Quote:
Originally Posted by Kazu-kun
It's this contradiction inside her what's going to doom her. There's nothing like that with Kyoko, she just lost faith and took a cynical route.
|
People live with conflicting ideas in their heads all the time; it's called cognitive dissonance (and you can see it on this, people with contradictions and double standards as to how they treat characters, heh). All that matters is what kind of self justification they come to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Triple_R
I mean, you might be right, but I think it's important to note that there's different kinds of idealism, and one type could be wrong while another type could be right.
*snip*
These are two very different idealistic takes, and are even diametrically opposed to one another to a degree.
|
While I'd agree on a difference, I'd argue that it ultimately doesn't matter. In an idealistic universe, idealism works. It doesn't matter what type of idealism so much, so long as it is considered "good" idealism and the types of idealism don't contradict. Sayaka and Madoka (and Mami) were all doing "good" things, and in an idealistic world, that would be rewarded. Perhaps some hardship along the way, but ultimately triumphing.
Since Mami is dead and Sayaka is supposedly headed for a psychotic breakdown and Madoka is ineffectual, I personally think the writing is fairly clear. Especially when you consider that Kyoko and Homura's cynicism is presented more favorably.
Of course, Gen could pull an idealistic ending out of his ass, but there would be no basis for it and amount to shoddy writing. For idealism to win, there has to be some victories on the way for it, and we've seen none of that.
But it's also a great point to use for character growth. Mami didn't learn that, so she died. Sayaka still has a chance to learn it, and if she doesn't, Madoka will have to. Life is teaching them that cynicism is what works, not idealism, and that's the character growth that awaits them if they want to get through this.
That is, if Gen is going to be consistent in showing that a magical girl world is not all rainbows and hearts and sparkles. If he diverges to that, then he'll have to ignore everything he's built up so far. It would be like building a colorful circus tent on top of a rundown, shabby building; would seem horribly out of place.