Friday, September 26, 2014

"He Had It Coming"

Many of y'all have probably heard of "Cell Block Tango" from the musical/movie Chicago. This scene, specifically the chorus of the song ("He had it coming"), reminds me of Medea's attitude toward Jason. Like the "Merry Murderesses of the Cook County Jail," she believes that her actions were justifiable, a "murder but not a crime." Each woman has been either abused or cheated on, much like Medea was. But does that make their actions right or even reasonable? Isn't that just an excuse for anarchy and vigilante justice? Please discuss. Also, implications on violence and domestic abuse?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA6R1DMb-Z8

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I don't think murder/taking a human life is justifiable in any case, except those cases in which a person has been charged with sufficiently heinous war crimes (eg - Adolf Hitler, Josef Mengele) or otherwise condemned to death by a court with a fair judge and jury. While Jason is clearly a sexist pig who put Medea under a serious burden of emotional duress, I don't think that warrants Medea to kill his family (especially his children). I also take issue with the fact that nothing happened to Medea as punishment for her actions. The women you speak of are in jail; Medea escaped with dragons.

Sri Korrapati said...

They lived in a society that allowed this to happen! It's actually very sad because of how smart and forward thinking the Greeks were. While Medea had justification and reason to take revenge on Jason, I don't think she went about it the right way. Killing their children was immoral, for they had not done any wrong. Jason on the other hand did do something wrong. He should've been punished by some authority whether it be the gods or the government. If we gender swapped here and presumed that a wife did what Jason did to her husband, that wife would be punished justly. The same should happen to Jason even though he is a man. Because of the injustice of the society, Medea took it upon herself. That's why she's a boss.