Death Note: There is No Justice

[@CH4R10T_TV]

me-shell foo-coo

[@Death2Capital]

This meme is very real

[@ShadinCore]

the position of character's like L towards Kira kinda remind's me of quote by Clive Barker about horror: “Horror fiction tends to be reactionary. It's usually about to return to the status quo -- the monster is the outsider who must be banished from the sanctum.”

[@Death2Capital]

It's certainly for a reason that queer people often see themselves in monsters

[@ajiththomas2465]

I mean, in this case, since Kira was a psychotic murderer with a God complex, the return to the status quo is justified. Not every outsider is a misunderstood outcast. A burglar is an outcast to your house but you don't want them barging into your house.

[@fotnite_]

@@ajiththomas2465 But also, just because you shouldn't want the burglar barging into your house doesn't mean you also want the institution of police that currently would put such a burglar in jail. I don't think that criticism of the the "sanctum" is an implicit defense of any "outsider" vying to get in.

[@ShadinCore]

@@ajiththomas2465 the same with most monsters in horror quote is is not about if what happens in the story is justified, but rather what story itself justifies

[@REVANSBACK]

L is interesting in this regard though, since although he implicitly defends the status quo's notion of justice, he isnt actually all that invested in it personally. He regularly breaks the law in order to further along his case, infringing on people's civil rights and privacies, working with criminals, stealing, etc... And on the flip side he cynically weaponizes the status quo to his benefit, like whenever he uses death row inmates as bait or for testing purposes. Ultimately, he and Light are alike in the sense that they have the childish notion that justice is all just a game. While practically speaking, the ones with a monopoly over violence make the rules, and their "game" is a meaningful determination of who will hold that monopoly, L is not principally concerned with the preservation of the current legal system. He doesnt even really care what happens after he gets the evidence he needs. To him its more about proving that his deduction is correct. Juat like how Light doesn't actually care about making the world a better place, but rather using that as a lever to display his moral supremacy, and therefore proving him worthy of worship. I will agree that the outcomes are depressing, because despite Kira losing nothing gets better. But living in America in 2023 and seeing much of the world on the brink of fascism, i have to appreciate that while the status quo needs improvements, thinga can always get worse too. And fascists' solutions for "fixing" things are not the right ones, just because they also criticize the status quo.

[@maroontiger1361]

This was super interesting. I hope to see more media analysis from you

[@thephysicsgamer123]

This whole discussion reminds me of something that happens in One Piece - There's this big battle brewing between a group of pirates and agents of the Government which is portrayed as a sort of battle for the fate of the world since a lot of major institutions are coming under threat, and one of the government's officers is trying to hype up his soldiers by saying things like "justice will prevail today," and one of his allies starts laughing and says "of course justice will prevail, because whoever wins today will become justice"

[@Lamia-666]

I can fix L, I know it 🥺

[@PillowWillow007]

Justice is dead.

[@richiethereal1236]

Wrong! I am justice!