And on the issue of redemption (r) -- La Femme Nikita Fan Fiction Message Board

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Date Posted: Friday, January 13, 04:49:27am
Author: JayBee
Subject: And on the issue of redemption (r)
In reply to: Nell and Jaybee 's message, "Wednesday Roundup 1/11/2006" on Wednesday, January 11, 05:33:59pm

The essay you linked to was interesting in that it focused largely on Star Wars and Happy Potter, both of which involve what I would call somewhat more simplistic views of good and evil than does LFN. In those two fandoms, you have good and evil "sides," and a character can "redeem" him or herself by changing sides. (Although several people on that thread also argued, interestingly, that the mental state of the character is also critical, and that changing behavior from evil to good isn't enough for redemption if the character isn't motivated by a desire to atone.)

"Redemption" in the "shades of gray" LFN universe is a much messier issue.

One could take the position, for example, that by becoming a Section operative and fighting terrorism, a former convict could redeem him or herself for his or her previous crimes. One could even argue, fairly persuasively, that Section was presented to Michael in that way (whether or not he accepted that reasoning is another question) and that Madeline probably saw it as her personal road to redemption for the killing of her sister.

But...while Section's ends are just, as the saying goes, do the ends justify the means? If not, then by working for Section, a person would only *compound* the evil in the world and thus only be even in more need of redemption.

LFN doesn't provide any simple answers to this issue, and I think this is one of the things that fascinated me about the series.

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I know - the LFN world is compellingly gray. (r) -- Nell, Friday, January 13, 08:13:01am