My favorite part about Death Note is that the whole point of the series is “Nobody could be trusted with a power such as this and the existence of such a thing would only lead to ruin,” but every single person who watches it, including me, can only think “yeah, but if I had that power, I would weild it responsibly and only use it to fix things.”
It’s kind of genius in a metatextual way, because that’s exactly what would make an artifact like the Death Note so tempting in the first place. During the stint where Light loses his memory for a bit, you get the impression that he would just be a regular person if he never had the notebook in the first place. He could have grown up to be a cop like his dad. But one day he finds himself with the power to kill instantly and anonymously, and who wouldn’t at least think about using that in a world where injustice happens every day?
I think it’s a near universal human experience to see a horrific crime on the news and think “that person should hang”. It’s a form of temporary tribalism that affects even the most hardened opponents of capital punishment. But most of us are never given a means of acting on that dark thought, so it just remains a thought and we move on. I think what makes Death Note such a great concept is that Tsugumi Ohba tapped into this experience and really examined it.
On average, most people given a Death Note would probably list at least one high-profile idiot that would have caused way more deaths through their reign of terror than a Death Note ever could. In that respect, I would say no amount of evil wreaked by writing names would outweigh the good from that one name, and it’s arguably a net good.
Honestly, some of the worst idiots would have to slow down the kill people with a Death Note, so giving them one might be considered a net good as well.
My favorite part about Death Note is that the whole point of the series is “Nobody could be trusted with a power such as this and the existence of such a thing would only lead to ruin,” but every single person who watches it, including me, can only think “yeah, but if I had that power, I would weild it responsibly and only use it to fix things.”
It’s kind of genius in a metatextual way, because that’s exactly what would make an artifact like the Death Note so tempting in the first place. During the stint where Light loses his memory for a bit, you get the impression that he would just be a regular person if he never had the notebook in the first place. He could have grown up to be a cop like his dad. But one day he finds himself with the power to kill instantly and anonymously, and who wouldn’t at least think about using that in a world where injustice happens every day?
I think it’s a near universal human experience to see a horrific crime on the news and think “that person should hang”. It’s a form of temporary tribalism that affects even the most hardened opponents of capital punishment. But most of us are never given a means of acting on that dark thought, so it just remains a thought and we move on. I think what makes Death Note such a great concept is that Tsugumi Ohba tapped into this experience and really examined it.
God, I love this series. Can you tell?
On average, most people given a Death Note would probably list at least one high-profile idiot that would have caused way more deaths through their reign of terror than a Death Note ever could. In that respect, I would say no amount of evil wreaked by writing names would outweigh the good from that one name, and it’s arguably a net good.
Honestly, some of the worst idiots would have to slow down the kill people with a Death Note, so giving them one might be considered a net good as well.