Do you fear death? I know, ominous way to start a column. But just hear me out, yeah? Whenever you’re watching a show or movie about an evil wizard, what is the most stereotypical motive they can have? Some of you may read this and say “That’s obvious: Power.” Others might say “It’s love, right?
About one-third of every fantasy book I heard of has a villain that becomes evil due to a broken heart.” And the person reading this who has never seen media from the fantasy genre will say “I dunno….the wizard wanted to bring his dead dog back?”
While all of these are valid answers, the one I am gonna be focusing on today is this: The wizard wants to become immortal because he fears death. Is a common fact that death is one of the most widespread phobias of all time. Which makes sense, I suppose. No one wants to die (at least I hope no one reading this does, as I don’t have the therapeutic skills nor the maturity necessary to deal with something like that). It is because of this that the topic of death and mortality has become just an often-used topic in the media.
For the protagonists, whenever the topic of death is brought up, it is usually either when someone close to the protagonist dies or when they themselves are on the verge of death, only to be saved at the last minute. These moments are often meant for the protagonists to either reflect on themselves or to motivate them to get closer to their goal.
For the readers, though, it can be used as a learning lesson: No one is untouchable. No one is immune to death, whether it is our world or a fictional one. Why is this? I mean, shouldn’t this statement be obvious?
Last time I checked, there’s no record of anyone achieving immortality.
Maybe it’s because, with our these distractions that plague our world, with our obsession with what’s new and our insistence on worshiping those we see as intelligent or more morally righteous than the average person, we forget that, no matter what we purchase or accomplish, you, me and your idol is only mortal.
None of us are immune to death, none of us are more goldy than anyone else. When we acknowledge this, I believe we can all learn to be more respectful to one-another. This is Kevin Kaumans, your beloved columnist, signing off.