebody doomed to suffer, and liable to lose, making a defiant stand against evil.

-Night raid on Arrakeen (Dune (2021) 01:18:44-01:22:07)

-Levi Squad vs. Female Titan (Attack on Titan, S1: Ep. 21: Crushing Blow: The 57th Exterior Scouting Mission, Part 5)

-Humanity and Devilmen vs. Satan (Devilman Crybaby, Ep. 10: Crybaby)

-Lightning Max, Puri-Puri Prisoner vs. Deep Sea King (One Punch Man, S1: Ep. 8)

As someone who views most days as uphill battles, destined to result in further days of battling uphill, with little hope that things will fundamentally improve, the spectacle of someone charging defiantly into a terrifying foe is deeply moving to me. It encapsulates what I struggle to be and do, and so it encourages and saddens me to see it personified. It is a microcosm of the human condition: pain and hope intertwined. In these characters and moments, I see a version of myself that I aspire to realize. I want to be able to overcome, or die trying. I don’t want to lie down and accept defeat.