Eternians like to laugh. Whether it's Evil-Lyn's ominous, throaty chuckle or Man-At-Arm's kindly guffaw, laughter abounds in any given episode of He-Man. It's one of the things that unites Hero and Villain. When you look at what precipitates the laughter the similarities begin to vanish. Not completely, however.
Take misfortune. When Skeletor is convinced He-Man is firmly in his grasp and he consequently lets loose his vindictive cackle, he isn't laughing because Beast-Man told a joke. He's laughing because he thinks He-Man is about to be utterly destroyed, and that's just about the most amusing thing Skeletor can contemplate.
Pretty mean, huh? Laughing at someone else's misfortune?
Recall for me the last time one of Orco's magic tricks took a slightly - uh - tangential turn. What happened next? If, for example, Orco was attempting to levitate a clutch of freshly baked Eternian tarts when he suddenly loses control, you can bet that one of them is going to find itself upside down on Man-At-Arm's face, pie juice staining his bristly upper lip.
Shortly following this accident is Adam's great belly laugh - you know, the one where he has to dip his head backward to allow the full volume of mirth to escape from his body.
Man-At-Arm's accident is Adam's entertainment.
Of course the two situations are different. Skeletor wanted He-Man brought to utter ruin, while Adam only happened to think jelly dangling from Duncan's mustache a funny sight. Duncan might be a little annoyed, but he wasn't really harmed. If Duncan ran from the room crying, lamenting that his mustache would never be the same, that his social life was ruined, Adam would stop laughing. Skeletor, in his place, would only cackle all the louder.
Where does the line fall? At the place where harm actually occurs. The Villain laughs at harm; it pleases him or her to see an enemy in pain. Harm is intense, significant and lasting. The Hero laughs at mild misfortune; while it may be annoying and unpleasant at the time, it's effects are mild and temporary. It could happen to us, right? Might as well laugh at it.
These two different responses show laughter to be an amazingly acute moral barometer. "It's not funny!" We say, when we're really hurt. "Stop laughing!" Does the person stop? If they do, that says one thing about the person; if they don't, it says another. When somebody laughs at cruelty to a person or animal we feel a chill. That's a person to watch out for, we think. That's someone I don't trust. We make that judgment on the basis of laughter.
As they laugh, so shall ye know them.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Technology
Trap-Jaw is the Swiss Army knife of the Eternia universe. For every occasion he has an appropriate arm attachment. Need to freeze someone? Trap-Jaw has an attachment for that. Need to blast through a door? There’s an attachment for that, too.
I’ve always wanted to have lots of cool tools, to have something ready for any situation. Gear is good. It gives us a longer reach – for Trap-Jaw, literally so. He is the symbol for the merger of man and machine. We use technology to extend our reach into the world, to give us powers not endowed by nature, and in doing so we become something different.
Something different, yes, but does it make us less human, like Trap-Jaw?
I’ve never believed that. Sure, the more we rely on technology, the more things can go wrong: computer crashes are a constant cheery reminder. An even greater consequence is the psychological impact of relying on things whose workings we don’t understand. It gives some of us a sense of perpetual unease.
Once upon a time we humans felt that way about the natural world. We lived in fear of storms and bear attacks and invented intricate cosmologies explaining their capricious behavior. And although the weather can still be a problem, what with hurricanes and floods and earthquakes, we are much better insulated from them than ever before.
It’s kind of funny, then, that just as technology has drastically reduced the worry of the natural world, it’s given us something new to worry about: itself, which we created. (Which makes you wonder if there is something in the human brain that requires us to be worrying about something all the time.)
Of course, some people understand the technology. Like Man-At-Arms. He doesn’t always get it perfect (like the time he invented the lasso gun; that didn’t work the first time), but he’s confident enough to tinker with a problem until it gets fixed. When he doesn’t understand how something works, he takes the time to figure it out because he believes it can be figured out. Why? Because he’s been able to understand so many other things in the past.
Machines can help us achieve what we want faster and better. When we feel uneasy, let’s take a page out of Man-At-Arms’s book: let’s tinker. (Under competent supervision, of course. Some things blow up when you mess with them. He-Man will be the first to tell you: Safety First!) Understanding how something works goes a long way towards feeling comfortable with it.
I’ve always wanted to have lots of cool tools, to have something ready for any situation. Gear is good. It gives us a longer reach – for Trap-Jaw, literally so. He is the symbol for the merger of man and machine. We use technology to extend our reach into the world, to give us powers not endowed by nature, and in doing so we become something different.
Something different, yes, but does it make us less human, like Trap-Jaw?
I’ve never believed that. Sure, the more we rely on technology, the more things can go wrong: computer crashes are a constant cheery reminder. An even greater consequence is the psychological impact of relying on things whose workings we don’t understand. It gives some of us a sense of perpetual unease.
Once upon a time we humans felt that way about the natural world. We lived in fear of storms and bear attacks and invented intricate cosmologies explaining their capricious behavior. And although the weather can still be a problem, what with hurricanes and floods and earthquakes, we are much better insulated from them than ever before.
It’s kind of funny, then, that just as technology has drastically reduced the worry of the natural world, it’s given us something new to worry about: itself, which we created. (Which makes you wonder if there is something in the human brain that requires us to be worrying about something all the time.)
Of course, some people understand the technology. Like Man-At-Arms. He doesn’t always get it perfect (like the time he invented the lasso gun; that didn’t work the first time), but he’s confident enough to tinker with a problem until it gets fixed. When he doesn’t understand how something works, he takes the time to figure it out because he believes it can be figured out. Why? Because he’s been able to understand so many other things in the past.
Machines can help us achieve what we want faster and better. When we feel uneasy, let’s take a page out of Man-At-Arms’s book: let’s tinker. (Under competent supervision, of course. Some things blow up when you mess with them. He-Man will be the first to tell you: Safety First!) Understanding how something works goes a long way towards feeling comfortable with it.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Deception - Good and Bad
Evil-Lyn has any number of powerful magics at her disposal, but the one she uses to greatest effect is her power of deception. Specifically, she can transform her appearance into anything from a sweet old lady to a defenseless young maiden. She’s used this trick on more than one occasion to fool a hapless Eternian or even a member of the royal family into divulging secrets or going along with one of her evil schemes (unwittingly, of course). Deception is one of the most powerful tools of the forces of evil. Deception allows evil to take advantage of the unsuspicious before they can put up a defense.
We must remember that the forces of good also use deception, mostly in the service of keeping secrets. The biggest instance, of course, is Prince Adam’s secret identity. (CAUTION: Spoiler Alert. Prince Adam is ACTUALLY He-Man! I know, right? Didn’t see that one coming.) Adam keeps this secret, he says, to protect the well being of those closest to him, like his mother and father, and his friend Teila.
Teila also has a secret. In her case, she’s not in on the secret; it’s being kept from her. What secret? Her true parentage (her mom is the Sorceress) and her true destiny (eventually taking over the job of the Sorceress, which seems to consist in being a dispatcher for He-Man). It is Man-At-Arms, her adoptive father, who keeps this secret. And why? To protect her well-being, of course. Man-At-Arms and the Sorceress want to wait until Teila is “ready” to handle her destiny.
So both Adam and Man-At-Arms are keeping secrets for the same reason: to protect the well being of others. Whether this is the case or not (I for one favor telling the truth in both cases) we can at least see the difference between the forces of good and evil. Evil-Lyn keeps her identity a secret so she can do harm to people and Prince Adam keeps his secret to prevent harm to people.
Clearly, there is a difference. Again, whether it is acceptable to lie to someone for good reasons (i.e. to protect the well-being of someone) and if so, in what cases, is an old debate that has many positions. Plato, writing for Socrates in the Republic, his treatise on the nature of justice, says
Sometimes we may even lie to help someone experience pleasure, like lying about a surprise party. Parents and other moral educators may find themselves loath to mention such exceptions to merit-less mendacity because the lure to lie may already be so strong that the slightest excuse will be used unwarrantedly by children.
As soon as there are good but hard-to-define exceptions to important rules, plenty of people will line up to exploit those exceptions in cases where they don’t really apply. Imagine a case of aldutery: “Of course I wanted to tell you about the other woman, dear, but I didn’t really want to hurt your feelings. I was only thinking of you.” Boy, I hope the person telling that whopper wasn’t married to Teila. I don’t think she or her mad sword skills would be very forgiving.
So yeah, there’s a difference between Evil-Lyn and Prince Adam when it comes to their acts of deception. Sure, maybe Adam is over-estimating the dangers lurking in wait for the parents of He-Man. Or maybe he’s right about the danger, but wrong about the relative importance to his parents of them knowing their son’s true nature versus their relative safety. It gets complicated.
My advice is this: beware of endangered young maidens and kindly old ladies. They may just be an evil sorceress in disguise.
We must remember that the forces of good also use deception, mostly in the service of keeping secrets. The biggest instance, of course, is Prince Adam’s secret identity. (CAUTION: Spoiler Alert. Prince Adam is ACTUALLY He-Man! I know, right? Didn’t see that one coming.) Adam keeps this secret, he says, to protect the well being of those closest to him, like his mother and father, and his friend Teila.
Teila also has a secret. In her case, she’s not in on the secret; it’s being kept from her. What secret? Her true parentage (her mom is the Sorceress) and her true destiny (eventually taking over the job of the Sorceress, which seems to consist in being a dispatcher for He-Man). It is Man-At-Arms, her adoptive father, who keeps this secret. And why? To protect her well-being, of course. Man-At-Arms and the Sorceress want to wait until Teila is “ready” to handle her destiny.
So both Adam and Man-At-Arms are keeping secrets for the same reason: to protect the well being of others. Whether this is the case or not (I for one favor telling the truth in both cases) we can at least see the difference between the forces of good and evil. Evil-Lyn keeps her identity a secret so she can do harm to people and Prince Adam keeps his secret to prevent harm to people.
Clearly, there is a difference. Again, whether it is acceptable to lie to someone for good reasons (i.e. to protect the well-being of someone) and if so, in what cases, is an old debate that has many positions. Plato, writing for Socrates in the Republic, his treatise on the nature of justice, says
Aren’t there times when it [a lie] is useful and so does not merit hatred?
What about when we are dealing with enemies, or with so-called friends who,
because of insanity or ignorance, are attempting to do something bad? Isn’t it a
useful drug for preventing them?
(The Republic, 382c5-10, C.D.C Reeve
Translation, p. 63, c.2004 Hacket publishing company.)
Sometimes we may even lie to help someone experience pleasure, like lying about a surprise party. Parents and other moral educators may find themselves loath to mention such exceptions to merit-less mendacity because the lure to lie may already be so strong that the slightest excuse will be used unwarrantedly by children.
As soon as there are good but hard-to-define exceptions to important rules, plenty of people will line up to exploit those exceptions in cases where they don’t really apply. Imagine a case of aldutery: “Of course I wanted to tell you about the other woman, dear, but I didn’t really want to hurt your feelings. I was only thinking of you.” Boy, I hope the person telling that whopper wasn’t married to Teila. I don’t think she or her mad sword skills would be very forgiving.
So yeah, there’s a difference between Evil-Lyn and Prince Adam when it comes to their acts of deception. Sure, maybe Adam is over-estimating the dangers lurking in wait for the parents of He-Man. Or maybe he’s right about the danger, but wrong about the relative importance to his parents of them knowing their son’s true nature versus their relative safety. It gets complicated.
My advice is this: beware of endangered young maidens and kindly old ladies. They may just be an evil sorceress in disguise.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Beastman: Skeletor's Whipping Boy
Poor Beast-Man. All he wants to do is be somebody important. Every time he tries to impress Skeletor, he usually screws it up. He hates Skeletor, of course, at the same time he loves him; the way a whipped dog loves and hates its master.
Why does he stay with Skeletor? For one thing, his ability to control animals reaches its peak at Snake Mountain, Skeletor’s dark and twisted fortress. To that I say, so what? How many times does He-Man concoct a plan to invade Snake Mountain? How often is Beast-Man going to use his powers at Snake Mountain? It happens, true, but not that often.
Beast-Man has the lowest status out of all Skeletor’s minions. His chief function seems to be that of Skeletor’s Insult Catcher. Apparently Skeletor has a lot of anger and it needs an outlet; that’s Beast-Man’s job.
What else can he do? How can he get out of this destructive relationship? He can start by recognizing his own value: his affinity with animals. Perhaps he could get a job as a shepherd. I’m sure there are lots of flocks of wayward sheep (or whatever grazing, migrating animals they have on Eternia) looking for guidance. Beast-Man could provide that. In fact, with his mind-control abilities, he could be sending signals to many flocks at a single time. In just a little time he could become the biggest shepherd in Eternia.
There are plenty of other lines of work available for him. He could be a zoo keeper. An animal trainer. A pet store proprietor. Kennel master for the royal hounds. Pest control god. The possibilities are many.
Once he recognizes he has real value apart from Skeletor, he needs to make a clean and lasting break. No good will come in trying to maintain some kind of a relationship with Bone Dome. Perhaps one day Skeletor will sincerely repent for his abuse; if that day comes, and Beast-Man feels he’s ready, then a rapproachement is possible. Until then Beast-Man needs to become his own person.
He’ll have moments of doubt and insecurity. He’ll think himself a phony, incapable of surviving without the firm (if painful) guidance of the Cantankerous Calcium Deposit. That is where his new profession will come into play. He can look to his new good work for confirmation of his special abilities and so realize he doesn’t need the incessant put-downs to keep going.
Is it too much to wish for the day when a confident Beast-Man gazes serenely over his furry flock as he leads them to greener pastures? I hope not.
Why does he stay with Skeletor? For one thing, his ability to control animals reaches its peak at Snake Mountain, Skeletor’s dark and twisted fortress. To that I say, so what? How many times does He-Man concoct a plan to invade Snake Mountain? How often is Beast-Man going to use his powers at Snake Mountain? It happens, true, but not that often.
Beast-Man has the lowest status out of all Skeletor’s minions. His chief function seems to be that of Skeletor’s Insult Catcher. Apparently Skeletor has a lot of anger and it needs an outlet; that’s Beast-Man’s job.
What else can he do? How can he get out of this destructive relationship? He can start by recognizing his own value: his affinity with animals. Perhaps he could get a job as a shepherd. I’m sure there are lots of flocks of wayward sheep (or whatever grazing, migrating animals they have on Eternia) looking for guidance. Beast-Man could provide that. In fact, with his mind-control abilities, he could be sending signals to many flocks at a single time. In just a little time he could become the biggest shepherd in Eternia.
There are plenty of other lines of work available for him. He could be a zoo keeper. An animal trainer. A pet store proprietor. Kennel master for the royal hounds. Pest control god. The possibilities are many.
Once he recognizes he has real value apart from Skeletor, he needs to make a clean and lasting break. No good will come in trying to maintain some kind of a relationship with Bone Dome. Perhaps one day Skeletor will sincerely repent for his abuse; if that day comes, and Beast-Man feels he’s ready, then a rapproachement is possible. Until then Beast-Man needs to become his own person.
He’ll have moments of doubt and insecurity. He’ll think himself a phony, incapable of surviving without the firm (if painful) guidance of the Cantankerous Calcium Deposit. That is where his new profession will come into play. He can look to his new good work for confirmation of his special abilities and so realize he doesn’t need the incessant put-downs to keep going.
Is it too much to wish for the day when a confident Beast-Man gazes serenely over his furry flock as he leads them to greener pastures? I hope not.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
How To Get Ahead
Evil-Lyn isn’t exactly terrified of Skeletor. She respects the power he has, of course, and keeps a (mostly) civil tongue when he’s around. But you won’t see her whimper and cower like Tri-Clops or Beast-Man when old boneface gets enraged and starts shooting energy bolts from his Havoc Staff.
Maybe it’s because she’s got the same kind of power Skeletor has: sorcery. His is more powerful, of course; otherwise it would be Evil-Lyn who would shake her fists in the air, angry at the universe, for having lost to He-Man at the end of an episode. But Skeletor does rely on her to carry out his plans, and she usually delivers, unlike our favorite orange-colored snarling whipping boy, Beast-Man. Is it too much for her to hope that one day her magical abilities will match and even exceed Skeletor’s? The answer is no; she does hope, and what is more, she actively plans for that day.
Besides sorcery, she successfully mimics another attribute of calcium-head: his withering contempt for his bumbling subordinates. Whether it’s Beast-Man who can’t control his dragons, or Trap-Jaw who fails to attach a tool into his arm socket fast enough, Evil-Lyn is ready and willing to name them idiots, nincompoops, failures, if Skeletor isn’t around to deliver the barbs himself.
Maniacal laughter is another trait that Evil-Lyn is developing. Though not quite as piercing as Skeletor’s ringing, triumphant cackle, Evil-Lyn’s husky chortle fills the hapless listener with an unmistakable sense of dread.
You could say Evil-Lyn carefully follows an old, much revered principle for getting ahead: mimic your superior. Be good at what they’re good at, so that one day, when they’re old and feeble and forgetful, you can secretly steal their Havoc Staff and put them to work for you cleaning out the dungeons. Who will be laughing then?
Maybe it’s because she’s got the same kind of power Skeletor has: sorcery. His is more powerful, of course; otherwise it would be Evil-Lyn who would shake her fists in the air, angry at the universe, for having lost to He-Man at the end of an episode. But Skeletor does rely on her to carry out his plans, and she usually delivers, unlike our favorite orange-colored snarling whipping boy, Beast-Man. Is it too much for her to hope that one day her magical abilities will match and even exceed Skeletor’s? The answer is no; she does hope, and what is more, she actively plans for that day.
Besides sorcery, she successfully mimics another attribute of calcium-head: his withering contempt for his bumbling subordinates. Whether it’s Beast-Man who can’t control his dragons, or Trap-Jaw who fails to attach a tool into his arm socket fast enough, Evil-Lyn is ready and willing to name them idiots, nincompoops, failures, if Skeletor isn’t around to deliver the barbs himself.
Maniacal laughter is another trait that Evil-Lyn is developing. Though not quite as piercing as Skeletor’s ringing, triumphant cackle, Evil-Lyn’s husky chortle fills the hapless listener with an unmistakable sense of dread.
You could say Evil-Lyn carefully follows an old, much revered principle for getting ahead: mimic your superior. Be good at what they’re good at, so that one day, when they’re old and feeble and forgetful, you can secretly steal their Havoc Staff and put them to work for you cleaning out the dungeons. Who will be laughing then?
Monday, March 23, 2009
Something To Prove
Teila has a destiny. We’re told pretty early on that Teila is actually the daughter of the Sorceress. Man-At-Arms found Teila as a baby and decided to raiser her (he was mustache-less at that time. By the time she began to form memories, I’m sure the mustache was firmly in place.) The Sorceress is one of the three most powerful forces on Eternia (the other two being He-Man and, you guessed it, that old calcified cackler, Skeletor). So Teila, presumably, has a lot to look forward to. But she doesn’t know any of this.
Teila takes every opportunity to test herself and go beyond the rules laid down by Man-At-Arms. It’s true that she isn’t a child; she is, after all, the captain of the guards! Man-At-Arms still tries to protect her, though. Maybe it’s because no matter how old she gets, she’s still his daughter and he will always worry about her. Or maybe it’s because Teila takes risks a little too willingly and places herself in unnecessary danger.
Like the time Teila wanted to spend a couple of days in the Darklands. She ended up getting captured by the sorcerer Kor’s soldier creatures. Kor turned out to be a good guy, but it could easily have been the realm of an evil sorcerer.
There are times we want to prove ourselves so badly that we behave rashly. Why is it so important to prove ourselves to others? Because we start out in life without much experience. We learn how to do a lot of things from watching others. They tell us when we’re doing things right and when wrong. So naturally we look to them to validate our abilities.
This isn’t a bad thing. Before we have internalized a skill or ability, it’s important to look to experts so we know whether we’re doing it right. Later on, once we’ve acquired the necessary knowledge and experience, we’ll be able to judge for ourselves.
The mistake Teila made is thinking that Man-At-Arm’s validation just by itself will make her capable or not. This is backwards. It’s our successful abilities which win the validation, and not the other way around. It’s easy to become impatient with ourselves and want to be good at something right away. If we think that the validation of others is the mark of being good at something, that’s what we’ll aim for. But that can result in lying or misrepresenting our actual abilities, just to get a good scorecard.
In the end, the only one who will know whether we’ve succeeded is ourselves. That’s not something we can take a shortcut for.
Teila takes every opportunity to test herself and go beyond the rules laid down by Man-At-Arms. It’s true that she isn’t a child; she is, after all, the captain of the guards! Man-At-Arms still tries to protect her, though. Maybe it’s because no matter how old she gets, she’s still his daughter and he will always worry about her. Or maybe it’s because Teila takes risks a little too willingly and places herself in unnecessary danger.
Like the time Teila wanted to spend a couple of days in the Darklands. She ended up getting captured by the sorcerer Kor’s soldier creatures. Kor turned out to be a good guy, but it could easily have been the realm of an evil sorcerer.
There are times we want to prove ourselves so badly that we behave rashly. Why is it so important to prove ourselves to others? Because we start out in life without much experience. We learn how to do a lot of things from watching others. They tell us when we’re doing things right and when wrong. So naturally we look to them to validate our abilities.
This isn’t a bad thing. Before we have internalized a skill or ability, it’s important to look to experts so we know whether we’re doing it right. Later on, once we’ve acquired the necessary knowledge and experience, we’ll be able to judge for ourselves.
The mistake Teila made is thinking that Man-At-Arm’s validation just by itself will make her capable or not. This is backwards. It’s our successful abilities which win the validation, and not the other way around. It’s easy to become impatient with ourselves and want to be good at something right away. If we think that the validation of others is the mark of being good at something, that’s what we’ll aim for. But that can result in lying or misrepresenting our actual abilities, just to get a good scorecard.
In the end, the only one who will know whether we’ve succeeded is ourselves. That’s not something we can take a shortcut for.
Keep Cool, Baby
One time Evil-Lyn kidnapped the daughter of a powerful sorcerer and showed the sorcerer a forged video that showed He-Man and Man-At-Arms doing the kidnapping. This made the sorcerer so mad he incarcerated He-Man, just as Evil-Lyn planned; The sorcerer wouldn’t listen to reason because he was so angry.
Kor, the sorcerer, was ordinarily a good guy. He didn’t spend his time hatching plans that would drain the life essences out of people so he could use that essence to destroy stuff. (Like Bone Dome does). But his daughter was kidnapped. He was scared. Kor saw footage showing He-Man taking his daugher. So he reacted.
Quick reactions can save lives. Back when us humans lived close to tigers and snakes quick reactions allowed us to survive and multiply. Nowadays those kinds of situations are pretty uncommon. Sure, a tiger might get you – but usually Beast-Man is behind it.
For situations like that, it pays to think things through.
Suppose you determine Beast-Man is controlling the tiger. Aha – now you have a way to get the tiger off your back: distract Beast-Man. How do you do that? Perhaps you could make him think Skeletor was coming to berate him. Poor Beast-Man. Nothing he does is ever good enough. He’s got a real inferiority complex because of Skeletor’s nitpicking. You can exploit that.
Better yet, you could make him think Skeletor was happy with him. Wouldn’t that knock him down! He’d be so flabbergasted and happy he’d lose all interest in that man-eating tiger. You’d be safe. And maybe you’d have given Beast-Man a little taste of what it's like to have positive self-esteem. Who knows where that could lead to? Perhaps he might escape the tendrils of old bony face once and for all?
Many options become available if we stop to think instead of just reacting.
Kor was so upset he couldn’t think straight. Sure, he saw doctored footage of He-Man and Man-At-Arms stealing his daughter. But they told Kor it was Evil-Lyn and they gave him a good argument for him to at least consider that they may be telling the truth: Evil-Lyn is usually causing trouble; He-Man and Man-At-Arms are usually cleaning up trouble.
But he wouldn’t listen. His mind was too clouded by anger. Disaster almost occurred – the Crismson Scourge got loose and would have burned the world if not for He-Man. (And by the way, did He-Man just pound the Scourge into submission? No. He took the time to think of a better solution: tapping underground water and damping the Crimson Scourge into submission.)
There are times when lightning reactions can do us good. But most of the time it pays to stop and think.
Kor, the sorcerer, was ordinarily a good guy. He didn’t spend his time hatching plans that would drain the life essences out of people so he could use that essence to destroy stuff. (Like Bone Dome does). But his daughter was kidnapped. He was scared. Kor saw footage showing He-Man taking his daugher. So he reacted.
Quick reactions can save lives. Back when us humans lived close to tigers and snakes quick reactions allowed us to survive and multiply. Nowadays those kinds of situations are pretty uncommon. Sure, a tiger might get you – but usually Beast-Man is behind it.
For situations like that, it pays to think things through.
Suppose you determine Beast-Man is controlling the tiger. Aha – now you have a way to get the tiger off your back: distract Beast-Man. How do you do that? Perhaps you could make him think Skeletor was coming to berate him. Poor Beast-Man. Nothing he does is ever good enough. He’s got a real inferiority complex because of Skeletor’s nitpicking. You can exploit that.
Better yet, you could make him think Skeletor was happy with him. Wouldn’t that knock him down! He’d be so flabbergasted and happy he’d lose all interest in that man-eating tiger. You’d be safe. And maybe you’d have given Beast-Man a little taste of what it's like to have positive self-esteem. Who knows where that could lead to? Perhaps he might escape the tendrils of old bony face once and for all?
Many options become available if we stop to think instead of just reacting.
Kor was so upset he couldn’t think straight. Sure, he saw doctored footage of He-Man and Man-At-Arms stealing his daughter. But they told Kor it was Evil-Lyn and they gave him a good argument for him to at least consider that they may be telling the truth: Evil-Lyn is usually causing trouble; He-Man and Man-At-Arms are usually cleaning up trouble.
But he wouldn’t listen. His mind was too clouded by anger. Disaster almost occurred – the Crismson Scourge got loose and would have burned the world if not for He-Man. (And by the way, did He-Man just pound the Scourge into submission? No. He took the time to think of a better solution: tapping underground water and damping the Crimson Scourge into submission.)
There are times when lightning reactions can do us good. But most of the time it pays to stop and think.
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