Some thoughts on… Identifying the Enemy

Recent occurrences of violence and terrorism and the response to them, e.g. the report on CIA use of anti-terrorism techniques; police force to subdue protests and crimes in New York and Ohio; the murder of newspaper staff in Paris, have raised two questions in my mind.

First, how do we identify the enemy in these situations? In the case of the French slaying is it the two brothers, radical Islamic belief, or Muslim ideology in general that is to blame? Second, once we do identify the perpetrators, what should be the appropriate response? Are responses like water-boarding, rectal probing or chokeholding suitable?

Three current shows and films provide some perspective on these questions. Let’s see what the Arts have to say.

Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s movie adaptation of Into the Woods is a captivating fable outlining the repercussions of getting our wishes and how that may not necessarily lead to a fairy tale ending.  Initiating the musical with familiar parables like Cinderella, Jack and the Bean Stalk and Little Red Riding Hood, the authors illustrate how each character’s pursuit of their one wish with a relentless passion can lead to unforeseen damage to the community when these selfish paths crisscross. 

In this case, witches, giants and old family sins reappear wreaking havoc on our protagonists.  Although these are easy targets for being the enemies of the story, we see that it is the pursuit of our heroes’ desires that unleashes them in the first.  The actions of these enemies may need to be stopped, but their motivations are just the same as ours.  As Sondheim writes: “Witches can be right, Giants can be good, you decide what’s right you decide what’s good.  Just remember someone is on your side, someone else is not.  When you’re seeing your side, maybe we forgot they are not alone. No one is alone.”

Disgraced is the Pulitzer Prize winning play by Ayad Akhtar.   Set in present day New York, we witness two couples having dinner until a bewildering act of violence throws the characters into a harsh light.  The culprit is clear and the response to his actions tempers the motivation behind the deed. Through their conversations, the characters invoke an important distinction - the response to a misdeed depends on how strongly an individual or society values either order or justice.  If one highly values justice, retribution can be swift and as cruel as the original act of violence.  If one highly values order, we accept that the penalty for a crime will take longer and will be more measured. 

Similar to many countries of the world, American society swings between these values.  After the 9/11 attacks, justice was highly prized and the government sanctioned methods such as waterboarding.  With the passing of time we swing back to order.  In the play, the act of violence is motivated by a sense of justice, and yet surprisingly the other characters’ response is one of order.  By responding in this manner, a cycle of violence is upended, and the culprit feels even more shame for the deed.

The Imitation Game describes the story of Alan Turing during the critical years when he worked with a team to break the Nazi codes and helped win World War II.  The title is based on one of his papers that describes how a computer may someday be able to mimic human thought.  The movie portrays the imitation game on additional levels - how the Allies tried to break the German code by replicating the results, and how Turing tried to mimic individuals in general society despite his awkward nature and homosexuality.

A pioneer in his field, Turing looked to find a way to outthink his rivals.  Rather than use brute force to break the codes, he devised a machine and system that could “learn” from its past actions thus getting smarter the more calculations that it conducted.  In the modern day our rice cookers conduct these computations, in 1941 England it was a system of vacuum tubes and analog dials filling a house.  Once the code was broken, Turing’s team used the information to decisively outmaneuver by staying one step ahead of the Axis’ intentions.

From these shows, we see that although it may be easy to identify an enemy at face, it’s important to recognize that their actions could be motivated by a series of decisions both theirs and ours that were initiated by selfish interests.  We shouldn’t necessarily forgive the perpetrators, but approaching the punishment with a sense of order rather than justice, can prevent the initiation of a cycle of violence.  Finally, by reflecting on our enemies’ motivations and thinking the way they do, we may be able to stay ahead of the game.