Game Principles of Perfectionists (评论: The Most Dangerous Game)

2008-04-27 23:00:02 　　来自: 艾✿小秋 (北京)

The Most Dangerous Game的评论

　　Most people are likely to deem the story The Most Dangerous Game as sick as it uncovers social Darwinism in an unbearable way. It is really difficult for the majority to accept such game as taking man as huntees. As the most elite living being on the earth, human processes intelligence, morality, civilization, etc, which group them into the hunters’ camp. In common sense, the general is nothing but a savage. However, regardless of the worldly moral standard, I see a perfectionist and artist in the general, which I myself would rather appreciate.
　　　　
　　　　 According to the ancient Greek theory of art, the universe consists of three worlds, namely the man’s world, the gods’ world and in-between, the art world. The mass belong to the first world which is supervised by almighty gods from an inaccessible level. In the midst, Artists appreciate the gods’ world so much that they are in eternal struggle to reach the inaccessible level. Gods are the representative of truth, god and beauty, or in other word, perfection. In this sense, an artist is a perfectionist at the same time.
　　　　
　　　　 Living in this in-between world does not necessarily means that artists are superior to ordinary people. But it is true that artists have principles different from ordinary people. And more often than not such “eccentric” principles are beyond ordinary people’s understanding, for they do not strictly follow or even go against the majority’s logic. In the artists’ world, the worldly morality, instinctive, justice and cosmos have a vain meaning. Such conventions are adopted by almighty gods to fool the mass. As a perfection seeker, an artist involuntary overlooks them. Take the general as an example, he is a hunting perfectionist. Inclined to the belief “hunting for hunting’s sake”, he chooses human as huntee to pursue a divine (in his sense) state. According to the common morale standard, the general is a murderer and his wrong doing is bloody, savage, brutal and unbearable. But to the general himself, things definitely do not go this way. His principle allows and encourages him to play the game.
　　　　
　　　　 Though most artists we encounter still follow the worldly principle to a considerable extent, their characters are indicated in many literal works, Perfume by Patrick Suskind, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley are among them. When reading these stories, we are likely to label the heroes as weird, disgusting and crazy. But if we stand in their shoes, those crazy deeds are reasonable and acceptable. See what immense exertion they are making to achieve perfection!
　　　　
　　　　 But unfortunately, these perfectionists are still living among the mass. Inevitably restricted by the worldly conventions, they still can hardly be understood. On the other hand, perfectionists themselves cannot soundly understand each other. It seems that perfectionists each have a world of his own. They long for being comprehended. If not, they would rather stay alone. Loneliness is a shared feeling of them. But compared to give in to others’ beliefs a little bit, being king of his lonely world is more attractive.
　　　　
　　　　 Regardless of all those isolations, the greatest terror and pain come from the fact that perfectionists can never actually reach perfection. The almighty gods would not allow human to get too close to the divine world. But as far as I can see, pain, doubt, frustration and all the negative emotions will not slow down perfectionists’ pace of climbing up the Olympus. And the eternity makes this journey beautiful and worthwhile.