[No nonsensical reply, pls] Should I laugh at the fools or sympathise with them?

[CheertheDead]

I rewatched "Going Camping at the End of the World" of Internet Historian today. I searched for couples of reaction videos about that. Most of the reaction can be divided into "either you feel sorry for the guy who is a fool and harm millions of people or you laughed at the mass of idiots".

I get a bit conflicted on what I should feel. It's undeniable that these people who believed a nonsensical prophecy brought misfortune upon themselves. It's not wrong to laugh at them. On the other hand, they are still just humans. They can be smart or stupid. They can be determined or manipulatable. The reaction of Harold Camping at the end was a genuine confusion and disheartened. The guy thought he cracked the code and convinced himself that he needs to do something to help as many as he could. It makes me wonder what would happen if my characters are like that.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

You can do both.

 

[Zirrboy]

Or neither

 

[Ymadthepirate]

Depends on how foolish

 

[SternenklarenRitter]

Is there a joke here I'm not getting?

 

[greyblob]

Is there a joke here I'm not getting?

op is suffering from a severe case of overthinking. you either laugh at him or sympathize with his plight

 

[CheertheDead]

op is suffering from a severe case of overthinking. you either laugh at him or sympathize with his plight

It’s a terrible mental disease that is hard to recover from.

 

[Zinless]

I rewatched "Going Camping at the End of the World" of Internet Historian today. I searched for couples of reaction videos about that. Most of the reaction can be divided into "either you feel sorry for the guy who is a fool and harm millions of people or you laughed at the mass of idiots".

I get a bit conflicted on what I should feel. It's undeniable that these people who believed a nonsensical prophecy brought misfortune upon themselves. It's not wrong to laugh at them. On the other hand, they are still just humans. They can be smart or stupid. They can be determined or manipulatable. The reaction of Harold Camping at the end was a genuine confusion and disheartened. The guy thought he cracked the code and convinced himself that he needs to do something to help as many as he could. It makes me wonder what would happen if my characters are like that.

I'm going to overthink things too and say, that the best reaction you could get from someone reacting to a foolish character in a story, is the satisfaction to find that the fool has grown.

Maybe a foolish noble is determined that commoners are just animals. Perhaps it's because of the environment he grew up in, or maybe he just believes that for no apparent reason. He gets defeated and/or humiliated by the MC or someone for his stupid ideals, and then he questioned it. "Maybe i was wrong" or something like that. He would then grow into a better person and maybe become a side character.

It doesn't have to ALWAYS be the case, maybe make the fool never throw away their ideals and laugh at them as they continue to fail. Or maybe make the reader feel sympathy for them by showing them how they got that ideal in the first place, and show how it affects their life in horrible ways.

Examples :

Spoiler: Satisfaction

Derek lost the fencing duel to Jake, a mere commoner from the middle of nowhere.

"How?! You're just a commoner!"

Jake scoffed at him "If you truly believe that commoners are mere animals that must be controlled by people like you, then you're no more greater than a despicable idiot"

Derek was seething with rage at that comment. He was basically told that his father's teaching was wrong this whole time

Jake pointed the tip of his rapier at Derek

"The only reason that we can't do things better than nobles, was that people like you stole the chance for us to grow"

Derek grew silent, curious on what Jake said.

"What do you mean by that?"

Jake narrowed his eyes at Derek.

"Do you truly don't know? They restricted schools from us commoners, they stole our crops and didn't give a single gold, and some even kidnapped our families for their own pleasures!"

Derek was surprised, it was the first time he heard of that. He was so focused on himself that he didn't think much of the outside world.

The crowd cheered for Jake, Derek was confused. He was taught that commoners can only live with the help of nobles, and his father would constantly tell him about how commoners would make excuses to 'play outside the cage'.

Jake leaves the stage, leaving Derek behind on his knees. The crowds cheers stopped reaching Derek's ears as he fell into deep thought

Perhaps, father was wrong

He started to doubt his father's teachings, perhaps the nobles were at fault for the crisis that the kingdom has found itself in. If that's true, what can he do? He must always do the best for the kingdom, that's what true nobles should stand for. He ponders if there's any way for the kingdom to be saved from this oppression. He then noticed, that the solution was in front of him all along

"Wait!"

Derek called out to Jake

Jake looked back at Derek

"What is it? If it's your incessant rambling about nobility, then forget it"

"No! I would do no such thing! But let me have one request!"

Jake was suspicious about this request, but he decided that he should at least listen to it.

"Go ahead, say it"

"Allow me, Derek Kasa Bandrea, to help you lift the kingdom's oppression!"

Spoiler: Laughter

Derek lost the fencing duel to Jake, a mere commoner from the middle of nowhere.

"How?! You're just a commoner!"

Jake scoffed at him "If you truly believe that commoners are mere animals that must be controlled by people like you, then you're no more greater than a despicable idiot"

Derek was seething with rage at that comment. He was basically told that his father's teaching was wrong this whole time

Jake pointed the tip of his rapier at Derek

"The only reason that we can't do things better than nobles, was that people like you stole the chance for us to grow"

"Excuses like that isn't going to help you animals get fame, idiots!"

They're making excuses to play around outside of their cage, these animals don't know what's best for them!

A kick flew straight into Derek's face, and he fell backwards to the white floor of the stage.

"GAH-"

"If you are only saying stupid things like that, you shouldn't even be opening your mouth"

Jake starts to leave the stage, leaving Derek laying on the stage

No! I can't let a commoner win! If he wins, the other commoners will get weird ideas and start another revolution for some stupid reason!

Derek grabbed his rapier, and stood up.

He rushed towards Jake, hoping to catch him off guard.

"HAAAAAAAA"

As he was approaching Jake, he immediately found himself laying on the floor again.

He was defeated, twice, by a commoner. Such a shame could cause him to lose his noble title.

"Heh, couldn't even win against me by cheating"

Jake leaves the stage as the crowd cheers for him.

Spoiler: Sympathy

Derek lost the fencing duel to Jake, a mere commoner from the middle of nowhere.

"How?! You're just a commoner!"

Jake scoffed at him "If you truly believe that commoners are mere animals that must be controlled by people like you, then you're no more greater than a despicable idiot"

Derek was seething with rage at that comment. He was basically told that his father's teaching was wrong this whole time

Jake pointed the tip of his rapier at Derek

"The only reason that we can't do things better than nobles, was that people like you stole the chance for us to grow"

"No! It's because-"

Derek's father always taught him, that commoners can't live without nobles.

A kick flew straight into Derek's face, and he fell backwards to the white floor of the stage.

"GAH-"

"If you are only going to say stupid things, you shouldn't even be opening your mouth"

Jake starts to leave the stage, leaving Derek laying on the stage

No! If he wins, then my whole life would be a lie! Father can't be wrong!

Derek grabbed his rapier, and stood up.

He rushed towards Jake, hoping to catch him off guard.

"HAAAAAAAA"

As he was approaching Jake, he immediately found himself laying on the floor again.

He was defeated, twice, by a commoner. Such a shame could cause him to lose his noble title.

"Heh, couldn't even win against me by cheating"

Was I always wrong? Was my entire being pointless? No, it can't be. Then how, where did i go wrong?!

Derek cries on the floor of the stage, he watched the crowds cheer for Jake as he was leaving