How Lucifer Creates Sympathy for the Devil
The moral case for seeing those we think of as evil as more than that.
“The devil doesn't lie to you. He tells you the exact, literal truth and lets you find your own way to hell.”
A lot of people associate the devil with the worst of humanity. He's considered the root of all evil and the cause of many problems in society. It's why the concept of 'the devil made me do it' has persisted for so long. Temptation to do wrong is something people struggle with and it can be comforting to consider some outside force is responsible for our moral failings. However, the quote above turns that whole idea on its head.
Although the devil is considered to be the 'prince of lies', one of the more popular ways to see him these days is as someone who can and does tell the truth. It's just the truth he tells you is the kind that often people don't want to hear, which is what ultimately brings them down.
Lucifer as a TV show creates a similar dynamic. Fundamentally, the show turns the traditional ideas of who the devil is and what he wants on its head. Instead of considering him in more traditional terms as this force of pure evil, by making him the central character, you're forced to consider things from his perspective. To see what he's done less as an affront to the obvious good guy, his father God, but more as a moral failing on the part of those he opposed and has been punished for ever since.
Despite how he's often portrayed, Lucifer isn't the bad guy whose moral failings have led him down the wrong path. Like many of us, he's flawed and makes mistakes. Perhaps the worst mistake in history, but a mistake none the less. Which of course begs the question of why would God create a being that could make such a mistake and oppose him so completely?
Thankfully, the answer isn't exactly all that simple. As we follow Lucifer on the journey he takes, we learn that those around him, including celestial beings like his fellow angels who oppose him and the demons he commands, are just as capable as Lucifer himself in making mistakes. That, somewhat ironically, thereby the grace of God, any of them could've gone down the same path and fell from grace. This is to say nothing of the humans and their many flaws, which are revealed through the murder cases Lucifer assists in solving.
One could even argue that there's no one in all of creation who isn't just as fallible as Lucifer himself. It's from this vantage point of seeing those as flawed as he is where you build empathy for his struggle and ultimately sympathize with him. He can't be blamed for all our problems or seen as this uniquely evil character. If we were to do that then we'd condemn ourselves in the process.
Because at his core, Lucifer is just like us. He has no more choice but to be who he is than we do. So why not care about him?
I encourage you to take the journey and see yourself reflected in a fascinating character.
Check out the full series along with the recently released season 5 on Netflix right now.
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