{"id":7620,"date":"2025-06-06T07:36:43","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T06:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edgeverse.org\/?p=7620"},"modified":"2025-06-06T09:45:46","modified_gmt":"2025-06-06T08:45:46","slug":"the-last-refuge-of-the-damned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/edgeverse.org\/?p=7620","title":{"rendered":"The Last Refuge of the Damned"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The last refuge of the damned\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Seth explores the mysteries of lunchtime - for some reason<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Seth Rantwynn<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Life in a society is bound by rules.
Many of these are unwritten, but are nonetheless binding. These sacred codes are born of long held universal truths known to every civilised culture.
And among these rules, one stands unchallenged:<\/p>

Do not mess with another man\u2019s lunch*.<\/strong>
(* Also applies to breakfast, dinner, tea, supper, elevenses, afternoon tea, and arbitrary treats.)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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I don\u2019t care how evil the guy is, I don\u2019t care what crimes he\u2019s committed, none of this matters, because that meal is a moment of normalcy, tranquility. It\u2019s what separates us from the animals we devour.<\/p>

And yet, pop culture\u2019s so-called \u201cheroes\u201d feel they have a right\u2014an obligation even\u2014to go marching in, wrapped in the armour of self-righteousness and disrespect for common decency, and cuff the poor sod in the middle of his breakfast. It\u2019s just not the done thing. Let the man finish his meal in peace, and then you can arrest him, or beat him up, blow up his house, murder his wife and children in cold blood, whatever it was you were planning to do. Violate the meal code and you make a martyr of the villain, and a monster of the hero.<\/p>

So let\u2019s take a look at some instances in the media of heroes exposing their true colours for all the world to jeer at.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Daredevil (2015\u20132018)<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In this popular Netflix show, Wilson Fisk (masterfully portrayed by Vincent D\u2019Onofrio, the guy from Full Metal Jacket that was forced to eat a jam doughnut while his entire platoon did pressups\u2014that was a show that respected the art of enjoying an arbitrary treat).
Sorry, I\u2019ve lost my train of thought now\u2014let\u2019s start over.
Wilson Fisk as we all know is a brutal crime lord with an art degree he\u2019s not afraid to use on anyone foolish enough to get in his way. When we first meet him though, he\u2019s just a man preparing eggs for breakfast. Now there\u2019s omelettes, and then there\u2019s omelettes, and the one he was making was definitely in the second category. He cooked up those eggs with the love and tenderness one would normally reserve for grooming adorable little puppies and putting ribbons in their hair before taking them to the park in a pram to show them off. Awww!
No words were spoken. His actions were precise and deliberate. This was a man at peace with his surroundings, at one with nature.
But we, the audience, are told to find this sinister, scary even. A man making an omelette that he will enjoy with some crusty bread, a light salad, and washed down with a hot cup of tea. I mean, it\u2019s not like he once decapitated someone with a car door or anything*. Come on Netflix, your directorial choices are an act of violence here.
And let\u2019s be real: if more men cooked breakfast like this, the city wouldn\u2019t have needed Daredevil in the first place. They\u2019d have to change the name of the town from \u201cHell\u2019s Kitchen\u201d to \u201cLovely Kitchen of Nice\u201d or something.<\/p>

*Jack informs me that he did, in fact, decapitate someone with a car door, but I think this only strengthens the point which was being made, just now, by me.<\/p>

(Reference: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lPhi7sYt5-s)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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When the devil is your hero, no snack is truly safe.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Deadwood (2004\u20132006)<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In the fictional show famous for people swearing, like\u2026 a lot, Al Swearington, sorry, Swearengen (Ian McShane\u2014he was in a whole episode of Game of Thrones once, I believe the same one that had Ed Sheeran as Ser Eddard of Sheeransby, roadkill of hair, flatulence of voice. I remember it well. Some guys were trying to enjoy supper while he injured their earballs with his latest single, The Knight Rider, or whatever it was called). Where was I?
Oh yes, Al is regarded as the de facto ruler of the titular Deadwood, a lawless town in the American frontier. He\u2019s a pimp, a murderer, and a power broker\u2014but more than that, he\u2019s a man who just wants to eat his god damned breakfast in peace. The last thing he wants is some ginger nonce using his place of business as a venue to promote his latest wayward warblings.
Throughout the show, Al is constantly interrupted mid-sausage by crises: political, financial, bloody, and often all three at the same time. No one ever knocks. No one ever waits for him to finish chewing. It\u2019s all \u201cAl, come quickly, I found a bit of chewing gum on my chair and I can\u2019t get it off,\u201d or \u201cAl, I need your help, this guy wants to smash my head in with a special hammer,\u201d or \u201cAl, can I borrow your Sopranos DVD collection, you know, the show where everyone is always eating and nobody ever interrupts them?\u201d It\u2019s relentless. The camera even lingers on his plate\u2014beautifully greasy, tragically untouched.
The guy\u2019s trying to run a town and you won\u2019t let him sit down and enjoy a hot meal. What is the world coming to?
Honestly, by the end I was rooting for typhus, which I hear gingers are particularly susceptible to.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

(Reference: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=CwElIaJ-rBg Ed Sheeron in GoT)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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It was a time when men were men and women were glad it of it... and then a stranger came to town.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Star Wars (1977\u20131983)<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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For a space fantasy series, there are surprisingly few scenes of people going to the toilet. There are however numerous scenes of people having their meals messed with, and normally all by the same person.
Luke (Mark Hamill, who you may remember from Star Wars, and often mistakenly referred to as Luke Skywalker, in spite of there being no evidence he ever used that name prior to his wrecking havoc upon the Death Star). So Luke, he ruined a perfectly good meal at the homestead by getting grumpy with his adoptive parents for caring too much, and then getting them killed as they were preparing breakfast the next morning, because he had been looking for space porn without a proper VPN. He was pretty rude during Yoda\u2019s meal time too, though Yoda did mess with his lunch first, so we can reasonably conclude that Degobar is a lawless place where decency simply don\u2019t exist.
But there was one meal he ruined that was just unforgivable. The poor Rancor, a very loving pet if nurtured with care, had just finished his first two courses of lunch and was about to move onto dessert, when Luke, blunt weapon that he is, locks the Rancor\u2019s jaw open with the remains of the previous night\u2019s supper, and then drops a spiked gate on his neck, killing him instantly. That\u2019s just plain rude. Admittedly, Luke himself was the dessert in question, but that\u2019s no excuse for barbarism.
Now I think about it, he also made short work of a village banquet later that very same day under similar circumstances, while openly mocking the villagers\u2019 sincerely held religious beliefs.
By comparison, the little tea party held by Darth Vader (Sebastian Shaw) seemed very civilised, until Han showed up, shots blazing. No wonder he had him tortured. It was the least he deserved.
Evidently, manners maketh the more machine than man.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Darth Vader is judging all of us for this article...<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Pulp Fiction (1994)<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I\u2019ve never been to a Big Kahuna, but I hear they have some tasty burgers. That was almost certainly how Brett (Frank Whaley\u2014I\u2019ve never heard of him either) felt that fateful morning when a couple of suited hitmen came bursting into his apartment, took a great big bite of his breakfast, intimidated him, shot his crazy haired friend, intimidated him a bit more, and then filled him with holes large enough to ensure he would never find out just how tasty that burger was.
Why not take a great big dump on his kitchen table while you\u2019re at it, you savage misanthropes?
Of course, it does ultimately come full circle as Jules and Vincent (Samual L Jackson and John Travolta) then get to have their own breakfast upended by a pair of very inconsiderate thieves. Sure, they deserved something, but instead of feeling a satisfied inner peace safe in the knowledge that justice had prevailed, I just felt empty.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Lawrence Fishburn pointing a tasty burger at his enemies. <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Andor (Season 2, Episode 8-ish)<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Dr. Gorst (Joshua James\u2014I\u2019ve got nothing) is not a very nice man\u2014and don\u2019t let his docile demeanour deceive you. He\u2019s the Empire\u2019s top psychological torturer, well known in Imperial circles for using the recorded death screams of a now (thanks to him, probably) extinct alien race which reduces the toughest interrogatees to blubbering wrecks, permanently, almost. When Stalin was a boy, he\u2019d have his mum check under his bed every night for Doctor Gorst. If wartime atrocities had a name\u2026 you get the picture.
But even monsters need to eat.
There\u2019s a spoilery scene in Season 2 of Andor where he returns to his sterile white lab after a busy day inflicting unspeakable brutality on the brains of the innocent, holding a small, beautifully presented pastry, delicately wrapped in inviting packaging. In this brief moment, Gorst is no longer a torturer. He is simply an everyman, tired from work, looking forward to a well deserved snack.
But before he can even sit down, Bix Caleen\u2014traumatized former prisoner, freedom fighter, snack saboteur\u2014holds him at gunpoint, tortures him with his own machinations, and ultimately, casually blows up the lab as she walks purposely towards the camera, not even looking over her shoulder to acknowledge the explosion.
What an uncouth rotter!
The director knew what he\u2019d done though. The camera lingers on the uneaten pastry, gleaming with misplaced hope, not once, not twice, but thrice during that scene. We all saw it and we all felt the horror.
A dessert died that day, and no one said a word.<\/p>

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(Reference: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TIkThFQLgMs)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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I think this is from Andor? I don't really care any more.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Honorary Mentions<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Honorary Mention 1: Watchmen (1986-1987)<\/strong><\/p>\n


<\/b>For all these crimes against human decency, Watchmen is perhaps the only memorable example of a fictional character acknowledging that even the best intended actions can spoil even the simplest meal.
As Ozymandius (Alan Moore) bravely attempted to impose world peace on an unsuspecting public, Laurie Juspeczyk (Alan Moore) found herself overcome with grief at all the lovingly cooked and eagerly anticipated takeaway meals that would never now be eaten. Over and over again she repeats, \u201cTandoori to go. That\u2019s all they went out for, these people\u2026 Tandoori to go\u201d.
As the meals got trampled on a sidewalk strewn with hungry bodies and a trans-dimensional abomination from beyond your worst nightmares, she alone understood the true horrors of a war nobody wanted, and an abrupt ceasefire nobody saw coming unless they had really paid close attention to the details. It\u2019s a graphic novel that rewards repeat reading in that regard.<\/p>\n


<\/p>\n

H<\/strong>onorary Mention 2: Goldeneye (1995)<\/b><\/p>\n


<\/b>While Q is showing James Bond the hilarious gadgets he will be using in that movie, the ones that will never appear again in any other movie, even when they could prove very useful, Bond examines an elaborate sandwich themed curiosity, causing Q to scold him.
\u201cDon\u2019t touch that! That\u2019s my lunch!\u201d
Bond complies.
He had made an innocent mistake, and his corrective action was ultimately deemed sufficiently satisfactory for the circumstances to allow. Implied apology accepted, Mr Bond.<\/p>

The subject could be laid to rest with peace in the galaxy restored.<\/p>


<\/p>\n

So remember kids, there is a time to fight evil, and there is a time to let a man finish his meal in peace. In your quest for justice, don\u2019t be so hasty that you forget what makes us all human.
Don\u2019t become the monster you think they are<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n