Oh the humanity! Stoicism's attraction.

Hello there! Hope everyone had a good week.

I just got started on a new anime series called Somali and the Forest Spirit, and I gotta say, it has striking similarities to The Mandalorian in its presentation. The plot is as follows: A forest Golem decides to help a young girl find a human city in a world dominated by monsters who chased them out years ago. It's similar to the Mandalorian in that both protagonists are stoic and taciturn by nature and follow their own path, until a young image of innocence (The girl Somali or Baby Yoda) disrupts their routine and they decide to help.

(Honestly not sure who's cuter, Baby Yoda or Somali.)

It is worth noting that the Golem is programmed without emotions, while the Mandalorian has chosen the way of Stoicism (This is the way).

Stoicism is an interesting philosophy. On one hand, it is almost monastic in its stringent rules about enduring hardship without complaint. On the other, it seems unfeeling and cold to block out negative emotions entirely. (It's like Inside Out but Joy is the only emotion, and we see how well that turns out.)

(Baby Yoda is such a foil for the stoic character because he just begs to be protected)

In the end, I think we love Stoic characters in media for two reasons.

First, it is pretty bad-ass to be the kind of man who can stand like a rock in the middle of a flowing river and not be moved. If you've watched Episode 6 of the Mandalorian, you know what I mean. Despite constant derision and taunts from his co-workers, Mando just keeps his cool until the time comes to throw them in prison.

Second, I think the progression of these characters from cold calculating machines into protagonists we can empathize with is very humanizing. We love seeing characters who already have impressive skills learning to use those skills for the good of others. When they learn how to be around others and empathize with them, we as a human audience feel closer to them as a result.

Next week I think I'll study up on some Marcus Aurelius so I can give you some words of wisdom from him. Also, I just bought a microphone for my podcast! So expect to get a notification on that soon. It'll be posted on Anchor within a few days as soon as I figure out some basics in sound design and script writing.

Stay happily virtuous!