Grado de dificultad: 3 (Por el idioma).

Columnista: Roberto

A tale of the Greek Mythology

This is about the ancient Greek legend, of a narrow path guarded by two monsters,

  • Charybdis, who would suck the ships down to the depth of the sea,
  • And Scylla, whose multiple heads would swallow the sailors.

Homer immortalized the legend in the Odyssey, where Odysseus, captain of the ship, chose to sacrifice half of his crew, passing near Scylla rather than Charybdis.

The message transmitted by the legend is a justification to the election between two evils. The English Wikipedia article calls it the proverbial advice “to choose the lesser of two evils”.

But there is no such thing as a lesser evil.

Funnily, that’s exactly what Geralt of Rivia (the Witcher) thinks of such choices. And that makes him worth of respect to me.

In the Odyssey, Odysseus sacrifices his men in a selfish decision to get back home, putting his personal interest above everything else.

The lemma of postmodernism

Why do I start an article with this legend? Because it well defines the world in which we live.

There is a pattern in the behavior of powerful people. Look, to start with, at our “dear friend” Mr Carlos Ghosn.

He had a reputation of easily sacrificing corporation’s workers to save money for the shareholders. Interest of the Company? Yeah, sure! And for a very small fee.

Then, when convicted, he putted his personal interest above all the rest, and sacrificed his lawyers, his accomplices (and, well, a lot of money) to escape.

“The lesser evil”, they say.

And he will do it again.

He is not alone. There is also this president, who got caught in multiple scandals and even cases of high treason.

To get away with it, he just decided to sacrifice his own country, starting a war… And old and well-known tactic.

“The lesser evil”, they say (Scylla, I presume?).

It doesn’t have to be that way

In this beginning of 2020, we, TMN nerds, can perceive the preoccupation of our readers. You are “distracted”, and it is understandable.

Because you, like us, will (or would be) among those who are sacrificed. In this beginning of 2020, it is very visible.

Know that it doesn’t have to be that way.

If more people like Geralt of Rivia chose not to elect one of two evils, less powerful people would propose such choices.

It also means that we will continue to talk about futile movies and TV series. In the end, they are not that futile.

Happy and better new year to you all.