When we watch epic movies, we see the concept of honor taken to a whole other level. People choose who they’re loyal to, and that dictates a lot of things for them. No matter what, they choose even the most unpleasant lives as than going against their beliefs. Anything at all that will put a stain on their honor will be avoided like a plague.
Now, this doesn’t mean that there are no shrewd people in such movies. Of course there are. If not, how will there be conflict? There will always be those who are loyal to no one, and they’re usually upfront about this. There will be those who are snakes, and they act only in their best interests. If the circumstances determine that they sacrifice their own mother to get ahead, they’d do it in a heartbeat.
But then, the gist of the whole thing is that the majority of people take issues like honor seriously. Your average man will rather be known as a poor honorable man than a rich betrayer. And this was something that was done with a lot of pride because they’ll always tell tales of how they refused to succumb to temptation when they had the chance.
Yeah, I’m talking about movies, but back in the day, in real life, things like honor were very much real and a big thing. Like, even as late as the 90s, there were still those who took their honor and reputation seriously. That’s why till today, many people still follow the saying; a good name is better than riches. Yeah, people went all out to protect their reputation, and anything at all that threatened that was seen as the enemy.
Now, this is a good thing. We all want to be known being good. The only issue is that somewhere along the way, it became toxic. People have now become more focused on being seen as honorable and good than actually being honorable and good. That’s why people who spend a lot of their time coaching others on something end up doing the very same thing themselves, all to protect their image. How many daughters were disowned simply because they got pregnant out of wedlock and their parents didn’t want to deal with the bad press? How many sons were booted out simply because they had ‘bad friends’ and their parents didn’t want to deal with the bad reputation they kept bringing?
You see, somehow, people left actually being a good person to put more energy into being seen as a good person. That’s the only reason why someone whose family is starving will go to celebrate their birthday in an orphanage. Or a lawyer who is known for doing pro bono cases will ignore his cousin’s case stuck in legal limbo. Anything at all that might detract from the good image we want to portray, we just put in the back seat.
And as a result, in this day and age, people don’t really care much about issues like honor and reputation anymore. Because no matter what you do, there will be those who simply think you’re fake. There will be those who will try to take advantage, and whatnot. People just do whatever, and we have conditioned ourselves to just do what works for us, regardless of what people think. If it besmirches our supposed honor, it’s not a big deal anymore because things like honor no longer matter. Thanks to social media, honor can be pulled from thin air, and it can also vanish just as quickly. Honor is simply only used when it’s gonna pay off. If getting dirty with the pigs will pay better, then down into the sty we go.
And today, we have different versions of what honor truly is, and even if we see it right in front of us, we’re still gonna wonder and question it. Is this man really who he says he is? Is this woman really as wonderful as she acts?
This is one of the downsides of living in the modern day. We’ve lost our honor.
Thank you for reading. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below, I would love to know what you're thinking. Till we meet in the next post.
N.B: All images used in this post are mine.
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