feotakahari

I’m not sure what writer at Spike Chunsoft is responsible for the running themes across Danganronpa and Zanki Zero, but it feels like they read Atlas Shrugged, agreed with Ayn Rand’s ideas about the way the world does work, but disagreed that it should work this way and found it existentially horrifying. Nagito Komaeda feels like a grotesque parody of people who accept Rand’s worldview and think it’s a good thing. He believes that the other students are like John Galt, but that he himself isn’t, and that this makes him “trash” fit only to be used and degraded by the worthy.

Or, this would have been an Evenicle post, but none of you know what Evenicle is

The most vicious takedown I’ve seen of Nagito Komaeda’s personality is that he only values people as abstract figures, not as people. In his view, a great person is made greater by facing tragedy and overcoming it, so if someone he respects suffers a loss, he celebrates it. He doesn’t really get the idea that other people feel bad about loss, or that they resent him for treating their suffering like a good thing. Their feelings aren’t just irrelevant to him. They’re invisible, because feelings aren’t a part of his worldview.

Shit like Star Trek or Enchantress from the Stars* is built on a worldview of gradual positive progression. People suffer, and because of their efforts to alleviate their suffering, society grows greater. So you can’t act to help them, or their society won’t grow. Suffering feels bad and people don’t want it, but that’s not relevant to the grand sweep of history, so it’s ignored. And that’s why the Prime Directive makes you as morally bankrupt as fucking Komaeda.

*My entire grudge against the Prime Directive began with Enchantress from the Stars.