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Anime and Manga
The world isn't as bad as you think.
— Celty Sturluson, Durarara!!
Nothing's perfect, the world's not perfect, but it's there for us, trying the best it can. That's what makes it so damn beautiful.
— Roy Mustang, Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)
The world is not beautiful: therefore it is.
— Various, Kino's Journey
Char: Axis has started its descent!
Amuro: This Nu Gundam isn't just for show! Huh? What are you doing? Stop it! You don't have to go along with this! Back off! Get away from here!
Soldier: We can't let Londo Bell hog all the glory!
Amuro: The Geara Dogas, too? Fall back! It's hopeless!
Soldier: We'll never know unless we try! The Earth is at stake!
Amuro: That's enough! Everyone, stop!
Char: In the end, the tragedies of mankind will spread and destroy the Earth. It's inevitable. That's why the human race must atone for what they have done to their planet. It's judgment day for humanity! Amuro, why can't you understand that?
Amuro: Get back! My Gundam is...
Char: What's this? The Psycoframes are resonating! So much willpower focused here. Will it overload? That being said, I'm not sensing fear. It's more like... How can I explain? Warmth! Even a sense of peace! Fascinating! Even those with the warmest of hearts still have the potential to destroy the Earth! Why can't you see that, Amuro?
Amuro: I do! That's why we have to show the world the light within the human heart!
Amuro: This Nu Gundam isn't just for show! Huh? What are you doing? Stop it! You don't have to go along with this! Back off! Get away from here!
Soldier: We can't let Londo Bell hog all the glory!
Amuro: The Geara Dogas, too? Fall back! It's hopeless!
Soldier: We'll never know unless we try! The Earth is at stake!
Amuro: That's enough! Everyone, stop!
Char: In the end, the tragedies of mankind will spread and destroy the Earth. It's inevitable. That's why the human race must atone for what they have done to their planet. It's judgment day for humanity! Amuro, why can't you understand that?
Amuro: Get back! My Gundam is...
Char: What's this? The Psycoframes are resonating! So much willpower focused here. Will it overload? That being said, I'm not sensing fear. It's more like... How can I explain? Warmth! Even a sense of peace! Fascinating! Even those with the warmest of hearts still have the potential to destroy the Earth! Why can't you see that, Amuro?
Amuro: I do! That's why we have to show the world the light within the human heart!
If someone says it's wrong to have hope, then I'll tell them they're wrong, every single time. And I know I'll always tell them so.
— Madoka Kaname, Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Though this irredeemable world... continues repeating its hatred and tragedies... this is still the place that she once tried to protect... I remember that. And I will never forget it. That is why... I will keep fighting.
— Homura Akemi, Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Comic Books
Marty: Sorry. I'm sorry, Paulie. I didn't want to cry in front of you, but I can't help it. It's just so... unfair. There are so many awful people in the world. And so few good ones.
Paulie: No, dear. I think there are just people. Sometimes those people are on our side, and sometimes, they're not. Sometimes we understand them, and sometimes they're utterly beyond our understanding. But I think anyone can be a good person under the right circumstances, and everyone deserves a chance to show it.
Paulie: No, dear. I think there are just people. Sometimes those people are on our side, and sometimes, they're not. Sometimes we understand them, and sometimes they're utterly beyond our understanding. But I think anyone can be a good person under the right circumstances, and everyone deserves a chance to show it.
— Circles
Fan Works
Chara: You are right, Asriel. I have been a terrible person. Yet, during that moment, they decided to...
Asriel: Chara...
Chara: This world has good things to offer. I need to see all of that... and figure out how I can contribute. That way, perhaps one day, I'll have done more good than harm.
Asriel: Chara...
Chara: This world has good things to offer. I need to see all of that... and figure out how I can contribute. That way, perhaps one day, I'll have done more good than harm.
At night, you can’t see the pollution, the way the ocean is discolored and how rubble washes up on the beach every day, no matter how hard you all work to try to clean it. You can’t see all the things that you helped do to ruin the planet. Mostly, you see are the stars and the moon, the reminders that there are some things you couldn’t ruin, some things you didn’t destroy.
Film - Animated
They say that our tree may never grow back. But one day something will. Yes, these crackles are made of synthetic goose and these giblets come from artificial squab and even these apples look fake - but at least they've got stars on them.
"When I was a kid, I thought Zootopia was this perfect place where everyone got along and anyone could be anything. Turns out, real life's a little bit more complicated than a slogan on a bumper sticker. Real life is messy. We all have limitations. We all make mistakes. Which means, hey, glass half full, we all have a lot in common. And the more we try to understand one another, the more exceptional each of us will be. But we have to try. So no matter what kind of animal you are, from the biggest elephant, to our first fox, I implore you: Try. Try to make the world a better place. Look inside yourself and recognize that change starts with you. It starts with me. It starts with all of us."
—Judy Hopps, Zootopia
Film - Live-Action
"Can't rain all the time..."
—Eric Draven, The Crow (1994)
"I'm in a world of shit... yes. But I am alive. And I am not afraid."
—Private Joker, Full Metal Jacket
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times; but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.
Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.
Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo; the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end... because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was, when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding on to, Sam?
Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for.
"It's a blundering world and a very sad one, yet kindness can make it beautiful."
—The Girl, Monsieur Verdoux
Ernest Hemingway once wrote, "The world is a fine place and worth fighting for." I agree with the second part.
— Somerset, Se7en
River: Storm's getting worse.
Mal: We'll pass through it soon enough.
Mal: We'll pass through it soon enough.
— Serenity
"But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light."
— Professor Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Literature
It's not a perfect universe, Victor. That doesn't absolve us from the responsibility of making it better. Just remember that it'll never be perfect - and, if you're not careful how you do it, trying to make it so just makes it worse.
— Kevin Usher, Crown of Slaves
Gurgeh cleared his throat. "No, life is not fair. Not intrinsically."
The apex turned away in exasperation, clutching again at the curled stone top of the battlements. "It's something we can try to make it, though," Gurgeh continued. "A goal we can aim for. You can choose to do so, or not. We have. I’m sorry you find us so repulsive for that."
The apex turned away in exasperation, clutching again at the curled stone top of the battlements. "It's something we can try to make it, though," Gurgeh continued. "A goal we can aim for. You can choose to do so, or not. We have. I’m sorry you find us so repulsive for that."
It was difficult for her to admit, but at the cost of sufficient effort, sometimes heroic, inhuman effort, things could get better over time.
Live-Action TV
Anan 7: There can be no peace. Don't you see? We've admitted it to ourselves. We're a killer species. It's instinctive. It's the same with you. Your General Order 24...
Captain Kirk: All right. It's instinctive. But the instinct can be fought. We're human beings with the blood of a million savage years on our hands, but we can stop it. We can admit that we're killers, but we're not going to kill today. That's all it takes. Knowing that we won't kill... today.
Captain Kirk: All right. It's instinctive. But the instinct can be fought. We're human beings with the blood of a million savage years on our hands, but we can stop it. We can admit that we're killers, but we're not going to kill today. That's all it takes. Knowing that we won't kill... today.
-— Star Trek: The Original Series, "A Taste Of Armageddon"
Lal: I watch them and I can do the things they do... but I'll never feel the emotions. I'll never know love.
Data: That is a limitation we must learn to accept, Lal.
Lal: Then why do you still try to emulate humans? What purpose does it serve except to remind you that you are incomplete?
Data: I have asked myself that many times as I have struggled to be more human, Lal. Until I finally realized that it is the struggle itself that is most important. We must strive to be better than we are. It does not matter that we will never reach our ultimate goal. The effort yields its own rewards.
Data: That is a limitation we must learn to accept, Lal.
Lal: Then why do you still try to emulate humans? What purpose does it serve except to remind you that you are incomplete?
Data: I have asked myself that many times as I have struggled to be more human, Lal. Until I finally realized that it is the struggle itself that is most important. We must strive to be better than we are. It does not matter that we will never reach our ultimate goal. The effort yields its own rewards.
— Star Trek: The Next Generation, "The Offspring"
Bashir: I'm afraid 21st century history isn't one of my strong suits. Too depressing.
Sisko: It's always been a hobby of mine. They made some ugly mistakes, but they also paved the way for a lot of the things we take for granted.
Sisko: It's always been a hobby of mine. They made some ugly mistakes, but they also paved the way for a lot of the things we take for granted.
— Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, "Past Tense"
Bashir: Look at him. There's no need for that man to live like that. With the right medication, he could lead a full and normal life.
Sisko: Maybe in our time.
Bashir: Not just in our time. There were any number of effective treatments for schizophrenia, even in this day and age. They could cure that man now. Today. If they gave a damn.
Sisko: It's not that they don't give a damn, Doctor. It's that they've given up. The social problems facing them seem too enormous to deal with.
Bashir: That only makes it worse. Causing people to suffer because you hate them is terrible... but causing them to suffer because you've forgotten how to care... that's even harder to understand.
Sisko: They'll remember. It'll take time, and it won't be easy, but eventually people in this century will remember how to care.
Sisko: Maybe in our time.
Bashir: Not just in our time. There were any number of effective treatments for schizophrenia, even in this day and age. They could cure that man now. Today. If they gave a damn.
Sisko: It's not that they don't give a damn, Doctor. It's that they've given up. The social problems facing them seem too enormous to deal with.
Bashir: That only makes it worse. Causing people to suffer because you hate them is terrible... but causing them to suffer because you've forgotten how to care... that's even harder to understand.
Sisko: They'll remember. It'll take time, and it won't be easy, but eventually people in this century will remember how to care.
— Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, "Past Tense"
Ethan: Krupa's still missing. Mary's dead.
Fusco: Yeah, we did the best we could.
Ethan: It wasn't enough.
Fusco: Hey, it never is. That's the curse of what we do, and why we never stop.
Fusco: Yeah, we did the best we could.
Ethan: It wasn't enough.
Fusco: Hey, it never is. That's the curse of what we do, and why we never stop.
— Person of Interest, "ShotSeeker"
Father Camilleri: The world will never be perfect, but if good men do good things, it can be better. Every day can get better.
— Supernatural, "A Most Holy Man"
Music
Anyone perfect must be lying, anything easy has its cost
Anyone plain can be lovely, anyone loved can be lost
What if I lost my direction? What if I lost sense of time?
What if I nursed this infection? Maybe the worst is behind
It feels just like I'm falling for the first time
It feels just like I'm falling for the first time
Anyone plain can be lovely, anyone loved can be lost
What if I lost my direction? What if I lost sense of time?
What if I nursed this infection? Maybe the worst is behind
It feels just like I'm falling for the first time
It feels just like I'm falling for the first time
— Barenaked Ladies, "Falling for the First Time"
Yeah, the wars, they will be fought again.
The holy dove, she will be caught again.
Bought, and sold, and bought again.
The dove is never free.
Ring the bells that still can ring.
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything.
That's how the light gets in.
The holy dove, she will be caught again.
Bought, and sold, and bought again.
The dove is never free.
Ring the bells that still can ring.
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything.
That's how the light gets in.
— Leonard Cohen, "Anthem"
I can only build if I tear the walls down
Even if it breaks me I won't let it make me frown
I'm falling but no matter how hard I hit the ground
I'll still smile.
Even if it breaks me I won't let it make me frown
I'm falling but no matter how hard I hit the ground
I'll still smile.
— Eyedea And Abilities, "Smile"
There is no Superman in that phone booth
There is no rewarding our faith
There is no one who can save us
So it's a good thing we don't need to be saved
There is no rewarding our faith
There is no one who can save us
So it's a good thing we don't need to be saved
— Sifu Guante Hotman, "Matches"
No one in the world ever gets what they want
And that is beautiful.
Everybody dies frustrated and sad
And that is beautiful.
And that is beautiful.
Everybody dies frustrated and sad
And that is beautiful.
— They Might Be Giants, "Don't Let's Start"
In this happy sing-song hellhole
In this torture-house of glee
In this perfect playpen prison
There's so much to do and see
In this torture-house of glee
In this perfect playpen prison
There's so much to do and see
—King Missile, "Happy Hour"
There’s too many men, too many people
Making too many problems
And not much love to go ‘round
Can’t you see this is a land of confusion?
This is the world we live in! (Oh-oh!)
And these are the hands we’re given! (Woah-oh!)
Use them, and let’s start trying! (Oh-oh!)
To make it a place worth living in!
Making too many problems
And not much love to go ‘round
Can’t you see this is a land of confusion?
This is the world we live in! (Oh-oh!)
And these are the hands we’re given! (Woah-oh!)
Use them, and let’s start trying! (Oh-oh!)
To make it a place worth living in!
— "Genesis, "Land of Confusion"
Poetry
O look, look in the mirror,
O look in your distress:
Life remains a blessing
Although you cannot bless.
O stand, stand at the window
As the tears scald and start;
You shall love your crooked neighbour
With your crooked heart.
O look in your distress:
Life remains a blessing
Although you cannot bless.
O stand, stand at the window
As the tears scald and start;
You shall love your crooked neighbour
With your crooked heart.
— W. H. Auden, "As I Went Out One Evening"
Tabletop Games
Despite the dire circumstances facing the world, hope still remains. It may be scattered, dimmed, assaulted on all sides, but it has not been extinguished. A farmer stands against the oncoming soldiers, giving his friends and family time to flee. A merchant, with a kindly smile, hands a loaf of bread to a poor beggar. A paladin, the last of his order, continues his quest to rid the world of a demon-prince. Across Etharis, small acts of kindness, of bravery, of charity, all stand out amidst the dark backdrop. Few and far between, their scarcity only serves to make them more special.
— Grim Hollow Player's Guide
Video Games
The City did not rise without struggle. Warlords and wilderness fiefdoms clung to power. Starvation, disease, and anarchy menaced. But the Guardians held the frontier, and the children of the Golden Age kept the fire burning through the long climb back.
Legends walk through this history. The Iron Lords. Saint-14's crusade against the Fallen. The mask of the Speaker. The great Ahamkara Hunt. Toland's madness. Terrible Faction Wars - and the horrifying, disastrous effort to retake the Moon.
As the City learned to walk again, it found a world overrun by alien menace. It faced disaster and defeat. Even in recent years, as Guardians begin to venture back to the Moon and the inner planets, the City's territory has withdrawn - outer sections abandoned and converted into fortifications in the wake of the Battle of Twilight Gap.
But the City's shipwrights and foundries hum with energy. The probability kilns and work cooperatives produce new wonders. The Darkness is rising again. But so is the Light.
Legends walk through this history. The Iron Lords. Saint-14's crusade against the Fallen. The mask of the Speaker. The great Ahamkara Hunt. Toland's madness. Terrible Faction Wars - and the horrifying, disastrous effort to retake the Moon.
As the City learned to walk again, it found a world overrun by alien menace. It faced disaster and defeat. Even in recent years, as Guardians begin to venture back to the Moon and the inner planets, the City's territory has withdrawn - outer sections abandoned and converted into fortifications in the wake of the Battle of Twilight Gap.
But the City's shipwrights and foundries hum with energy. The probability kilns and work cooperatives produce new wonders. The Darkness is rising again. But so is the Light.
—The City Age, Destiny: Grimoire: The City
It's like... Did you ever try to put a broken piece of glass back together? Even if the pieces fit, you can't make it whole again the way it was. But if you're clever, you can still use the pieces to make other useful things. Maybe even something wonderful, like a mosaic.
— Moira Brown, Fallout 3
Ashley: It's strange. The geth are attacking, and everyone around here is still worried about ordinary business.
Liara: I find it comforting. The pain and joy of ordinary life... that is what we are fighting to protect.
Liara: I find it comforting. The pain and joy of ordinary life... that is what we are fighting to protect.
People are messy, awkward, sometimes selfish and cruel. But they're trying, and I'm going to make sure they have a chance.
— Commander Shepard, Mass Effect 2
I get it. This won't stop until I die. But when I die, I want it to hurt. When my friends leave, when I have to let go, when this entire town is wiped off the map, I want it to hurt. Bad. I want to lose. I want to get beaten up. I want to hold on until I'm thrown off and everything ends. And you know what? Until that happens, I want to hope again. And I want it to hurt. Because that means it meant something. It means I am something, at least ...pretty amazing to be something, at least...
—Mae Borowski, Night in the Woods
"However ruined this world has become, however mired in torment and despair... Life endures. Births continue. There is beauty in that, is there not? If you would become Lord, do not deny this notion."
— Melina, Elden Ring
"Coming together despite our differences is not easy. Staying together is a never-ending struggle that spans generations. What we are building is difficult, but that makes it worthwhile. Ultimately, we are what we do when it counts."
— Chancellor Li Qingzhao, Terra Invicta
Kalin Kessler: I saw your duel against Yusei. It's like you wanted to end everything to end because nothing makes you happy anymore.
Z-one: Everything to end...
Kalin: I know how you feel. You want to forget everything and be at peace — but you can't. Am I right?
Z-one: ......
Kalin: Still, Yusei tried to save you. He still wants to save you to this day. But I'm not Yusei. I can't save you. I'm not the type of person who gives people hope. However... I'm willing to face you. And all of your baggage. Even someone like me can help Yusei a little.
Z-one: You're going to sacrifice yourself for Yusei?
Kalin: How is it a sacrifice when I'm going to win? Let's see if both of us can find it in our hearts to keep on living!
Z-one: Everything to end...
Kalin: I know how you feel. You want to forget everything and be at peace — but you can't. Am I right?
Z-one: ......
Kalin: Still, Yusei tried to save you. He still wants to save you to this day. But I'm not Yusei. I can't save you. I'm not the type of person who gives people hope. However... I'm willing to face you. And all of your baggage. Even someone like me can help Yusei a little.
Z-one: You're going to sacrifice yourself for Yusei?
Kalin: How is it a sacrifice when I'm going to win? Let's see if both of us can find it in our hearts to keep on living!
Webcomics
The Player: We seem to have natural tendencies toward violence, bigotry, xenophobia... and genocide.
Radd: Will it always be that way?
The Player: Who knows? I'd like to believe we can advance beyond it, but we seem to have so far to go. It might be futile.
Radd: Then why even try?
The Player: Because we have to. If there's just the slightest chance we can make ourselves into something better, not trying would be a far greater evil than our inborn prejudices. For now, I can't save humanity, or perhaps even myself, but if I can save your friend... well, that'll be one small step towards bettering the world. It's a long road toward that goal, but all journeys are traveled one step at a time, aren't they?
Radd: Will it always be that way?
The Player: Who knows? I'd like to believe we can advance beyond it, but we seem to have so far to go. It might be futile.
Radd: Then why even try?
The Player: Because we have to. If there's just the slightest chance we can make ourselves into something better, not trying would be a far greater evil than our inborn prejudices. For now, I can't save humanity, or perhaps even myself, but if I can save your friend... well, that'll be one small step towards bettering the world. It's a long road toward that goal, but all journeys are traveled one step at a time, aren't they?
— Kid Radd
Web Animation
Ruby: I love books. Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters... They're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress!
Blake: And why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?
Ruby: Well, I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books... Someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!
Blake: That's... very ambitious for a child. Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale.
Ruby: (smiling) Well... that's why we're here. To make it better.
Blake: And why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?
Ruby: Well, I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books... Someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!
Blake: That's... very ambitious for a child. Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale.
Ruby: (smiling) Well... that's why we're here. To make it better.
— RWBY
Web Original
"... and everything's horrible and there's nothing we can do."
"Hold on," she said. She stepped off the path to pick up a discarded water bottle.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"There's a recycling bin a bit further up."
"Oh. Anyway, we're so powerless-"
"Let's do what we can."
"Hold on," she said. She stepped off the path to pick up a discarded water bottle.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"There's a recycling bin a bit further up."
"Oh. Anyway, we're so powerless-"
"Let's do what we can."
We all need to admit a terrible truth: A6K is the closest we've ever come to finding a true parallel reality. We may sit here condemning them, but the fact remains, we've never found anyone quite so much like us. We rose from the dark, together, stronger for our hardships; who's to say they won't do the same? They could be our equals. They could even rise above us, one day, but that triumph can't come from us.
It has to come from them.
The Foundation votes No [to making First Contact].
But with an addendum:
We seal the gate, but not entirely.
We keep an eye on A6K, and let them find us. When they do, we'll greet them without security, containment, or any protections.
When they're ready to step into the light, we'll be here.
Shall we take it to a vote?
It has to come from them.
The Foundation votes No [to making First Contact].
But with an addendum:
We seal the gate, but not entirely.
We keep an eye on A6K, and let them find us. When they do, we'll greet them without security, containment, or any protections.
When they're ready to step into the light, we'll be here.
Shall we take it to a vote?
Web Video
So the next time we think of the 20th century merely as a century of war and genocide and nuclear weapons, we need to remind ourselves that it was also a century in which hundreds of millions of people emerged from poverty and fewer people died as a result of violence.
— John Green, Crash Course, Nonviolence and Peace Movements
"Breath of the Wild may live in the post-apocalypse, but god, what a reminder that whatever we consider the apocalypse is that in name only. Although whatever we considered 'the world' pre-disaster may have ended, there’s still a world here, and it’s alive and passionate and wants to be heard. Link and Zelda may blame themselves for the passing of the old world, but their guilt doesn’t prevent them from trying to heal the new one. And for everyone else, they don’t particularly feel like they’re living in the aftermath of something terrible; life just adapts. It keeps on happening."
Real Life
We are really fucked. Life is still really good.
Can you not see a world of troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?
Many people seem to think it foolish, even superstitious, to believe that the world could still change for the better. And it is true that in winter it is sometimes so bitingly cold that one is tempted to say, "What do I care if there is a summer, its warmth is no good to me now." Yes, evil often seems to surpass good. But then, in spite of us, and without our permission, there comes at last an end to the bitter frosts. One morning the wind turns, and there is a thaw. And so I must still have hope.
Thus, I cry out to Gen Z and whoever else stares into this abyss: Forsake these nihilistic sighs! Things are grim, yes, but there is hope for improvement. Even if it is hopeless, we must have hope, for, in it, we may find our salvation. Even if there can be no improvement, we must hope and strive, like a tragic hero, for such is a mindset conducive to a fulfilling life, a meaningful life, a good life. Even if a colossal struggle is unwinnable, we must not throw our hands up in desperation, for we can always take smaller steps, baby steps, in our own lives to improve things, even if the impact is minuscule or fleeting. We must accept our reality, however grim, but we cannot resign to it!
The earth is not a cold, dead place, and, for as long as that is true, there is hope for improvement.
The earth is not a cold, dead place, and, for as long as that is true, there is hope for improvement.
— Anders B. Hoover, "It's no surprise that Gen Z seems so despondent — but the earth is not a cold, dead place", writing for the Reno Gazette Journal
", writing for the Reno Gazette JournalI need to emphasize that Carpathia failed.
A lot of the tags and comments have a tinge of...despair, or guilt, or wistfulness about things like this happening so rarely. Or inadequacy, or just being overwhelmed or unhappy about not being in a position to step up in a comparable way. And I want to gently bring up the fact that this is still the sinking of the Titanic.
They did not get there in time. They did not save the ship. It can be argued that they may not have even saved a single human life; we have no way of knowing. This was still a horrific maritime disaster mired in arrogance and incompetence and a lack of care.
If the response to this story shows anything, it shows this: it matters that they tried.
Even though they got there too late, even though the ship still sank. It matters that they tried. The difference between making the best reasonable speed after confirming the seriousness of the situation, and the miracle they pulled off — it matters. It makes all the difference. Even if it made no difference at all. Not one of you read this and concluded that I was stupid for caring so much when the Titanic still sank and all those people still died.
You don't have to fix the world. You'll likely be cold and sick and miserable and testy and scared, and unprepared, and in over your head, and entirely too small to be of any real use. It feels stupid, passing out blankets and coffee in the middle of an ice field knowing what just happened. It's hard to feel anything but useless when all you can do is tap a wireless transmitter and promise help that you know will come too late.
It matters that they fought for those people. It matters that they cared, and it matters that they tried. It matters that they didn't stop. If it didn't matter, you wouldn't have read this far.
failed.A lot of the tags and comments have a tinge of...despair, or guilt, or wistfulness about things like this happening so rarely. Or inadequacy, or just being overwhelmed or unhappy about not being in a position to step up in a comparable way. And I want to gently bring up the fact that this is still the sinking of the Titanic.
They did not get there in time. They did not save the ship. It can be argued that they may not have even saved a single human life; we have no way of knowing. This was still a horrific maritime disaster mired in arrogance and incompetence and a lack of care.
If the response to this story shows anything, it shows this: it matters that they tried.
Even though they got there too late, even though the ship still sank. It matters that they tried. The difference between making the best reasonable speed after confirming the seriousness of the situation, and the miracle they pulled off — it matters. It makes all the difference. Even if it made no difference at all. Not one of you read this and concluded that I was stupid for caring so much when the Titanic still sank and all those people still died.
You don't have to fix the world. You'll likely be cold and sick and miserable and testy and scared, and unprepared, and in over your head, and entirely too small to be of any real use. It feels stupid, passing out blankets and coffee in the middle of an ice field knowing what just happened. It's hard to feel anything but useless when all you can do is tap a wireless transmitter and promise help that you know will come too late.
It matters that they fought for those people. It matters that they cared, and it matters that they tried. It matters that they didn't stop. If it didn't matter, you wouldn't have read this far.
— mylordshesacactus, Tumblr
"Everything is okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end."
So yeah. That’s us. The world in 2022. A postcard from the climate disaster.
It’s grim. It’s overwhelming. It feels apocalyptical. And for the next couple of decades? It is probably going to get wayyyyy worse.
But we are learning. We are growing. We are getting to the actual roots of the problems we face. We are understanding that not everything is as simple as we wish it was, but it isn’t stopping us. That after each wave of shock at the complexity of it all, we learn and come back. After each disappointment, we pick ourselves up and try again.
After each bad headline, we rededicate ourselves anew.
We pick ourselves up, and work the problems… and maybe some point in the years to come, a future me is writing a letter to himself now, trying to explain just how much we have learned since now. Because THAT is the one lesson we must take on board above all things.
This is NOT the end of the world. We don’t get off THAT easily.
We want things to get better? We have to fight.
It’s grim. It’s overwhelming. It feels apocalyptical. And for the next couple of decades? It is probably going to get wayyyyy worse.
But we are learning. We are growing. We are getting to the actual roots of the problems we face. We are understanding that not everything is as simple as we wish it was, but it isn’t stopping us. That after each wave of shock at the complexity of it all, we learn and come back. After each disappointment, we pick ourselves up and try again.
After each bad headline, we rededicate ourselves anew.
We pick ourselves up, and work the problems… and maybe some point in the years to come, a future me is writing a letter to himself now, trying to explain just how much we have learned since now. Because THAT is the one lesson we must take on board above all things.
This is NOT the end of the world. We don’t get off THAT easily.
We want things to get better? We have to fight.
— thefeckamisigningupwithfacebook, A letter to my younger self (Postcard from the Climate Crisis; July 2022)
"[Adam] Pearson talks at length about [Jonathan] Glazer's generosity and enduring friendship ("I've been to his house for a barbecue"), painting a picture of a man who is affable and friendly...and who just happens to make deeply disquieting cinema about monsters and madness. That said, his films aren't entirely cold or cynical, either, despite their rich sense of dislocation. Glazer doesn't seem to be an optimist — he's too smart for that — but all of his movies do feel tinged with hope. That love can prevail over violence. That someone isn't necessarily gone when they die. That the coldest of creatures can be won over by our art and our compassion.
And while The Zone of Interest is set during a horrifying real-world atrocity — and Mica Levi's electronic score drones and boils hellishly over the top of it — one of the most enduring images is of a Polish teenager covertly delivering apples to the camp at nighttime. We follow her under thermal imaging cameras, lending her the appearance of a nocturnal animal we're not meant to see. It's a reminder that for all of Glazer's chilly auteurism, he is fundamentally compelled by humanity, desire, and the pursuit of love."
—The Independent's profile on Jonathan Glazer, January 31, 2024
on Jonathan Glazer, January 31, 2024