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HIGHLANDER AND THE VIOLENCE
People unfamiliar with the Highlander universe may erroneously perceive the series as mainly about violence. Swords flash, fists fly, heads are sliced off. Slice and dice, etc. They may not understand what others see in it.
We fans know better. Adrian Paul says, on his website, he was surprised to learn that the second season of Highlander: The Series was rated the most violent program on television.
The history of every country on this planet includes violence. The Holocaust was violent. Slavery was violent. The Roman Empire, Shogunate Japan, and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia were violent. Many of us occupy land that was once home to tribal villages. These tribes even fought each other violently. It is in our DNA.
Highlander: TS uses these and other historical flashbacks to instruct us ABOUT violence but never glorifies it or shows gratuitous gore. The scant blood we do see is necessary to tell the story.
Violence, in Highlander: TS is always presented as the last, unfortunate, alternative. Duncan MacLeod cherishes all life, does all he can to avoid taking a head, and never takes joy in killing—even his most evil enemies. If he sees that his adversary is not evil or truly remorseful, he will walk away, rather than kill. Always he seeks a peaceful solution, where possible. Somehow, he has found the strength to overcome his own nature. He was born a warrior who has learned to hate war.
There is real violence in our homes, our streets, our schools, and our workplaces. We must recognize its causes and confront them, before we can end it. A surgeon must know how organs look and function before he can operate and heal.
What is Highlander: TS about? It is not about violence. It is about the love, forgiveness, and redemption that come from the defeat of violence.
Peace, Emit
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