Objection you podcaster!
Whit isn’t responsible for whether or not the kids make good decisions. In fact, Whit kind of does what Morrie does. So why are we fine with Whit gives kids moral dilemmas that they must solve, but Morrie we judge? And Buck doesn’t fill a gas tank all the way, and we find that humorous! Like you said, it’s not a justification, but I believe it is something to think about.
Also, what about Whit’s Afterlife Program, and how Eugene, voluntarily, experienced a tiny taste of the underworld! And we didn’t know what that was going to happen, and it also traumatized him.
It’s true that Whit isn’t responsible for the actions of the kids. But he wants to help them make the right decisions and truly just wants to push them in the right direction. He cares about every kid he encounters and wants to help them do the right thing. Morrie, on the other hand, sees the kids around him not as his peers, but as his puppets for enjoyment. He is testing Emily, Matthew, and Olivia out of amusement and curiosity. He doesn’t really seem to care if he hurts them along the way. That’s entirely different from Whit does. You bring up Buck in “Badges of Honor.” Buck had innocent and good intentions. He didn’t fill up a gas tank. That’s a far cry from what Morrie did in most, if not all of his episodes.
If I recall correctly, it was against the wishes of Tom that Eugene enter the program. It was ultimately his fault that he decided to go into that program. It is very unfortunate for Eugene’s sake that it happened and it wasn’t a naturally-induced incident. But “The Mortal Coil” is a whole episode that could be unraveled.
But I do think you are still thinking of Morrie as an out and out villain, which I was what I truly wanted, was for him to be a evil mastermind, wanting to take a mental hold on the kids of Odyssey. And he is a mastermind. But not an out and out evil one. He does, at the end of the day, feel sorry for his actions. And I believe the next Rydell episode will be where he regrets his actions, and tries to make it up to everyone (which, if you want to make a tad bit humorous, make it to where he gets so desperate that he does something completely out of character, which would lead Emily to think he’s trying to game her, when in fact he’s not. Just a thought). Morrie‘a still a kid. He will have consequences, but he’s got a talent, and he needs something you use it for. Matthew didn’t want to do A Sacrificial Escape, though from Writer’s Ruse, it seemed like he still enjoyed it, so he didn’t experience Further From the Truth. But Emily did. He wanted to bring out the good in his friends. Perhaps to test them, but there was a part of him that wanted to help Emily, and giver her challenge, something she enjoyed. Olivia only had Parker for President and the Good in People. Matthew has Parker for President, semi the Key Suspect, Secret of the Writer’s Ruse, and A Sacrificial Escape. No more than that. But Emily, wanted more. And so she got it. Maybe pushing her to the edge of endurance is a bit too much, but she enjoyed it. Of course, you could argue that Emily was getting annoyed by Further From the Truth, but I believe, if Rydell Revelations hadn’t happened directly after Further From the Truth, Morrie wouldn’t have done more.
Okay, I’m done. Apologies for another long comment.
Thank you for this! I’ve been listening to this podcast for awhile and am really intrigued by this discussion. I love some of the points the two of you made.
Here are my thoughts:
What Morrie did was absolutely wrong. His intentions may have been good, but what he actually did was flat-out wrong. Like you said, the ends don’t justify the means.
Everything Morrie did was based off /deception/. That wasn’t the only wrong he committed throughout the series, but it was the main one. He lied, over and over again, and paid people to lie for him. Lying is wrong; the Bible is very clear on this one. Even when it’s to “bring out the good” in people.
A prime example of this is Buck in the episode “Old Tricks”. Buck told a lie in order to get Eugene a job (ahem, to /bring out the good/ in Eugene. I know it’s not a perfect comparison, but it’s similar enough to be worth considering). But this was still portrayed as wrong because Buck /lied/. If Morrie was right in these episodes, then Buck was right to lie in “Old Tricks”. Connie was right to yell at her Sunday school class in “Millstones”, because she had good intentions.
Another thing to think about: What Mr. Whittaker does in the imagination station is different because it’s not based off of deception. Kids /know/ they’re in the IS. They might be in a scary situation, but in the end, they know it’s just a game. Morrie was not up front with his games–he made people believe they were real. So again, Morrie operates off of deception, while Mr. Whittaker is honest with the kids. It’s not a fair comparison.
Good intentions by themselves don’t make someone a hero; when paired with sinful actions (lying, manipulation, stirring up controversy, not to mention the emotional trauma Morrie put Emily through in “A Sacrificial Escape”), they make a much more complex villain–but a villain, nonetheless.
I really hope Odyssey realizes what they’ve communicated and makes an effort to clear it up. It worries me that this is getting communicated to 8-12 year olds, who might not have the maturity to think through these tough questions.
“… 8-12 year olds, who might not have the maturity to think through these tough questions.”
I argue that they can think more complex. And this wasn’t exactly put in the episode, albeit implied.
Objection you podcaster!
Whit isn’t responsible for whether or not the kids make good decisions. In fact, Whit kind of does what Morrie does. So why are we fine with Whit gives kids moral dilemmas that they must solve, but Morrie we judge? And Buck doesn’t fill a gas tank all the way, and we find that humorous! Like you said, it’s not a justification, but I believe it is something to think about.
Also, what about Whit’s Afterlife Program, and how Eugene, voluntarily, experienced a tiny taste of the underworld! And we didn’t know what that was going to happen, and it also traumatized him.
It’s true that Whit isn’t responsible for the actions of the kids. But he wants to help them make the right decisions and truly just wants to push them in the right direction. He cares about every kid he encounters and wants to help them do the right thing. Morrie, on the other hand, sees the kids around him not as his peers, but as his puppets for enjoyment. He is testing Emily, Matthew, and Olivia out of amusement and curiosity. He doesn’t really seem to care if he hurts them along the way. That’s entirely different from Whit does. You bring up Buck in “Badges of Honor.” Buck had innocent and good intentions. He didn’t fill up a gas tank. That’s a far cry from what Morrie did in most, if not all of his episodes.
If I recall correctly, it was against the wishes of Tom that Eugene enter the program. It was ultimately his fault that he decided to go into that program. It is very unfortunate for Eugene’s sake that it happened and it wasn’t a naturally-induced incident. But “The Mortal Coil” is a whole episode that could be unraveled.
Fair, fair.
But I do think you are still thinking of Morrie as an out and out villain, which I was what I truly wanted, was for him to be a evil mastermind, wanting to take a mental hold on the kids of Odyssey. And he is a mastermind. But not an out and out evil one. He does, at the end of the day, feel sorry for his actions. And I believe the next Rydell episode will be where he regrets his actions, and tries to make it up to everyone (which, if you want to make a tad bit humorous, make it to where he gets so desperate that he does something completely out of character, which would lead Emily to think he’s trying to game her, when in fact he’s not. Just a thought). Morrie‘a still a kid. He will have consequences, but he’s got a talent, and he needs something you use it for. Matthew didn’t want to do A Sacrificial Escape, though from Writer’s Ruse, it seemed like he still enjoyed it, so he didn’t experience Further From the Truth. But Emily did. He wanted to bring out the good in his friends. Perhaps to test them, but there was a part of him that wanted to help Emily, and giver her challenge, something she enjoyed. Olivia only had Parker for President and the Good in People. Matthew has Parker for President, semi the Key Suspect, Secret of the Writer’s Ruse, and A Sacrificial Escape. No more than that. But Emily, wanted more. And so she got it. Maybe pushing her to the edge of endurance is a bit too much, but she enjoyed it. Of course, you could argue that Emily was getting annoyed by Further From the Truth, but I believe, if Rydell Revelations hadn’t happened directly after Further From the Truth, Morrie wouldn’t have done more.
Okay, I’m done. Apologies for another long comment.
Oh, replace that last “we” with “he”.
Thank you for this! I’ve been listening to this podcast for awhile and am really intrigued by this discussion. I love some of the points the two of you made.
Here are my thoughts:
What Morrie did was absolutely wrong. His intentions may have been good, but what he actually did was flat-out wrong. Like you said, the ends don’t justify the means.
Everything Morrie did was based off /deception/. That wasn’t the only wrong he committed throughout the series, but it was the main one. He lied, over and over again, and paid people to lie for him. Lying is wrong; the Bible is very clear on this one. Even when it’s to “bring out the good” in people.
A prime example of this is Buck in the episode “Old Tricks”. Buck told a lie in order to get Eugene a job (ahem, to /bring out the good/ in Eugene. I know it’s not a perfect comparison, but it’s similar enough to be worth considering). But this was still portrayed as wrong because Buck /lied/. If Morrie was right in these episodes, then Buck was right to lie in “Old Tricks”. Connie was right to yell at her Sunday school class in “Millstones”, because she had good intentions.
Another thing to think about: What Mr. Whittaker does in the imagination station is different because it’s not based off of deception. Kids /know/ they’re in the IS. They might be in a scary situation, but in the end, they know it’s just a game. Morrie was not up front with his games–he made people believe they were real. So again, Morrie operates off of deception, while Mr. Whittaker is honest with the kids. It’s not a fair comparison.
Good intentions by themselves don’t make someone a hero; when paired with sinful actions (lying, manipulation, stirring up controversy, not to mention the emotional trauma Morrie put Emily through in “A Sacrificial Escape”), they make a much more complex villain–but a villain, nonetheless.
I really hope Odyssey realizes what they’ve communicated and makes an effort to clear it up. It worries me that this is getting communicated to 8-12 year olds, who might not have the maturity to think through these tough questions.
“… 8-12 year olds, who might not have the maturity to think through these tough questions.”
I argue that they can think more complex. And this wasn’t exactly put in the episode, albeit implied.
Awesome post!!