Black Lightning and the Consequences of Quitting
The moral case for considering the consequences of quitting before actually doing it.
At some point most of us have thought about quitting something.
Whether it's because it's too hard, or you're not making much progress, or because you don't really see the point in continuing anymore. Quitting is always an option available to people. In large part because it's easy to do. It's just easier to not do something then it is to do something. So when the option arises, this is often at the back of people's minds. If it weren't, no one would stop doing anything. Just because it's easy though doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. There are ways in which quitting can lead to bad outcomes. Particularly if what you're doing might have value to those around you.
Quitting a job for instance feels like an easy choice if it's too hard. Doing so however leads to unemployment and uncertainty. Quitting a relationship also has lots of down sides to it, given that you're unlikely to see that person again if ending it goes badly. There may be things that person helped you see or enjoy which you'll no longer have access to. It makes the problem of quitting a lot more complicated than it would first appear to be. Even if you're doing things to try and get away from a problem in a relationship or job, this doesn't necessarily solve the problem. Because the problem will still be there even if you quit. Mostly likely whoever takes your place will be forced to deal with it in some form.
Which might be even more difficult to deal with because you left the problem to continue to grow and potentially create new problems. So quitting can have a lot of downsides. Yet the option is still available to you. You just have to be willing to live with the consequences of doing so and the problems it creates for others and possibly yourself. But the reason why you started doing what you were doing is still there for you to pick up and run with any time you might choose. So it's never really finished. The process continues on.
Black Lightning at it's core is about the consequences of quitting. Jefferson Pierce, played brilliantly by Cress Williams, spent decades working to make the world and his town a better place as Black Lightning. He worked so hard and made a lot of progress. At the end of the day however, the job became too much for him to handle. He couldn't continue on and maintain some of the most important aspects of his life, such as his marriage and commitment to his children. Incredibly important tasks that deserve a lot attention. So he felt the need to give up his life as a superhero to try and bring about a better life for him and his family. One that wasn't going to end with him being dead.
The problem of course being that his problems were still there even after he quit. All those gangs and powerful people going around exploiting others still existed. With Black Lightning gone, they continued their destructive work. Making the lives of people in Freeland worse while profiting from their misery. The exact thing Black Lightning was created to prevent. So Jefferson comes to the conclusion that the decision to quit created too high a price.
He learned that for him, quitting isn't an option. In doing so, his family learned a very similar lesson and joined him in battle. And we're all better for it.
Explore the consequences of quitting and how to carry on the fight by checking out Black Lightning.
Check it out on Netflix and Amazon.
Black Lightning and the Consequences of Quitting
there's many reasons for people (even superheroes) to want to quit. very sometimes also it's good to let things go south for a while, just let chaos reign for a while, and to see where quitting would lead to. directly experiencing the consequences of one's quitting would give a big resolve to actually not quit. and it might also invoke others' support, hey, that would be nice....