High class revenge

ABC’s Revenge has become the Dynasty of 2011. 

If you haven’t seen it, I’ll draw you a picture. 

Set in the Hamptons, there’s a lot of money, cars, and parties and one young woman who is truly above it all. 
Emily Thorne, once known as Amanda Clarke, is the daughter of a man framed for a heinous crime and put to death before the truth could be told. 

Now she is back in the guise of a wealthy socialite and ready to take down the rich and ruthless who destroyed her father.
It’s silly and soapy with hints of The Count of Monte Cristo. It appeals to my sense of justice even though true justice cannot be served in this scenario.

Like young Amanda/Emily, I too grew up with the Sunday school teachings about two wrongs not making a right.  But we all yearn for the balance of justice.  And since Amanda’s morality lessons were put on hold by the events that destroyed her family, it appears she had to make her own inner laws.

I, like many of you, had forgiveness drilled into me from an early age.  Oh, I plotted and planned as my temper simmered. 
But once cooled, my need for vengeance usually disappeared.  (Actually, my plans were usually so pathetic even I couldn’t be bothered to carry them out.) 

I must be missing that vindictive gene. Of course, I never lost a parent to a group of scheming vipers. Nor did I have the roadmap to revenge laid out for me by the victim.

Which is why not only do I continue to tune in, but I also find myself cheering Amanda on in her weekly attacks. 
So far, her methods remind me of the phrase, “hoist by his own petard.” 

Each victim is caught in his or her own machinations and simply exposed to the world – or at least to someone else who will take them down. Perhaps there is some justice being served after all.

Does this make our “heroine” less guilty? Or me, for that matter, for playing cheerleader? Because I do. I really do.
And since I’ve always believed the best television offers some kind of learning experience, exactly what is the lesson here? Never underestimate the power of a good grudge? Perhaps. 

Perhaps the true lesson is darker.  Since the beginning, Amanda has been attacking from her own higher moral ground, her sense of righteousness. But already, it’s led to an unplanned death. How far will she fall?

“In revenge and in love, woman is more barbaric than man is,” - at least, according to Friedrich Nietzsche.  

Many of you might agree. Then again, this was the guy who felt morality was a rule for the average Joe. 

Exceptional people should ignore morality and follow their inner law.

Wow. There’s a statement tailor-made for the next sociopath.