Trump vs. Thanos

By Oh Young-jin

Giving is one thing, taking is another. By that definition, I guess there are many takers out there who pretend that nothing is taken.

I am talking about a moral or lesson and, if it belongs to neither category, let's say a comparison, between Thanos, the supervillain from “Avengers: Endgame” and its immediate preceding work of the same franchise, “Infinity War,” and (who else?) U.S. President Donald Trump.

Now the chance is that the Russo brothers didn't bother or conspire to make a subliminal connection between one comic book figure transposed on screen and a real person who emerged from a reality show. The two are close enough to each other, for they work in fiction.

The directing brothers just wanted to have their movie live up to the comic spirit ― making the Avengers plot as simple as possible despite all distracting trappings ― that good always prevails over evil.

The beauty of the simplicity is that people can easily make up their minds whether to like the hero or hate the villain, a relief from the uncertainty of the rules of real life that works on blurred lines. Poetic justice is comic justice! That is how to lure large numbers of people to theaters.

But one question remains: A billion people have seen the movie but few have ventured to join the dots to compare Thanos and Trump to see who is the nastier. I bet there are many “comparers” who are staying in the closet, stuck in a state of numbness caused by the movie's three-hour running time.

The Thanos-Trump similarity is unmistakable. Elusive is the fact that both pursue change of the status quo.

Thanos collected Infinity stones for his gauntlet and used the power to destroy half the world with a finger snap. In his view, the world needed one inevitable act of constructive destruction for a fresh start.

Trump believes that his country has been ripped off and conned by allies and foes alike, so it is high time to give it a second chance. His slogan ― make America great again ― captures the spirit. For that, the destruction of the current order is necessary and inevitable.

Most notoriously, he has enervated the global fight against climate change.

The climate time bomb is ticking faster than ever as a result. It may no longer be stopped as other big polluters, such as China and India, cannot be constrained by their greenhouse gas emission targets, as the U.S. has now reneged on its.

The evidence is everywhere. Global temperatures are up, glaciers are melting faster, more ground is being submerged, denser fine dust is polluting the air and the weather is severer.

Trump also unilaterally pulled out of a nuclear deal with Iran, opening the way for the Islamic state to resume its program. Combined with his reduced ardor for North Korea's denuclearization, it means weapons proliferation may result.

His pullout from the Iran deal is ostensibly based on his determination to differ from his Democratic predecessor who engineered the effort to bring Tehran back into the international community. But also in the mix are Trump's suspicions about Islam, as captured by his ban on Muslims traveling to his country.

Trump's trade war with China could have a delayed devastating effect on the world. Now, the two are sparring with each other but it could turn into a full-blown, tit-for-tat, live-or-die slugfest that takes down the global economic system along with them.

And the Sino-U.S. trade war can only be a preview of what is to come as they are destined to get entangled in the Thucydides' trap and engage in the mother of all wars that pits the existing power against the new power.

So far, so comic book-easy. The hard part is the legitimacy of their causes, or the lack thereof. We know that the world we live is full of imbalances ― injustices, impartialities and inequalities ― and is in need of constant fixing that requires occasional big bangs.

The ends may not always justify the means but how does the very fact ― we need a change and Trump and Thanos are caught in the act of bringing about one ― affect our simple distinction between villain and hero?

The Russos end their movie by slaying Thanos, undoing his destruction and bringing the decimated back to life. Many viewers would take consolation from it and sleep soundly, knowing the world is back where it was.

But do you remember the hollow look of the revived Nick Fury during a sweeping take at the end of the movie? Perhaps Samuel Jackson tries to convey that what is done may not be undone; what is done would be best left alone to become the new order.

Now, do you think Thanos and by extension Trump are as villainous as you thought?

Oh Young-jin (foolsdie@gmail.com, foolsdie5@koreatimes.co.kr

) is the digital managing editor of The Korea Times.