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Is the villain the enemy?

What if the villain is not the enemy but is just the label we hoist upon anyone who does not fit the standard roles society defines as acceptable?

People are not so trivial as to fit within the notions we scope them to. While many will choose to cooperate with the roles and act within them, I think that this is limiting and denies the capability of unique and distinct humanity.

When someone does not fit your definition of acceptable, is it because they are actually bad, or is it because they don't match what you understand as good?

Further, if a person causes harm, is that because they are bad, or is it because they are misaligned and themselves unable to correct their own path?

If you see someone lashing out, is punishing them for it the path of most reduction of harm in the future? We should not reward bad behavior, but perhaps when facing hate it should be met with calm indifference. Not with love, because that is a claim of superiority and still a form of dominance.

Perhaps when we meet the villain we face the danger and do not fear or judge it but only acknowledge it and choose to value the villain as they are, not as what we wish they were.

The mark of depth in a person is not ruthless clinging to adherence to the norms, but capacity to accept the unusual even when it hurts, and to work towards cooperation regardless of the tension.

The leader who ends the war is not the one who is the most destructive and incisively ruining, but the one who stands in the middle of the chaos and does not deny the war. Instead they act with indifference to it. Not needing to comment on it, because their indifference requires no comment.

If you need me to be simple so you can feel safe, you'll miss what I actually am.