I did not feel that sorry for him. True, he had not exactly had a conventional upbringing, so he deserved sympathy for that. Then when he started to use his powers to harm people, part of you thought that although it was not right what he did, he was involuntarily lashing out. Then that woman, who was concerned about him, he changed into a lizard. You just saw him smirking. After that I thought what, a nasty, sadistic, little ****. So I was not sorry at all when he got taken away.
reply
share
FarmerTed (186)
7 months ago
Giving him special powers such as altering matter deprived him of the need to grow emotionally. The crew felt sorrow for Charlie at the end as perhaps if he was ordinary meaning no special powers he might have grown into a mature and empathetic person. Charlie as he was had no empathy and was no different than a contemporary rich kid who has everything done for him and is shielded from the law when he makes serious mistakes. The downside being friendship is temporary and fleeting. That the kid is stuck with "dad" aka the Thasians to make his lifestyle function.
reply
share
MickyMac (3172)
7 months ago
They felt sorry for him simply because he was a kid and probably would've waited too long to do anything about it if the Thasians hadn't shown up.
There's the saying power corrupts.
reply
share
strntz (12225)
7 months ago
I did not feel that sorry for him.
I also didn't for the same reasons you didn't - he didn't seem much bothered by his conscience for the deeds he committed on the others, for if he did, he would have undid those deeds shortly after he did them.
What I think is that the writer of the story intended for Kirk to show more compassion to Charlie than the audience did in order to cement Kirk as not only more brave and heroic than the average bear, but also more forgiving and empathetic as well.
reply
share
FarmerTed (186)
7 months ago
How many people develop a conscience when they get their way all the time? By my experience very few.
reply
share
strntz (12225)
7 months ago
I believe everyone is born with a conscience which is there, sometimes buried deeply admittedly, in any person regardless of their upbringing. As bad as his upbring was, the Thasians never taught him cruelty or to murder.
Charlie never showed an inkling of remorse for even the very horrible things he did until the Thasians were taking him back.
reply
share
FarmerTed (186)
7 months ago
I think that the Thasians were like most parents and that is another point of the episode. Over 99 percent of parents in the US do not teach their kids to murder other beings at least who are similar to themselves biologically. Yet people go out and commit murder intentionally. As Charlie said himself the Thasians do not love and by the standards Charlie would understand they exhibit little in the way of compassion. I believe remorse is born out of compassion. The overall lack of compassion in the world today will be a major factor in its doom.
reply
share
strntz (12225)
7 months ago
I don't totally disagree, but I can tell you that my sister in law has an adopted sister who came to their family at 13 years old (very old for an adoption) and that her upbringing was horrible although not one of physical abuse at least. She is one of the nicest and sweetest people you will ever meet.
reply
share