Okay, the Deliverance thread has expanded to misogynism in the series as a whole and the accusation has been thrown that Servalan is insane.
Insane? Power-hungry, without a doubt; possibly 'pro-noid' (thinks people like her more than they do), but are these things considered insanity by the majority of people? She's very much in touch with reality in most ways, although she does seem to observe Avon through very rose-coloured glasses. Her thought patterns are always coherent to an observer.
The only reason I can see to define her as insane is her complete lack of scruples. Is this insanity, or adaptation to a society where the ruthless thrive?
At least in the Avon-insanity thread, people can point to actual changes in his overall behavior that indicate the stress of his role is getting to him. I'm not sure we see a Servalan in "Gold" who is any different from the Servalan in "Seek-Locate-Destroy".
What do people think? I'm loooking for input on all sides.
Helen Krummenacker wrote:
The only reason I can see to define her as insane is her complete lack of scruples. Is this insanity, or adaptation to a society where the ruthless thrive?
It isn't the lack of scruples I complain of, so much as the whole genocidal megalomaniac thing ;-)
Mistral
Helen said:
Okay, the Deliverance thread has expanded to misogynism in the series as a whole and the accusation has been thrown that Servalan is insane.
This also ties in with the "Was Avon a crimo" question (to which I'd say the answer has to be "No"--a crimo is a "criminally insane" person, the polar case perhaps being Hannibal Lecter. Stealing a lot of money doesn't rank as admirable behavior, but it's eminently sane.
Insane? Power-hungry, without a doubt; possibly 'pro-noid' (thinks people like her more than they do)
There was a story in Fantasy and Science Fiction in the 1960s dealing with "narapoia" (delusion that people are conspiring to help you) and "shop-dropping' (the compulsion to give things to stores).
but are these things considered insanity by the majority of people?
History is written by the victors, so President Servalan's mental health was far better esteemed than Commissioner Sleer's
She's very much in touch with reality in most ways, although she does seem to observe Avon through very rose-coloured glasses.
Beer goggles, more like--I'd say that because she finds Avon attractive, she overestimates the degree of similarity between them. Not that any of us would do anything like that.
-(Y)
Helen Krummenacker wrote: >
The only reason I can see to define her as insane is her complete lack of scruples. Is this insanity, or adaptation to a society where the ruthless thrive?
I think adaptation, rather than madness. I am conscious that I have argued the contrary before now. However genocide is an accepted Federation strategy for getting results (see Time Squad and Countdown). Her actions in Children of Auron fall within this tradition. I think, therefore, that she is evil rather than mad.
At least in the Avon-insanity thread, people can point to actual changes in his overall behavior that indicate the stress of his role is getting to him. I'm not sure we see a Servalan in "Gold" who is any different from the Servalan in "Seek-Locate-Destroy".
This is the one thing that bothers me about the whole thing. She makes the transition from Supreme Commander to President to Security Commissioner with hidden past with no real effect on her stability or mental balance. What on earth is going on inside her head ? I feel, perhaps inconsistently, that she should be troubled by the trail of corpses she has left in her wake. Most tyrants who have killed on that kind of scale have become slightly unhinged by the end of their reigns. On the other hand most great tyrants I can think of have been recognised as such during their lifetime and must have recognised themselves as such on some level.
Perhaps the great slave empires of antiquity thought there was nothing remotely odd in their behaviour and the Federation is merely a return to this level of political morality ? (merely ?!)
How far is the 250 year reign of the Federation and the continued survival of liberal humanist beliefs in the likes of Blake and Hal Mellanby realistic ?
Stephen.
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Stephen Date