I know that I said I would be doing my blog posts about the Moon Children (Lunar Children, if you prefer) of Majora's Mask, and I will, but today I had to interrupt that stream.
If you haven't figured it out by now or you just happened to stumble onto this blog today, yes, I'm an unashamed Christian, a so-called "Mormon," a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (That doesn't alter your perception of me at all, does it?)
As that is, today has special significance to me. Easter is known the world over as a cute holiday that commemorates the return of spring and new life, hence things like chicks and rabbits and eggs pop up all over the place. And people will tell you how those traditions all relate to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, the goddess of, among other things, fertility.
So I actually kind of like how in Spanish, as I found out, the holiday is known as "Las Pascuas," making reference to the Passover - a Jewish holiday that was instituted millennia ago as a reference to the coming of the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. That's what I'm observing, if not celebrating today.
Right now I don't want to go into the whole Easter story of the New Testament - ok, so I would really like to teach that whole lesson of what the significance of such is, but right now I won't. I will say that today, Good Friday, marked one of the most important events in the life of Jesus the Christ and in the lives of everyone. But beyond that, I won't say more for now. Instead I would like to talk about... weird as this might seem, Super Smash Brothers.
Yes, those guys.
The third installment of the series, Super Smash Brothers Brawl for the Nintendo Wii, had a theme song that was drastically different from the theme songs of the previous games: this one was a song with lyrics. Yes, this time instead of hearing an electronic symphony coercing you to get excited and immerse yourself into a world of action and adventure, instead you would hear a choir sing a ballad, an epic of heroism.
When first I heard this song on the game trailers, I was smitten. I think I might have even come close to shedding tears as I listened to the song that hailed my heroes and imaginary friends again. At the time I didn't even notice that there were words; I thought they were vocalizations meant to increase the drama and tug at my heartstrings, to remind me exactly how epic those imaginary Nintendo friends of mine were.
It wasn't until years later that I got a closer look and was finally able to play the game for myself. I reveled in the opportunity to take part in a sweeping saga to save the universe, to form bonds of camaraderie with my allies, to see peace restored to people everywhere. And when the adventure finally ended, the final cutscene played the theme of the whole game that had been reiterated throughout the adventure. On the screen came the words in Latin and English so that I could understand what was being said and what was being meant.
And that song will ever be etched on my heart.
The lyrics were powerful to me because they reminded me of something that I had long postulated, even when I was young. It was that heroes are not determined so much by their bravery - their willingness to stand in the way of danger - but by the real elements of courage: how much did they love others? How humble were they; enough to be willing to sacrifice? How faithful were they; enough to know that they were doing the best that they could, and that they were trying to cause righteousness to prevail? Any fool can laugh in the face of danger, but a hero (not an anti-hero) is one who confronts danger with passion and compassion in his or her heart.
I also noticed over time, with some help, that the lyrics had the potential to apply not only to one person, but to two: to the hero and his or her enemy. On the one hand - the lyrics applying to one person - they would be saying that this hero is so mighty as to incite awe and fear to those who know him or her. On the other hand, however - to say that the lyrics apply to a hero and enemy - this is where I found the most significance.
When I get back to the other posts about Majora's Mask, at some point I will bring up the idea that has come to me so many times while I play or work with the game and the universe of Termina. That idea is that everyone experiences pain. Everyone suffers. Friend or foe or stranger, the next person you meet and every person you meet after that, and you yourself suffer pain. I would like to impress that on your mind now as well.
One thing that separates heroes from anti-heroes and villains is that heroes try to alleviate suffering. They want people to feel better. They do what they can so that others do not suffer. Most anti-heroes and virtually all villains take great pleasure in causing suffering. When I show you these lyrics, you will see a distinction between the two.
To me this song, Audi Famam Illius, becomes a rallying call, an anthem that burns inside of me. While I doubt that it was originally in the mind of the composer or lyricists, in it I see the one great and eternal struggle. There is only one enemy. There is only one battle. It is all the same, and any distinction we draw between wars are merely details. Always the only battle fought is to conquer the enemy of all righteousness.
So in this, those of you familiar with the Easter story of Christianity will see the enemies laid out in clarity. Those of you not familiar with it, I suggest that you look up in the Bible the book of Luke, chapters 22 - 24, or if you can get a copy of the Book of Mormon try (to start with) Mosiah chapters 3 - 5 and the book of 3 Nephi, chapter 11. Then you'll see why I have to say what I am saying now.
I don't know if this will touch you in quite the same way that it has touched me, but I can hope so.
Audi famam illius I've heard the legends of that person
Solus en hostes ruit How he alone rushed into the enemy hosts
Et patrium servavit And saved his homeland
Audi famam illius I've heard the legends of that person
Cucurrit quaque He travelled the breadth of the land
Tetigit destruens And all that he touched was turned to rubble
Audi famam illius I've heard the legends of that person
Audi famam illius I've heard the legends of that person
Spes omnibus, mihi quoque Hope he gave to many, as he gave to me
Terror omnibus mihi quoque Terror he gave to many, as he gave to me
Ille That person
Iuxta me Now stands beside me
Ille iuxta me That person now stands beside me
Socii sunt mihi Now my friends are with me
Qui olim viri fortes Some of them were once heroes,
Rivalesque erant Some my bitter enemies
Saeve certando Now as we face each other
Pugnandoque Locked in combat
Splendor crescit We grow ever brighter
- TAB III
No comments:
Post a Comment