Sunday Sharin' No. 3: Retribution

I watched Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street last Saturday. It's a gruesome musical that tackles about Vengeance. Ala-Count Of Monte Cristo type of backdrop. However, one thing that separates this film to all these "vengeful" themes was it's simple story-telling:

Sweeney Todd before was a simple man that goes by the name: Benjamin Barker. A man with a beautiful life has been seen by a discontented and envious Judge in a market together with his wife and daughter. Selfish love flowed out to the Judge when he saw Barker's gorgeous and elegant wife. He immediately took his power and imprisoned Barker for a crazy reason: None, since being a judge back then was amongst those who will never be questioned due to their status quo.

And so Benjamin was imprisoned for 15 years. 15 years was enough for him to build up hatred and vengeance in his lot. He went back to London to spill the blood of the men who took his beautiful life away... Even the innocent weren't excluded to his list. And thus he changed his name to Sweeney Todd.

I have learned from it that one of the main ingredients for brooding vengeance was discontentment among others. Envied, that despite of your good life, one will create a way to take it from you. Envy was also your main ticket from a discontented life. And the cycle goes. It will never stop. You will be eaten by vengeance, hatred and discontentment all throughout.

Now I understand why most of us, despite of having a worthy or unworthy reasons, cling to vengeance. It's so addicting that one could make a habit of it and mis conceptualized it as their own way of Justice.

Reflections:

I am quite sure that one of you had or has been in the mood to avenge. What are the things you imagined to do to your enemy to avenge something? Was it worth it? Why do you think that Justice was served in the ways of vengeance? Can we say that there's a thing called "good vengeance" due to some people repaying in kindness?