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http://ift.tt/2EocJW6I’ll wax a bit on this, because I sort of got a much wider idea as I read and thought about it, and feel a short mini-essay coming on, namely about prejudice, preference, and tropes. We often think of prejudice in a very narrow sense, but the reality is the word is far broader than folks often use it, and prejudices can influence more than overt or the obvious, and into concepts too. Some folks are more inclined towards believing or seeing certain constructs in a story, be it fictional or non-fiction, and this can lead to misunderstandings. This is very common, for example, in Naruto in the case of the Uchiha clan and several of its members.
The idea of the oppressed/oppressor dynamic is hardly new, and it appeals to many it is simple and clear cut moral dichotomy. It is a particularly popular trope in modern times with certain segments of the population, even more than it is in general as a narrative device. And it is a trope, in the truest sense of the word before that damned website more or less did a hackjob on the concept of tropes. But I digress. I will point out certain narrative concepts like this have existed for centuries and beyond. Minor history lesson time!
In Roman records and literature, we see an often reoccuring theme of the evil and manipulative stepmother who engineers the downfall of folks to secure power for herself or her son. This was a sort of cultural concept, or trope, that was simply natural to many in Roman culture. In modern culture, or some segments in particular, the oppressed/oppressor dynamic is very natural, and very easy to fall into. It provides the clear-cut moral resolution that appeals to us in its simplicity.
The problem is, it isn’t true. It’s not true in fiction, how much more true is it even in real life? Not very much. The situation is far more complex than that. To return to Naruto, the entire situation of the Uchiha clan is a perfect example. It’s easy to say “Uchiha were oppressed, so they were plotting how to get out of that, and were killed for it by the village!” But that’s not really true. The truth is far more complex, with so many moving parts. Even in a fictional universe, which are simplistic by their nature compared to reality, this entire chain of interactions is maddeningly complex.
Critically, the motivations each group or person had can be compared both to the cause and the resulting action. For Tobirama, the cause of his distrust was very real fears about the Uchiha, legitimate ones. Yet his actions represent someone who is doing more than simply trying to oppress or exterminate. Some folks act like its Tobirama’s fault Madara didn’t become hokage, or even that Madara went ‘bad,’ when in reality, Madara was always unstable and had issues, and it wasn’t Tobirama OR Hashirama’s decision, it was the people, who did not want or choose Madara.
Likewise, when Tobirama became hokage, despite Madara’s fears that the Uchiha would be wiped out… they weren’t. They were given a place of authority. Obito attempted to twist that into intentional marginalization, but the fact of the matter is that makes no sense. You don’t give power over the law to someone you’re trying to exterminate. Particularly because if Tobirama REALLY wanted to exterminate the Uchiha, who would have stopped him, really? Tobirama, and the rest of the village, had trust issues when it came to the Uchiha. Those would have likely faded in time, as that is the course of things.
Except Madara made it worse, in two ways. Not only did he attack the village and thus cast doubts on his clan as a result, he also utilized the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, which would later come back to haunt.
However, I won’t go too deeper as I’m working on an essay on this.
The point is that Tobirama wasn’t wrong about Madara, or the Uchiha, but was willing to give them chances. Trust, but verify. He had come and gone, though, by the time the real ‘marginalization’ really actually hit, following… the Nine-Tails Attack, which was caused by an Uchiha. The resulting fears led to them planning a coup, which would have had very broad geopolitical fallout.
Which, of course, comes to Itachi and Danzo. Danzo is manipulative, that much is true; he’s one of the best actual NINJA in the show. His words were, in fact, a false choice that was presented to Itachi, yet Itachi still made the ultimate choice. Itachi’s actions to Sasuke, as well, were utterly unnecessary, and only hurt the person he ‘loved,’ because in reality, Itachi was an incredibly selfish person, in many ways. His actions towards his brother, who yes, he no doubt loves, were driven in a way that centered around Itachi, and his interactions with Sasuke, rather than letting Sasuke move past that.
Itachi is WHY Sasuke could not let go of hate for so long.
Regardless, the entire dynamic of oppressed/oppressor doesn’t work in the sort of world Naruto takes place. Even in our own world it lacks nuance and true grasp of concepts. Yet its NICE. It’s CLEAN and, most of all, in some cases, it supports other things we want to see. It’s very appealing to, for example, SNS shippers or the rather out there ItaSasu fans, or just in general folks who want easy slacktivist ‘wins.’
Bout to fall asleep, so imma cut this short, for now.
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