Death Note & Prison Abolition | Free Huey
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- Опубліковано 16 чер 2024
- Death Note's discourse is diluted in rhetoric around who's more intelligent and if Light was "right" which feels tired and played out. Today, I wanted to explore what I actually find fascinating about the series and how, despite the atrocities that Light committed, I see him as the true victim of Death Note. A sympton of a larger problem. Let's talk about it.
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SOURCES & CITATIONS:
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What does a Black Lefty have to say about Death Note? The answer may surprise you. Or not.
Read Angela Davis.
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Oh the secret messages, how I missed these.
No plug this time truthfully. It'd been so long I wanted to get back into the swing of things promptly. Next time though for sure. Hope the little redesign in places people enjoy. It's the most fun part of working on these.
The channels going full swing into its new direction. Hope you guys stay tuned for some more cool stuff.
#freehuey #deathnote #videoessay - Фільми й анімація
We've finally got captions! I know some people find it hard to understand me, so captions are here to make it easier.
Some quick thoughts on this video. I've been reading a lot about Prison Abolition recently, and my recent rewatch of Death Note made me rethink the way I saw the character of Light and the discourse around the show. I should make it clear early on.
I'm not absolving Light of responsibility for his actions. He was on some wild God-Complex supremacist noise. But, what interests me is where this stuff comes from. I don't really care for the author's intention, cause that's not what interests me. Art lives and breathes without its creators. I'm tired of people saying Light is evil like it's some striking or profound talking point. Of course he's a bad guy. But why?
This video is about why we look at Light in a vacuum, and by extension, trying to use that to frame why we view criminality in vacuum. It'll be interesting to read the comments of this one. Talk soon team.
15:32 That reminds of the anime, Hell Girl. What is your take on "sending people to Hell just because..."? Of course, the people sending others to Hell get roped into being sent to Hell when they die. A lot of anime just tugs on people's heart strings and most of the situations the episode's protagonist faces is just hell on earth. It still doesn't always solve their issue.
Light was the product of an ideological society which viewed those deemed criminals as deserving of death and punishment as justice.
A common thread between Japan and the United States. That being said, I don't think it makes sense to call light a victim. Was Hitler a victim? He was in many ways the apotheosis of pre-Weimar German/Prussian society, yet it would make little sense to call him victim. More that I regard Light and Hitler as being their parent societies personified, fully realized. And the result is a horror show.
@@tristanband4003Perhaps "products of their circumstance" is a better way to describe them. Victim makes it seem as if we are morally absolving them.
Just A/B testing thumbnails honestly, but if I'm going by the the book, Light is a victim. He's a casualty of a society built around violent retribution. And while he does hurt people and that's not to be understated, it's so easy to forget that he opens the show 15. He's a naive minor that got so sucked into copaganda and media buzzwords around criminality and justice that he justifies himself through it. If those things don't exist, imo, Light doesn't use the notebook.
So, while he is responsible for what he did, there is a collective responsibility to be had in what information and media he was fed to turn out like that. Nobody is just born a psychopath. My thing is we need to assess it all.
@@TheStorytellerAJ Fifteen is hardly child, even if not yet a full adult. Naive is hardly a word I would describe Light as: he's a prodigy on top of that. And beyond hurting people he's literally taken life.
To clarify, I am against retribution. But let's not understate the severity.
@@tristanband4003 15 is a minor, but I don't recall calling him a child. He's just a young boy.
It's not about that for me, right. I'm not into adultifying Light so I can throw more blame his way. We all know he's in the wrong. That's not what interests me cause' everyone and their mother has done that song and dance before, and it's expected. I'm just not into individualising it. Light is a failure of society, not a failure on his own behalf. And, the fact that we get to see him in his youth is a clear statement on that imo.
One of my biggest takes is that Light basically has White Privilege(TM), and everytime I try to explain what I mean people just default to "He's Japanese" failing to understand that Light's perception of the world is bored through an upper-middle-class lifestyle that depends on the success of the social system, which is capitalism. Light never for one moment thinks about how or why people turn to crime. Never for one moment thinks about how the world could be made better through systemic changes. And all because the system works for him.
Light has a white supremacist perspective on crime and justice. This is why it's important for people to know what these things actually mean, cause' we keep saying white supremacy and that dogma is global but it reads as lip service to many of them.
Plus Japan is literally a very westernised country . Its not geographically west but its more western than all of Asia except Singapore. Japan also colonised Korea and China in WW2. Nothing more white than not acknowledging your colonial past (Korean comfort women). In fact WW2 was a old white vs new white thing.
That's easily explained by the fact that he's a teenager who still has a lot to learn about the world, but he's also the son of an important policeman... Not to mention that he wanted to be a God, and punishing criminals was just an excuse to achieve that, but also a craving he had since he was tired of crime. We see him deal with a guy who was holding the children in a kinder hostage, a gang trying to take advantage of a woman and then ruthless murderers... Are those people "victims of the system"? Not to mention that Light was right when he said that most people would support him, and that's because most of us, no matter how much we might struggle with everyday life, don't turn to crime... Yet we are at the risk of getting robbed, assaulted, SA'd and more, which is why the average person would rather see criminals dissappear than justifying them.
Japan in ww2 era was not very westernized.. I don't think it's right to blindly say Anything negative they did must have been learned from white people... Asians have agency and can do good or bad things on their own just fine.
China in particular has millennia long history of imperialism and slavery
@@cristalido3640yes those are victims of the system
I read death note when I was 12 years old, I'm now 20, when Light first used the death note I was fine with it bcs the person was a criminal. Looking back now that kind of scares me bcs I was fine with a human life been written off to die, as soon as the label criminal was placed upon them.
I think I had the same reaction when I first watched it, and that scares me now. It scares me more that I might not have grown out of it if key things didn’t happen in my life. That there are adults with that mindset who do not know better, and that I could have been one of them.
The name of the first person Light wrote on the Death Note was someone holding a bunch of kids hostage in a kindergarten.
Man started with, 'been a minute, my bad... anyway... Death note...' 😂
I hate long videos!
Broo i watched death note as a young kid and always felt like light was “right” and could yap on and on abt it but as i actually educated myself abt crime and justice it’s really scary how persuasive that mindset is. Also crazy how the show litterally displays faults in that logic through lights downfall but ppl can still walk away agreeing with him.
L's obsession and abuse of power lead to his downfall. Pretty damn Shakespeareian.
You say Light was abusing power but L literally played God and gave people the death penalty for petty shit.
Y'all niggas wanna do anything to defend Light. It's like people who defend Walt because Hank was investigating shit without Walt or the DEA's permission.
You're saying L abuses his power, but Light plays God on a daily and tweaks out over the thought of merking people over petty shit.
It's like the same people who go straight into defending Walt because Hank was snooping through shit without Walt or the DEA's permission.
@@chrisrockett5897Not defending Light, mate, in fact the same happens to him
@@samueloak1600 Fair enough.
There's something to be said for the conspicuous absence of Love within the world of Death Note, and the twisted fanatacism/possession/and misery that occupies its place
That is a good observation. When I first watched the show I had a very black and white view of things. I saw light as being in the right. And looking back on that time in my life, it felt very loveless. I didn’t even realize it at the time because I didn’t know what I was missing. It is only thanks to your comment that I was able to look back in then, and what I have now. I view the world as one with love. Thank you!
I sometimes wonder how much of Misa's time in prison was fanservice and how much of it was pointing out how much contempt for criminalized women is permissible, even compared to a criminalized man. The difference between Light in his cage and Misa in hers, and particularly in making it 'sexy' with her, is really stark imagery, and by my read could speak to the distinct dehumanization of two classes of people.
I didn't go into it, but a point Angela Davis makes in her book is how while men are seen as deviants and criminals, the women are labelled as crazy. And, a lot of the cast really do play into that idea with Misa.
@@TheStorytellerAJ Absolutely. There's a lot to unpack there, and this isn't the vid for it, but I think the mangaka knew what was up and played into it.
@@dustind4694 I agree completely and even if this is not the vid for it, I'll be looking for a vid on the topic, as much of general option on Misa is fairly demeaning even when she was failed just as much as Light, with similar privileges but while faced difficulties and tragedies he didn't.
@@lilysapphire3434 Yep. Death Note is misunderstood as a thriller imo. The mind games are a magic trick to get people in the door, while the text is obsession, hubris, and tragedy. The underpinning systemic failures might not have been Ohba's focus, or even something they were aware of consciously, but the weight of them is omnipresent.
@@dustind4694that’s the mangaka’s style, and I love it
After almost 2 decades, I thought there was no stone left unturned in Death Note discussion, but this was genuinely so enlightening that I might earnestly call it a revelation. You really ware one of my favourite video essayers.
This goes in a different direction from the points you raised (well said btw) but I think something I notice a lot is in how a lot of times prison as a system is used largely as a plot device or the status quo of policing is just sort of accepted and never really considered in the narrative beyond just a space to contain or control characters. It's pretty much the backbone of entire genres like mystery and of course police procedurals, but the framing behind many works still imagines incarceration and imprisonment as a flawed but necessary system that just needs the right people upholding it.
One of the biggest that always comes to mind for me is how Avatar the Last Airbender utilizes Incarceration throughout its runtime.
In theory, it could be a great theme to explore in how Aang doesn't want to erase more of his heritage by taking a life, which the others don't understand. I don't have a problem with that at all nor do I think the story would necessarily be better had he killed the Fire Lord, but I do dislike how the ending uses incarceration and mass imprisonment and frames it as not only a pacifistic but morally better solution.
It imagines the prison system as a solution to Aang's dilemma. As much as people (rightfully) clown on Legend of Korra, it was rife in AtLA too.
There's also the way you can look at the prison system specifically through a queer lens and how s*xual violence, particularly toward Black and other non-white men is discussed. It's often imagined or even leveraged as a threat toward us not because the system itself is dehumanizing, but because it represents a way of queering us. It came to mind since you happened to used the Fleece Johnson episode of the Boondocks as footage.
Being r*ped in a jail or prison has been a topic of comedy and literary genres for decades (Levan,
Polzner, & Downing, 2011). Nonconsensual and consensual s*x between inmates and correctional staff has been a staple of X-rated videos for nearly as long. For some of us, especially poorer African-American, Latino, and White males, the specter of being assaulted in lockup was used by adults as a disincentive for us to engage in criminal behavior. And, regardless of the perspectives we will outline in this chapter, many in our society being sexually victimized by other prisoners is still viewed as almost a “just desert,” or one of the “pains of imprisonment” (Sykes, 1958) to be suffered by inmates and prisoners.
- Handbook of Sexual Assault and S*xual Assault Prevention
And when you start going down that line, you come to see that even discussing the failings and harms of prison as a system become appropriated by the system itself in the framing behind a lot of it. It's a major contributing factor as to how prison can be imagined as "flawed but necessary" or even an object of humor that imagines its victims as deserving what happened to them. Even the act of criticizing it requires us to truly question what specifically it is we take issue with and how to imagine better solutions in its place. So much of the criticism surrounding prison still is predicated on dehumanizing the people affected by it.
I haven't actually watched Death Note before, so I'm a bit limited in the discussion as it relates to this specific series. It's been on my to-check list at some point.
(Please don't eradicate my comment, UA-cam)
No this is fascinating because this is part of what a lot of my reading was leading me to. That this false idea that prisons are more ethical solution over execution only exists because of appropriation! It's just a "lesser of two evils" situation, and even then, not really. I had this in the original draft for the script, but I'd rather die than go to jail!
Life in prison isn't even a life anymore. Your whole being is behind bars and within confinement. Being spoon fed food in chains and being told when you can get sunlight, interact with others, etc. It's a miserable existence. I also agree that ATLA, while I do get why Aang had hang ups, positioning prison as this moral alternative speaks to how normalised it is.
True justice is confinement type beat. It's ridiculous copaganda nonsense. Compound this with the fact that you're still removing these people from society to profit the system, either in masking the severity of certain issues or literally making them work as slaves - one has to ask, what exactly is so just about it? What about it is inherently different? It's why I see both as just "taking them out" of the equation. What a worthless justice system we have.
@@TheStorytellerAJIt's different when the criminal is commiting a petty theft or selling weed or something, but what do you do to serial killers, mass murderers, rapists, people who committed ethnic cleansing, etc.? You can't just treat them to a therapy session and blame the system while giving no sort of penalty for the individual's actions.
People get hurt by what other people do.
While watching another anime series, My Hero Academia, it stood out to me that the existence of the max security prison for villains Tartarus was pushed for by human rights activists. I can’t even remember what episode explained it but it felt so off. The conditions inside looked horrible. Padded isolated cells. Wouldn’t being executed be better than being forced to live in that?
The point of the story of MHA seems to be a deconstruction of the ways we think of criminals, so it makes sense now that I am further in the series. I mean that it was portrayed like that. A necessary evil from the characters perspective.
I loved the way you worded that “taking them out” or “TAKING THEM out” 3:31
Damn, this is the most refreshing take I've seen on Death Note in years! People get so hung up on Light and L that the rest of the story's backdrop goes completely unexamined by the casual viewer, and it drives me nuts. Like, from the onset, criminals as a concept are reduced to a plot device; a number for our protagonist to whittle down. Light sees them as a plague to be eradicated; L sees them as risks to be contained or exploited. And we're expected to side with one of these views as 'the right one.' There is no third option to consider, because we never see any criminals given humanity. The only exception is, ironically, Light himself when his memory is wiped. I wish we had been given a chance to explore some of that dissonance, but it's like the show doesn't even recognize it.
Although a lot of your discussion has to deal with policing in the west, Death Note showcases how this black-and-white view of criminality is especially pervasive in Japan. Japanese culture puts a very high value on social order, and people who disrupt it are expected to be taken off the streets as quickly as possible. That's a huge part of the reason why Japan has a 99% conviction rate, and it's a huge part of why this story is written the way that it is. I think you hit the nail on the head.
That being said I definitely prefer a Light world as an adult. Though if anyone online got the Death Note it would suck because most people with would just wipe out people they disagree with politically lol it would be absolute chaos
here for the socioeconomic anime analysis, underrated channel for sure
It's my whole thing lol
Thank you for giving us a usable lens through which to view Death Note.
I never liked the story before watching this essay, because it felt like a story about two incompetent individuals who are given power to abuse, so they do. Now, I can see that this is still the case, but the metanarrative that they are incompetent because the structures around them are incompetent makes it tolerable. Your way of dissecting this story can be applied to so much literature. I'm going to start using it to analyze media and see what new stories are hiding in plain sight.
Light wasn’t the problem. The problem was people THOUGHT they needed Kira. Something people like to pretend doesn’t happen is the notion that hope bringers do more good than vigilantes. But statistics prove otherwise
The term hyper individualism to me is interesting to me because it seems akin to selfishness. Everyone wants to be their own individual and not part of some conformity and people shouldn't be expected to help everyone they come across. But it is problematic when its to the point where you're celebrated in society for only looking out for yourself and not the collective.
Especially here in the US where rugged individualism is part of the American DNA. The idea of helping others is seen as skeptical by default unless you're getting something in return. And the idea of the collective only comes into play when it involves fear of the outsider. Like people dont care about their neighbors unless its to make an argument against street crime, immigrants, foreign influence etc. All of this being a huge irony when the US is apparently supposed to be this majority Christian nation but self preservation and greed are emphasized rather than cooperation
I'm glad to see this in my recommended section. I have drifted much farther left since the last time I watched Death Note, particularly on issues like policing amd the justice system, and recently I've been sort of thinking about the show from the perspective of its politics.
I don’t really think light was a victim . He is very aware of his actions and his pathetic way of dying shows he is an hypocrite
This.
Bro thank you for this video. It's so for a actual analysis of then who is smarter talk. Glad you back🙏🏾
Great video! The programming allegory was very fitting, as a fellow programmer lol
Good to know my coding experience wasn't wasted.
Crazy this hits in the middle of my first watch of Death Note, excited to watch once I finish.
The 2000s is the most underrated era of anime. So many fye shows can out at that time like Death Note, FLCL and Samurai Champloo💯
This is a great video. I've sometimes thought about the justice system when looking back on some old anime and games because now that I know more about prison abolition, the US's broken justice system, policing, and such; boy, do consuming those media make me feel dissonant when it comes to justice and imprisonment being used. I really like you taking a different view on Death Note and how Light was part of a punitive justice society. As a programmer myself, I like that comparison. Also, glad to see you back!
It really says something how i never thought to look at how the police and society portrayed views of criminals and underprivilaged people, and how that can alter someone's own perceptiom of how this justice should be taken as.
I myself havent seen the series, but i know the synopsis well enough and have educated myself enough in anti capitalist rhetoric to know cops are shit at fixing the problems of the poor and minority groups in general.
Now anime has a habit of presenting the power fantasy as a good way of solving problems, however death note feels like it wasnt ever trying to get to that point. This was a great video and im waiting for another youtuber i like to make a death note video on how light was an actual sociopath and compare and cpntrast the points made in that video and this one
If Light was a sociopath I doubt he would have had that monologue questioning and denying he would go out killing people after he loses the Death Note. People with ASPD (the actual mental disorder) tend to pretty sure of where they stand regarding principles and little regard for public perceptions. Where as Light seems to be clearly doubting himself because it is a course of actions society frowns upon.
@phantom-ri2tg you're totally right and I was questioning whether the sociopathy would even be valid since he in fact had a monolog about his decisions. But im not completely well read on those types of thought processes, so I'm gonna have to do more research in that regard
@@LightGlyphRasengan A few things to note about them. They do have values but a big difference from average people is that their views have little sway from society's expectations.
Another thing to note is because of this their values are often things personal to them meaning that the differences between each other is even greater than the differences between average people.
One other note as video talked about it. Yes if they turn out to be bad people it is very likely the fault of the parent. There are difficulties with them but it is largely that even more than other children you need to actually teach them morals instead of expect them to just pick up on them.
@phantom-ri2tg if all we have to go on for light not being a socopath is the introspective dialogue when he doesn't have the book, then it does sound like there can be an argument made for him being a sociopath. But I honestly lean more towards storyteller's analysis anyhow
@@LightGlyphRasengan There is probably other stuff. I only saw some of the episodes on tv.
One thing I largely remember in the series is how fast he developed a god complex. Killing people who were only guilty of being in his way. and one of the first innocent people he killed it was entirely his fault she found out about him because of his own ego.
I don't think Light was truly acting off of the belief of making the world better. In regards to this topic. I am not that much an expert but I believe sociopaths tend to be more self aware.
Also it is not hard to look up why killing all criminals does not work.
i loved this one!! i havent given death note much thought since i initially watched it years ago, but your points here are really poignant. i think its telling that by perpetuating the idea that light uses the death note the way he does exclusively bc of a personality disfunction actually accepts his worldview as correct. the issue isnt that hes killing people simply for them being labeled as criminals, but because the Wrong person is doing it the Wrong way.
I'm glad you liked it! It always rubbed me the wrong way that Light was simplified by audiences as just an evil sociopath, cause' he was a young boy. And, there's a whole point in the series where he's freed from the guilt and he doubts himself very clearly.
I'm not into absolving him of guilt or responsibility, but more just acknowledging that he's not the only variable into why he is the way he is.
@@TheStorytellerAJThe Note is the most powerful weapon in the entire world and it let's you use it with little repurcussions by the nature of how it works. If it was a quiet crusade about Light wanting to do the right thing in his eyes simply because he felt it was right then he could have directed that power towards corrupt government officials, fascists and dictators. He didn't do that.
Eiher because he didn't know how to use it that way without knowing the inner workings of other nation's top power structures to prevent others simply filling in the previous leadership power vacuum (which he never acknowledges so likely didn't think about it that far, because for as smart as he is he's still a teenager who's never had a job or been slighted by those in power). Or, he simply didn't WANT to go that route at all because he wanted people to know HE was the one with all the power even if under an alias. Because the fear and concept of Kira had power in itself beyond just the Note.
I think it's a bit of both. He's arrogant and sits from a position of inexperience with the real world due to his age and being a successful student that conforms, at least outwardly. He likes the idea that he is doing what no one else could but even in the series itself it acknowledges that a threat does not make people be better people, just more conformist to the one holding all the cards. Light was willing to let the same corrupt politicians and billionaires exploit the rest of society so long as they were doing it while acknowledging Kira could kill them if he wanted. The moment Kira was stopped the regular crime rates often a result of the corrupt systems just went back to the way they were before, and those same systems didn't get fixed. Kira just became another life that came and went, one that caused immense harm to others, but still wound up going all the same with nothing ultimately changing. Light cared more about that short term power fantasy than he did the world he'd leave behind.
I was a bit suspect about this video based off how it looked, especially since I dunno what to make of Death Note, but this is such an interesting and reflective way of looking at it. Reminds me a bit of what Lil Bill said about Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers.
Edit: in the Relight movies, which is basically the anime cut up into two movies with some additional scenes, there's L's monster speech where he very much says he's just like Light before Kira ever emerged. I also think a lot about a Max Stirner quote: "The government calls its own violence law, but that of the individual, crime."
I never really thought about how L and Light were both kinda the same.
Prob the best Death Note video
Also the taste in music🔥
I’m so ready for this video! Thank you!
YES BRO WE NEED THIS CONTENT
my god, another banger from TheStoryteller in a world of my youtube page having the same repeating video discussions....This was everything we needed
great video! glad you're back
Banger video as always.
I find the topic of the prison system of interesting. Due to the injustices there are happening towards minority groups especially us black folks. While also seeing how people trying to find ideas on how to improve it.
Also this might be a really big ask but do you think you’ll ever do a video about a topic called projects 2025. It’s basically an alt right manifesto of what’ll happened if the Republican Party win this election and how it’ll effect everybody living in America
I don't know if I have to bandwidth to be able to even tackle something like that. I'm just the guy that reads some theory and history, and tries to tie it into something nerdy to get people thinking. That Boondocks energy.
@@TheStorytellerAJ
That’s total understandable. And sorry if that was way to much for me to ask of you.
Keep up the amazing work since your channel is amazing. And I can’t wait for more 🤩🤩🤩🎉🎉
John Oliver did most of his most recent episode on project 2025. What really scared me though was how detailed and organized this all seems to be!
Really interesting perspective. And also, happy to see your videos again
Oh shit man you've been growing as a person while you've been gone, fuck the UA-camr shit that's what I love to see
Every day you upload is a good day. Please keep doing it.
WE MISSED YOU 😫
LETS GO NEW FREE HUEY
Great video!! And thank you so much for the subtitles it really helps me!! It’s hard to find good leftist readings of anime-shounen in particular-so I’m really glad this popped up in my recommended. Death Note provides an interesting framework for discussing abolition and why it matters that Light is framed as the protagonist of the story despite being a mass murderer.
Thank you sm for making this video =)
"There's a ton of different ways to engage with spirituality. I encourage anyone who struggles with that stuff to make sense of it on your own. There are so many nuances and doctrines out there, you don't need to confirm to homogenised ideas for acceptance. Make sense of this life on your own."
THANK YOU FOR THIS
Light's dad is also a cop. So, I'm wondering how much that impacts Light's biases on crime.
Light was afraid of the possibility he might be Kira, and it caused him anxiety realizing that his ideals aligned with Kira’s. If his friends and family helped him deconstruct these beliefs he had, perhaps he wouldn’t have even wanted to carry out his plan anymore if he got his Kira memories back.
I agree that no character should be looked at in a vacuum but rather in the context of the world and system that they live in, but the parallel of Light and L is that they’re literal egomaniacs that despite perhaps to some extent thinking that they’re doing the right thing, are in fact at the end of the day NOT mainly motivated by improving society but by the fact that to them this is a game, a fierce competition of egos trying to dominate and control the other and be the top dog.
The legend returns 🙏🏿🐐
you should do a deep dive on Matsoda and the idea of moral justice (through his lense).. i feel like if anyone understands his character arc, it would be you..
Light is the embodiment of fascistic absolutism. A product of feeling powerless and then being given ultimate power.
Much how fascism preys on those who feel weak and powerless and then gives them a way to feel strong again, often through violence and oppression against "the other" which is blamed as the reason they were ever weak.
Light's father is a cop who he personally and childishly sees as a failure that is unable to create a perfect society by catching all the criminals and locking them all away forever.
Society saw his father as a huge success which only further played into his fantasy that society is broken and weak for celebrating his father as a success. In eastern cultures the stigma of failure being passed to the next generation is really strong too.
Once Light was given that death note, there was only one way this was going to go. I wonder if Ryuk knew it too.
That streak of absolutism is something that is innate to us all, it takes experience and patience but most importantly courage, to realise that people are complicated and solutions for solving society's ills will not be simple ones, they will be complicated too.
That scene where Light questions himself and wonders if he is truly capable of these actions is something many former fascists went through after the second world war where they just couldn't believe they got swept up into the mania with everyone else. The message here is simple, we could all be Yagami Light, whether we realise it or not.
I like this perspective on the series, and I feel like the live action adaptation misses that aspect a lot (in addition to all the other problems it had).
Saving this one for tomorrow morning
great vid 🔥
Welcome back!
Honestly never thought UA-cam recommending meme edits of an anime I've never seen would lead me to a deep discussion like this but I'm very glad it did
Even as someone who grew up a fundamentalist but would self-identify as a tentative Christian and an open prison abolitionist, I still struggle with religious philosophy like Christian universalism. If no one should have to “deserve” basic kindness and dignity in this world, would a good God disagree in terms of the afterlife? This video’s themes are def gonna be stuck in my head for a long time
Christian universe is real because 1. We can time travel remember Moses saw the garden of eden and John from revelation saw the future in person. 2. We can resurrection people who dies before Jesus Christ and get them baptized. 3. Spirit cameras is a thing for seeing in the spirit rslam like we do with bacterias with a telescope. So yeah it's 100 percent possible we just have to be smart as Christians with what we have. Think like a Christian not a non-Christian. Matthew 28 19 to 21
Thanks!
THANK YOU FOR SAYING THIS!
I feel like this is the most obvious vanilla take one could have, but no
It's just sad because it's the kind of art that I often can't end up having conversations with people about because of societal conditioning which weirdly seems to rear its head more often when it comes to certain shows, even from people who might otherwise be more accustomed to a standard level of critical thinking
Side note, I've been watching you since the ace attorney days with that video however many years ago, and it's good to see you're still around lol
2:13 light isn’t a good person but he also just wanted to end suffering in his own way. The ending was bittersweet. I liked it cuz he seemed so much like his old self before he became corrupted by the power of the death note. It was sad cuz he was alone
This might be your best video and that’s saying something
Great video
That was deep, gonna start looking at all media i consume differently. Ty
I love your videos
Have you listened to Death Note the Musical yet? I feel like the version of Light presented in the musical aligns even closer to the way you view him in this essay. Lights opening character introduction song “Where is the Justice” really expands on Light’s moral framework, showing Light getting angry at broken systems more so than petty criminals. Specifically he calls out corporations, dirty lawyers, the rich, the famous, politicians, judges, and generally “the whole damn system”.
It’s a fun listen if nothing else.
I watched the Musical in Theaters last year! It was really good!
If it helps, in the manga, there was no attempt to make the reader feel sympathy for Light in his final moments. There was even an additional story that tells you if L won and it shows just how unhinged L is.
Both characters were products of the times and how society saw criminals. Both hyper intelligent and saw things through a jaded lens, just had different setups leading to where the events of the manga/anime starts.
very interesting video I enjoyed it
This was a problem that was never addressed in the Anime. The other thing they never really covered was light killing falsely sentenced criminals. Given the fact that people lie, and judges and juries are not perfect, Ligh might be killing some innocent people. Lots happened in the series, by the end it this point is mute. Light would have killed anyone in his way.
17:20 what's the song at the end?
I think this is a valid interpretation of the text but considering the views of ohba and obata I doubt it's intentional, which ironically enough makes the fact that this is a valid reading more interesting
I can't agree completely. He chose several times not to chase true justice. He chose himself. Light specifically would rather have a world where men like his father isn't necessary. In that world he is all powerful. He was created because in a world where people can be redeemed he has endless times to manipulate it and control it.
Edit: I think the scene where he's questioning himself there's a missing context that the light we start with asks. What would motivate me to use that power, what's worth going that far for? I think the light we see without the death note is a light without purpose.
Okay maybe I sound crazy. I think maybe I can simplify my objectively abstract opinion. Light is living in a system where he is afforded truth and freedom. He's not ignorant, he has the ability to see and predict where mistakes were made and where malicious intent was implemented. For whatever reason, justice, revenge, because everyone else would do the same, he chose not to do what he believed was right. He did what he wanted, for a reason he would die for. When he learns more he doesn't turn back or feel guilt. He doesn't blame the world either. He can't. If he did we would lose the point and the ability to talk about death note now. Light made himself god. Maybe for a minute.
What’s the song in the end called?
Yo, what is that outro song???
For a future me looking through the video to find the key reasons why I saved this playlist:
-look up Christian Univernalism. Free Huey says that he believes “that all of us will be saved in the end. That sounds like an interesting belief to study!
Besides that, there isn’t really much to see here that you haven’t already been either exposed or Incidentally haven’t thought of developed in your head.
Also, HI FREE HUEY! Love your stuff!
I will love to watch this. My pre watch impression, prison abolition is true, how we deal with crime sucks, AND Light took advantage of that system and agreed with it, all non criminals he killed were to protect his ego and his ability to do what cops couldn't do.
I think it's even more noticeable when you consider the thumbnail of this video shows Light as aware of his good complex.
I do try to look at intention of artist, so you're interpretation will be valuable and different than my own.
Light is no different than Walter White. Both of them could have legitimate jobs and done good work for people. But their narcissism made them waste their own talents to be criminals.
Walter was always narcissistic even before he had cancer and Light was always narcissistic even before he got the Death Note.
What’s the song in the outro it’s hard
you touched on something that i have wondered about for abit. In a world where suffering and struggle is almost guaranteed, what's the point of hell and why does almost every religion have an analogue for it? i think that like Dante, other authority figures use it to train and program people into abiding by their laws. i find it funny that although not often mentioned, the bible didn't explicitly mention hell until after Dante's inferno. Case in point, Adam was sentenced to death, to “return to the ground from which you came, for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Gen.3:15. If Adam, the father of the original sin wasent sent to hell, why would any of us as nothing we can do will be anywhere near as sinful as eating the fruit of the tree. although society wasent super individualistic in the age of which the bible took place, authorities still used an analogue for prison to coerce people into subservience knowing that if they were to intersplice it with the current dominating mythology it would be easier to subdue the population. it was so affective that people dont even question it anymore. its become a part of human cannon as it got spread from Greek mythology to to the modern justice system and everywhere in between regardless of the sources' material. Exceptions exist of course
Which version of Jailer is that? Can’t find it anywhere haha
Great vid!It's a reminder to me that most things,if not all things,in life do not exist in a vaccum.
You do coding and programming too dude you’re so awesome
4:35 whose version is this? Doesnt sound like Asa...
You should talk about Black Dynamite the show and movie
Light was a crash out. He had everything, grew up with no struggle.
Im still waiting for the controversial strips video!!
What does Free Huey mean to me: Philosophical Ideas explored with pop culture, *some good music* & a few references to the Boondocks which may surprise me
I'm kind of slowly trying to mix Free Huey and Operation Black Steel into one. In an ideal world, later down the line, I wanna use the camera more and make the videos more involved. A lot of the graphic design for this series is inspired by ESPN First Take, so I'd love to kind of explore that alittle more visually.
@TheStorytellerAJ I really enjoyed this episode, this is definitely going to be one of those I rewatch again & again - Always appreciate the work (I'm mostly yapping to leave a comment 😅 if the video's good i try to have something to say)
Super exciting that you're a Christian Universalist too!
Who Kaiba is from Yu Gi oh
what about the crashouts?
Was he a victim or apart of the problem 😭 why you changing the thumbnail brov ❤✨
UA-cam is doing A/B Testing with thumbnails. I got like 3 that were cycling around
Alot going on in the world. God is needed.
lil bill brought me here 😊
noname instrumental!
CAN I GET THE NAME OF THE SONG PLAYED THROUGHOUT THE VIDEO PLEASE?
1:00 - 8:50
Never mind it's Asa's Jailer
@@standowner6979what version of it though? Can’t find that version.
I never thought about it like that. Yes l know that's cliche, but it's also true.
So what you're saying is Death Note is copaganda 🤔... bad joke I know. But in all seriousness this is a good perspective. I would also recommend at looking at the anime Millionaire Detective and what it says about police work, at least in its early episodes.
I wonder if you could make a video like this in, for example, China or Russia
When I becomes We illness becomes wellness
Bro pls do a tpab video
Wait if light is s victim wgat does thst mske L ?
A fed so obsessed with crime and abusing power for his ego that he didn't save Light when he was finally set free.
Asa unplugged! Eyy!
Love Asa. I listened to Jailer and Fire on the Mountain the whole time I worked on this.
@@TheStorytellerAJ Nice! I got introduced by the algo years ago and had both those tracks on my favs playlist in heavy rotation. Certified hood classics! 🔥🔥🔥
programmer now? poggies
I'm making a game!
@@TheStorytellerAJ DOUBLE POGGIES
"As always, they'll show up after 24 hours. I'm always on a sleep deficit when I'm uploading these. Some things never change." look at this guy acting cool.
my insomnia is nothing to brag about 😭😭
I understand you're simply using Death Note as a jumping point to touch on these issues. That being said, these parallels you draw between Death Note and the real world problems you talk about, I don't think they're really there, or not meaningfully so if they are.
On the initial point, while there is some similarity between Light and L it's kind of superficial. Light talks about justice, yes, but it's apparent from the get-go that it's only a front, a means to and end of world domination. As for L, while he does work with the police, somewhat representing the institutions of the criminal justice system, it's explicitly stated that he doesn't care about serving justice, but simply figuring out the case. In fact, when he does do the morally wrong acts of keeping Misa and Light locked up, he actually gets into conflict with the actual police force. L and Light both have motivations that kind of seem ideological, but ultimately both of them are deeply personal.
There are points in Death Note where you could engage with analysis like this, the megalomaniac vigilante being the son of the police chief and the police force mass refusing to persecute Light are what come to my mind. But I also remember, that Light's method of violent retribution actually does work within the confines of the anime. In the end, just to make if more morally ambiguous(?), it is stated that organized crime is pretty much nonexistent. Light might've used his force for his own nefarious purposes, but of the force itself is very much effective. What if an actually just and righteous person, like daddy Yagami got the note instead of Light? What if it did become a tool of the police force? I don't think Death Note would have any answer for these questions we'd agree with.
There’s also another point that Light’s initial and core motivation for “justice” was out of boredom. Despite having seemingly everything a teenager his age would want he still felt disconnected and wasn’t understood by anyone. Light is ultimately the victim of his own teenage hubris not a society that has a warped sense of criminals are perceived. In fact when Ryuk brings up the option of simply laying low and while continuing his crusade, Light says he wants to off L who far as he knew at that point was an officer like his father doing his job. I understand why the Storyteller would want to use Death Note for this subject matter but I think trying to tie it to Light wasn’t the best call as he is to at least some degree a sociopath that I can’t imagine any society would let roam free without at the very least any surveillance assuming he can even be rehabilitated.
A few things. Art is interpretative. A lot of this video is just the things I found interesting about my rewatch of Death Note, given my recent re-read into Prison Abolition. I think Light is a good framing device purely because he's extreme, and many of the counter arguments to Prison Abolition are the extreme situations like Light.
What makes him compelling, to me, is that we get to see that descent into madness. Even seeing scenes of him gazing at the TV screen in Shibuya watching "criminals" be reported on the news. I think Death Note is a lame show to simplify to "Light was bored" cause' it's much more compelling to examine why Light or L or whoever cling really hard to their flawed ideas of justice, even if it's just a front.
Light is what, 15 or 17 at the start of the show? He's a naive impressionable teen. So, him clinging to this idea. of "being chosen" and self righteousness in itself is interesting to explore because I'm constantly asking "where is this coming from?" Even as a front, that stuff does not manifest from thin air. The simplification of Light doing this all because he's bored is just really uninteresting way to engage with the show imo, and I'm not even the biggest Death Note head.
"Light talks about justice, yes, but it's apparent from the get-go that it's only a front, a means to and end of world domination." Disagree. It's actually super common for people to think they themselves are not only capable of doling out justice, but defining it.
"As for L, while he does work with the police, somewhat representing the institutions of the criminal justice system, it's explicitly stated that he doesn't care about serving justice, but simply figuring out the case" do you actually believe everyone who works in and with law enforcement are doing it because they care about serving justice lol? Miyazaki has a whole ass film about someone whose genuine love and admiration for aeronautics is thematically haunted by the specter that his warplane would become a twisted symbol of nationalistic pride for the Japanese and a sight of terror for the people it gunned down.
"L and Light both have motivations that kind of seem ideological, but ultimately both of them are deeply personal" they're both. Nothing in the story implies or states that either of them are presenting a false ideology. Light's delusions of grandeur come from the idea of the Strong Man. The only way to really deal with society's problems is a powerful enough arbiter of societal justice directing society. With the Death Note and his (demonstrated and accepted and praised by society) intelligence he now has the power to back up his belief. Death *very* discriminate. L subscribes to an ideology that puts truth and knowledge above all other moral questions. He recognizes his ethically dubious actions are ethically dubious but what matters is being right and exposing the true nature of Kira.
Also remember he's trying to critique this apart from whatever ideological sympathies the writer may or may not have been trying to express through the work, but how it can be read given the presentation.
@@TheStorytellerAJ I do get that this is the most agree to disagree kind of part of your video.