The Fine Line Between Forgiveness and Accountability
By Marcy Kennedy (@MarcyKennedy)
I’m going to admit up front that I haven’t been a huge fan of the Transformers franchise. I loved Transformers as a child, but I felt the first of the more recent movies was okay, and then the second two went downhill from there.
So I went into Transformers: Age of Extinction (movie #4) not expecting much. I only went because my husband loves the special effects and REALLY wanted to see them on the big screen.
And then I had to eat crow. Nicely roasted and basted with a raspberry-chipotle sauce of course, but crow nonetheless.
It wasn’t a perfect movie—far from it—but the dialogue made me laugh (in a good way), and I found myself drawn in by a new wrinkle. Optimus Prime was fed up with humanity and was tired of waiting for them to change.
Gone was the sacrifice-for-the-humans-at-any-cost Optimus from the past movies. He’d been disappointed and betrayed one too many times, and all he wanted to do was collect up the surviving Autobots and leave Earth for good.
Cade Yeager, the inventor and single father who is trying to help the Autobots, begs Optimus to give humanity a second chance. He claimed that screwing up is part of what humanity does. It’s what makes us human.
On one level, I agreed with Cade. Humans make mistakes, and we should be willing to forgive people for those mistakes. We should give second chances.
On another level, I disagreed because it sounded like Cade was arguing we should not only always forgive those who make mistakes but that we should continue to help them indefinitely, no matter how many times they make the same mistake and no matter how much we’re hurt by that mistake.
It’s the line between forgiveness (which I believe should always be extended) and allowing someone to walk all over you, never holding them accountable for their actions.
I know that the Transformers couldn’t hold humanity accountable or there wouldn’t have been a movie, but Cade’s answer felt trite. So many of the Transformers had been wrongly slaughtered, despite all they’d done in the past to save humanity. A “we’re humans and we make mistakes” reply didn’t cut it for me. And I had to wonder, is that how our society really feels now? Is there no place left for justice and accountability? Are we really expected to give infinite chances?
I believe mercy needs to be balanced with justice, and help needs to be balanced with accountability.
What do you think? Am I right or wrong? Is this how our society views mistakes, wrongs, and accountability now?
Interested in knowing when my novel is available to buy? Sign up for my newsletter. I give my newsletter subscribers exclusive discounts and freebies. I never share your email, and you can unsubscribe at any time!
I’d love to have you sign up to receive my posts by email. All you need to do is enter your email address below and hit the “Follow” botton.
Sep 02, 2014 @ 14:29:40
Your post pushes some of my personal hotbuttons. I used to get walked on, a lot. After enough years of putting in the effort and getting little in return, I got tired of the double standard. I personally believe in second chances, sometimes even a third, but most definitely not after that. The other person has to show some kind of initiative that they are working on themselves and the situation.
My husband and I have raised our kids with the idea that our actions have consequences. Which is very difficult when all around them, they see evidence of the opposite. I know, just within our friends and family group, we aren’t the only ones but we often feel outnumbered in the wider world.