Morals

[P3nT4gR4m]

"I awoke in the middle of the night to a dreadful noise. I tentatively ventured downstairs, whereupon I found this unconscious, brain damaged, quadraplegic guy, spewing blood all over my new carpet. I quickly realised I had to report this to the police because otherwise the insurance claim for the carpet might have been adversely affected"

[eL sTiKo]

Stiko, how does that view hold up against the homeless junkie who breaks into your house and threatens your children?

What action does seeing the Love in Everything prescribe for that?

It's not so much about seeing the love in everything, I never said that. Glad we're talking, though!

It is about deciding to act out of either love or fear. If you are being threatened, you may feel the fear, but the best reaction will not be just based on the fear, it will be based on the search for the best possible outcome.

That said, it may be best to kill the fucker. I never said it was a perfect approach, but it has a lot of reach and it's about as simple as you can get.

Quotes from piss-poor science fiction FTW.

Good news! I never read Herbert, I just walked past the Fear Factory cd once in my teens.

[LMNO]

It is about deciding to act out of either love or fear. If you are being threatened, you may feel the fear, but the best reaction will not be just based on the fear, it will be based on the search for the best possible outcome.

Please refer to the appropriate scene in Donnie Darko.

[Cain]

I don't like my choices being so limited.  What about hate, malice, pure cold blooded rationality, recognition of necessity, like, general indifference but a wish not to rock the boat etc etc

When you limit your own choices, only bad things can follow.

[LMNO]

               Ms. Farmer stops the tape and moves to the blackboard. On
               it, she has drawn a horizontal line book-ended by the words
               "Love" and "Fear".

                                     MS. FARMER
                         As you can see, the Lifeline is
                         controlled by two polar extremes:
                         "Fear" and "Love". Fear is in the
                         negative energy spectrum. Love is in
                         the positive energy spectrum.

                                     SEAN
                              (to Donnie)
                         No duh.

                                     MS. FARMER
                         Excuse me?
                              (defensive)
                         "No duh" is a product of fear.

               She stares them down for a moment... shaking her head.

                                     MS. FARMER
                              (handing out cards)
                         Now, on each card is a CHARACTER
                         DILEMMA which applies to the Lifeline.
                         Please read each character dilemma
                         aloud... and place an X on the
                         Lifeline in the appropriate place.

               The students read their cards.

                                     KITTY FARMER
                         We'll start in the front.

               Cherita Chen stands up and walks over to the blackboard. Ms. 
               Farmer pulls up large white cards that have black-and-white
               animated cartoons on them.

                                     CHERITA
                         Juanita has an important maths test
                         today. She has known about the test
                         for several weeks, but has not
                         studied. In order to keep from failing
                         her class, Juanita decides that she
                         will cheat on the maths test.

               Cherita places an X near the "Fear" end of the lifeline.

                                     MS. FARMER
                         Good. Next.

               Donnie watches as several more students interpret their
               respective human dilemmas.

               Finally... it is his turn.

                                     DONNIE
                         Ling Ling finds a wallet on the ground
                         filled with money. She takes the
                         wallet to the address on the driver's
                         license but keeps the money inside
                         the wallet.

               Donnie looks at the blackboard.

                                     DONNIE
                         I'm sorry, Ms. Farmer, I just don't
                         get this.

                                     MS. FARMER
                              (impatient)
                         Just place an X in the appropriate
                         place on the Lifeline.

                                     DONNIE
                         I just don't get this. Everything
                         can't be lumped into two categories.
                         That's too simple.

                                     MS. FARMER
                         The Lifeline is divided that way.

                                     DONNIE
                         Well, life isn't that simple. So
                         what if Ling Ling kept the cash and
                         returned the wallet? That has nothing
                         to do with either fear or love.

                                     MS. FARMER
                              (impatient)
                         Fear and love are the deepest of
                         human emotions.

                                     DONNIE
                         Well, yeah... OK, but you're not
                         listening to me. There are other
                         things that need to be taken into
                         account here. Like the whole spectrum
                         of human emotion. You're just lumping
                         everything into these two
                         categories... and, like, denying
                         everything else.

               Ms. Farmer stares at Donnie vehemently. She can't believe
               what she's hearing.

                                     DONNIE
                         People aren't that simple.

                                     MS. FARMER
                              (not knowing how to
                              argue with him)
                         If you don't complete the assignment,
                         you'll get a zero for the day.

               Donnie thinks for a moment... and then raises his hand.

               INT. PRINCIPAL COLE'S OFFICE - AFTERNOON (2 P.M.)

               Donnie and his parents sit in front of Principal Cole.

                                     PRINCIPAL COLE
                         Donald... let me preface this by
                         saying that your Iowa scores are...
                              (looking down at the
                              file)
                         ...intimidating.
                              (rubbing his temples)
                         So... let's go over this again. What
                         exactly did you say to Ms. Farmer?

               Donnie does not answer. We reveal Ms. Farmer standing in the
               corner.

                                     MS. FARMER
                              (furious)
                         He asked me to... forcibly insert
                         the Lifeline exercise card into my
                         anus!

[Cain]

Assume I only watched the first 20 minutes of Donnie Darko before Youtube deleted it.  And I caught the end 10 once after a night out and I saw some peeps watching the DVD.

Because thats what happened.

[LMNO]

Heh.  You should track that down.  It's worth it.

[Cain]

So I'm told.  I hope someone will upload another copy soon.

[eL sTiKo]

Wow - I had totally forgotten that scene.

Maybe the page intentionally left blank was the morals page...