Final Fantasy 7 Remake: Ethical Assessment of Avalanche & Shinra's Actions
13 February 2021
Summary: Yellow Elemental sits down once more with video game and Final Fantasy 7 enthusiast, Monsoo, in Round 2 of our Final Fantasy 7 Remake interview series. This time, we take a darker turn, exploring the ethics and dilemmas behind both Avalanche and Shinra’s objectives and the way they execute their plans to achieve those objectives. The in-depth analysis into the psychology of it all may present you with a few surprises! Please read on. |
YE: Throughout the game, Avalanche are consistently perceived by the public as heartless criminals. Do you agree?
MO: The first thing to remember is that the characters are from another planet, Gaia, and we do not know precisely what their laws are. However, through playing the game, I feel it is strongly implied that their code of right and wrong is similar to the one on Earth that we are familiar with. For simplicity’s sake, let us say they observe and enforce about the same laws that we do in western countries like the United States and Japan here on Earth. Now that we have established that premise, then yes, they would certainly be criminals under the established law and order through their killing of people and property. Are they heartless? Certainly not, every member of that group is full of heart and passion, with the exception of Cloud, though he technically is not a member of Avalanche. In conclusion, and I don’t enjoy saying this, but under the definition of the law, they are criminals. Just not heartless criminals. ]laughs]
YE: Does fighting for their cause which they strongly believe in – defending their planet from the doings of an evil corporation – paint them in a better light?
MO: Why yes, it certainly does. And I feel that is an important elaboration of your first question. Though Avalanche is violating the law and order of their society, that law and order is set and controlled by Shinra, a truly evil corporation that does not have the citizens of Midgar or the world of Gaia in their best interest whatsoever. The city’s and Shinra’s governance are one and the same; this is obvious later in the game when you see the Mayor of Midgar in his office deep inside Shinra headquarters. So how seriously can you take this law and order? Under the premises of the game, where Shinra is greedily sucking the life out of the earth, leading to its destruction, and their total disregard for the people of Gaia, I do not think the mission of Avalanche is bad at all, or that they should be considered criminals strictly in that sense. Avalanche are saying, “We will not stand for this nonsense and let this terrible corporation leave our planet to rot. We are going to do something about this to fight for justice for the people of this planet and the survival of the planet itself.” That is indeed a very noble cause that I think a lot of people could rally around. But a key factor in not having widespread support of the public is that the public are woefully informed. They do not realize what Shinra is doing behind the scenes and what Avalanche stands for, and even worse, are misled by Shinra’s propaganda against Avalanche. That is a poor platform to endear yourself to the public!
MO: The first thing to remember is that the characters are from another planet, Gaia, and we do not know precisely what their laws are. However, through playing the game, I feel it is strongly implied that their code of right and wrong is similar to the one on Earth that we are familiar with. For simplicity’s sake, let us say they observe and enforce about the same laws that we do in western countries like the United States and Japan here on Earth. Now that we have established that premise, then yes, they would certainly be criminals under the established law and order through their killing of people and property. Are they heartless? Certainly not, every member of that group is full of heart and passion, with the exception of Cloud, though he technically is not a member of Avalanche. In conclusion, and I don’t enjoy saying this, but under the definition of the law, they are criminals. Just not heartless criminals. ]laughs]
YE: Does fighting for their cause which they strongly believe in – defending their planet from the doings of an evil corporation – paint them in a better light?
MO: Why yes, it certainly does. And I feel that is an important elaboration of your first question. Though Avalanche is violating the law and order of their society, that law and order is set and controlled by Shinra, a truly evil corporation that does not have the citizens of Midgar or the world of Gaia in their best interest whatsoever. The city’s and Shinra’s governance are one and the same; this is obvious later in the game when you see the Mayor of Midgar in his office deep inside Shinra headquarters. So how seriously can you take this law and order? Under the premises of the game, where Shinra is greedily sucking the life out of the earth, leading to its destruction, and their total disregard for the people of Gaia, I do not think the mission of Avalanche is bad at all, or that they should be considered criminals strictly in that sense. Avalanche are saying, “We will not stand for this nonsense and let this terrible corporation leave our planet to rot. We are going to do something about this to fight for justice for the people of this planet and the survival of the planet itself.” That is indeed a very noble cause that I think a lot of people could rally around. But a key factor in not having widespread support of the public is that the public are woefully informed. They do not realize what Shinra is doing behind the scenes and what Avalanche stands for, and even worse, are misled by Shinra’s propaganda against Avalanche. That is a poor platform to endear yourself to the public!
YE: So the Midgar public being uninformed and/or misinformed about Avalanche is why they get associated as a top public enemy in the city?
MO: No, that alone did not do the trick. You can boil their poor perception down to one big, juvenile mistake. Where they lose their way is by the means with which they execute their mission. When they blew up the Mako reactor in Chapter 1 of the game, they caused a lot of destruction to property and life as I just mentioned. Much of what was destroyed had nothing to do with the evils of the Shinra Corporation. When Cloud is walking around the streets after the Mako reactor bombing, you hear all sorts of people in despair grieving for lost ones and the bombed-out neighborhood. And who is the culprit? Avalanche. That is where they technically are criminals. If you are the public and your friends and family are injured or dead, and your business is destroyed, wouldn’t you also be mad at Avalanche?
YE: Yes, that it true. I see that. How do the members of Avalanche feel about the damage to life and property they have caused?
MO: The game’s developers make a clear point to show the conflicting feelings of Avalanche after the bombing. They are a mixed bag, actually. On the one end of the spectrum, you have Tifa. Tifa is wrestling with the consequences of what the group has done, a group she is very much a part of, and it does not sit well with her. She is not exactly keen to blow up another reactor afterwards and cause a similar level of destruction. You can sense that while she firmly wants to take down Shinra, she disagrees with the group's violent approach and you can see her with one foot out the door. You get the sense that she will soon disassociate herself with the group if they continue to carry out their mission like this. Next on the spectrum, you have Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge. They seem stunned by how much damage the blast has caused and that takes some of the spark out of their victory. However, they are all fine continuing to bomb more Mako reactors, accepting that sometimes, there is collateral damage. Next is Cloud. Cloud does not like Shinra, but also seems indifferent; he is in it for the money, and to help his childhood friend, Tifa. Finally, on the other end of the spectrum is Barret. He has the most “dangerous” mindset of the group; he is the one who gives Avalanche a bad name. Barret is a champion of the bombing, justifying the unexpected lives lost and damage as okay, as long as it takes down the evil Shinra. In fact, he is so focused on destroying Shinra, he appears to be ignorant to the fact that his actions are hurting the lives of many innocent people because of his quest for revenge. In that sense, of the Avalanche group, Barret is actually the most closely aligned to Shinra’s president because he is hellbent on bulldozing his way through to achieve his goals.
MO: No, that alone did not do the trick. You can boil their poor perception down to one big, juvenile mistake. Where they lose their way is by the means with which they execute their mission. When they blew up the Mako reactor in Chapter 1 of the game, they caused a lot of destruction to property and life as I just mentioned. Much of what was destroyed had nothing to do with the evils of the Shinra Corporation. When Cloud is walking around the streets after the Mako reactor bombing, you hear all sorts of people in despair grieving for lost ones and the bombed-out neighborhood. And who is the culprit? Avalanche. That is where they technically are criminals. If you are the public and your friends and family are injured or dead, and your business is destroyed, wouldn’t you also be mad at Avalanche?
YE: Yes, that it true. I see that. How do the members of Avalanche feel about the damage to life and property they have caused?
MO: The game’s developers make a clear point to show the conflicting feelings of Avalanche after the bombing. They are a mixed bag, actually. On the one end of the spectrum, you have Tifa. Tifa is wrestling with the consequences of what the group has done, a group she is very much a part of, and it does not sit well with her. She is not exactly keen to blow up another reactor afterwards and cause a similar level of destruction. You can sense that while she firmly wants to take down Shinra, she disagrees with the group's violent approach and you can see her with one foot out the door. You get the sense that she will soon disassociate herself with the group if they continue to carry out their mission like this. Next on the spectrum, you have Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge. They seem stunned by how much damage the blast has caused and that takes some of the spark out of their victory. However, they are all fine continuing to bomb more Mako reactors, accepting that sometimes, there is collateral damage. Next is Cloud. Cloud does not like Shinra, but also seems indifferent; he is in it for the money, and to help his childhood friend, Tifa. Finally, on the other end of the spectrum is Barret. He has the most “dangerous” mindset of the group; he is the one who gives Avalanche a bad name. Barret is a champion of the bombing, justifying the unexpected lives lost and damage as okay, as long as it takes down the evil Shinra. In fact, he is so focused on destroying Shinra, he appears to be ignorant to the fact that his actions are hurting the lives of many innocent people because of his quest for revenge. In that sense, of the Avalanche group, Barret is actually the most closely aligned to Shinra’s president because he is hellbent on bulldozing his way through to achieve his goals.
YE: You portray Avalanche as a mixed bag of characters. However, you made it clear earlier that you sympathize with their cause. How would you distinguish them from Shinra?
I guess my response to your last question did not paint Avalanche in a good light. Avalanche however, are a very different group compared with Shinra. The Shinra leadership are mostly a group of sadistic thugs. Avalanche did not intend to cause this much destruction and kill innocent lives when they set out to bomb the Mako reactor. As mentioned, the extent of the damage surprises the whole group. One of the group members, Jessie, later says that she put too much explosive power into the bomb and did not intend it to cause so much damage. The unintended consequences of the bombing is largely due their inexperience. Like, Tifa is what, 20? Jessie, Wedge and Cloud look around the same age. When you’re young, you are bound to make more mistakes, or make rash decisions. Only Biggs and Barret have a bit of experience. Anyway, back to my thing on intentions; intentions are a huge separator between Shinra and Avalanche as Shinra is driven by greed and power and intentionally will plan to kill people in their way. Unfortunately, intentions don’t count for much in a situation where you killed a lot of people and cause a lot of damage, because at the end of the day that damage happened. What are you going to say in court?; “Oops, your honor. I really didn't mean to kill all those people. I'm so sorry, now let me go.” Unfortunately, you would be punished very harshly for that, despite your good intentions as Avalanche, or your bad intentions as Shinra.
YE: So you are saying that Avalanche has a good mission and good intent overall, but should have had a more thoughtful approach?
MO: Absolutely. It is their responsibility to do so even. They really start out with good intent, but they make some pretty bad mistakes, and while I don't like to say this because I really am rooting for them and taking down Shinra, there is definitely truth to calling them out on committing crimes to the general public. Shinra is very quick to capitalize on this, Of course for their own reasons though, because Shinra wants to get rid of Avalanche so they have one less obstacle to carrying out their own selfish and destructive agenda.
I guess my response to your last question did not paint Avalanche in a good light. Avalanche however, are a very different group compared with Shinra. The Shinra leadership are mostly a group of sadistic thugs. Avalanche did not intend to cause this much destruction and kill innocent lives when they set out to bomb the Mako reactor. As mentioned, the extent of the damage surprises the whole group. One of the group members, Jessie, later says that she put too much explosive power into the bomb and did not intend it to cause so much damage. The unintended consequences of the bombing is largely due their inexperience. Like, Tifa is what, 20? Jessie, Wedge and Cloud look around the same age. When you’re young, you are bound to make more mistakes, or make rash decisions. Only Biggs and Barret have a bit of experience. Anyway, back to my thing on intentions; intentions are a huge separator between Shinra and Avalanche as Shinra is driven by greed and power and intentionally will plan to kill people in their way. Unfortunately, intentions don’t count for much in a situation where you killed a lot of people and cause a lot of damage, because at the end of the day that damage happened. What are you going to say in court?; “Oops, your honor. I really didn't mean to kill all those people. I'm so sorry, now let me go.” Unfortunately, you would be punished very harshly for that, despite your good intentions as Avalanche, or your bad intentions as Shinra.
YE: So you are saying that Avalanche has a good mission and good intent overall, but should have had a more thoughtful approach?
MO: Absolutely. It is their responsibility to do so even. They really start out with good intent, but they make some pretty bad mistakes, and while I don't like to say this because I really am rooting for them and taking down Shinra, there is definitely truth to calling them out on committing crimes to the general public. Shinra is very quick to capitalize on this, Of course for their own reasons though, because Shinra wants to get rid of Avalanche so they have one less obstacle to carrying out their own selfish and destructive agenda.
YE: Do you then consider Avalanche to be a terrorist group as they are labeled by Shinra and likely viewed as such by the majority of Midgar citizens?
MO: Aaargh, I hate saying this, but because of their mistakes, yes, Even though I love they are taking down Shinra to help save the planet. In the literal interpretation of what is a terrorist, Avalanche do indeed fall under that category. Causing massive destruction to property and harming countless civilians probably meets the definition of a terrorist group by a reasonable person. But, while not acceptable to lose so many lives and cause so many injuries, in the long run of course, Gaia is better off because of Avalanche. The net result is great [editor’s note: the planet is saved, most of the people are saved), though even one careless mistake does not excuse Avalanche from killing innocent people.
YE: I see how tough that question was for you to answer. I get it. Let me ask you maybe a less heart-wrenching question: Is the Shinra Corporation a terrorist organization?
MO: You know, that is so interesting you bring that up; I haven’t seen a lot of talk about that. So, let’s break it down: Shinra's president orders his company to intentionally blow up the plate above Sector 7 which he knows will cause tons of property damage and thousands of lives lost. He does this to try to stamp out Avalanche, completely ignoring the fact that 99.9% out of the Sector 7 residents are not a part of Avalanche and do not even know about them, and go about their day-to-day lives not causing any harm or conflict with Shinra. It is if he is taking a wrecking ball to a house in order to exterminate a couple mosquitoes that are bothering him in that house. Completely the wrong tool. Of course, the destruction of the whole house will indeed remove the presence of the mosquitoes, but at what cost? Now you have no house at all. Avalanche have great intentions and cause large amount of destruction by accident. Shinra has horrible intentions and causes epic amounts of destruction on purpose. While my response to your previous question about Avalanche still stands that they certainly have key attributes of a terrorist organization, Shinra is a much worse terrorist organization than Avalanche. In fact, Avalanche’s actions pale in comparison to Shinra's actions. On a most wanted list, Shinra would be much, much higher up the list than Avalanche. And we are not even talking about all the atrocities that Shinra commits throughout Remake and beyond; we are just comparing destructive actions in Midgar in the early stages of the FF7 game.
YE: Like exploiting the planet for gain, running horrible experiments on animals and SOLDIER candidates, and torturing Aerith’s mother.
MO: Exactly.
YE: On the subject of horrible experiments, what do you think of Hojo, the chief scientist at Shinra?
MO: Oh man, he is a despicable character; he lost his soul a long time ago. He must have been abused as a child, or something; that kind of sadistic behavior just isn’t normal.
YE: Well, let me actually ask you this: the Shinra president knows about the horrible experiments that Hojo does, but he lets it slide. Why do you think that is?
MO: Because he [Hojo] and the other leads of his upper management staff get the job done. He just wants them to get the job done. As with the destruction of Sector 7, sucking the life force out of Gaia, and manipulating life through horrible experiments and torture, as long as it serves his agenda and accomplishes what he wants, he turns a blind eye to their methods. There is one exception of course and that is Reeve Tuesti, Shinra’s Head of Urban Development. And look how he is ridiculed and perceived as being spineless by the president and the rest of the upper management team. I am in fact very surprised that the president has tolerated Reeve for so long. I would have expected the president to have Heidegger [Shinra’s Head of Public Safety] orchestrate a hit on Reeve, like throwing him off the side of the plate and making it seem like an accident.
MO: Aaargh, I hate saying this, but because of their mistakes, yes, Even though I love they are taking down Shinra to help save the planet. In the literal interpretation of what is a terrorist, Avalanche do indeed fall under that category. Causing massive destruction to property and harming countless civilians probably meets the definition of a terrorist group by a reasonable person. But, while not acceptable to lose so many lives and cause so many injuries, in the long run of course, Gaia is better off because of Avalanche. The net result is great [editor’s note: the planet is saved, most of the people are saved), though even one careless mistake does not excuse Avalanche from killing innocent people.
YE: I see how tough that question was for you to answer. I get it. Let me ask you maybe a less heart-wrenching question: Is the Shinra Corporation a terrorist organization?
MO: You know, that is so interesting you bring that up; I haven’t seen a lot of talk about that. So, let’s break it down: Shinra's president orders his company to intentionally blow up the plate above Sector 7 which he knows will cause tons of property damage and thousands of lives lost. He does this to try to stamp out Avalanche, completely ignoring the fact that 99.9% out of the Sector 7 residents are not a part of Avalanche and do not even know about them, and go about their day-to-day lives not causing any harm or conflict with Shinra. It is if he is taking a wrecking ball to a house in order to exterminate a couple mosquitoes that are bothering him in that house. Completely the wrong tool. Of course, the destruction of the whole house will indeed remove the presence of the mosquitoes, but at what cost? Now you have no house at all. Avalanche have great intentions and cause large amount of destruction by accident. Shinra has horrible intentions and causes epic amounts of destruction on purpose. While my response to your previous question about Avalanche still stands that they certainly have key attributes of a terrorist organization, Shinra is a much worse terrorist organization than Avalanche. In fact, Avalanche’s actions pale in comparison to Shinra's actions. On a most wanted list, Shinra would be much, much higher up the list than Avalanche. And we are not even talking about all the atrocities that Shinra commits throughout Remake and beyond; we are just comparing destructive actions in Midgar in the early stages of the FF7 game.
YE: Like exploiting the planet for gain, running horrible experiments on animals and SOLDIER candidates, and torturing Aerith’s mother.
MO: Exactly.
YE: On the subject of horrible experiments, what do you think of Hojo, the chief scientist at Shinra?
MO: Oh man, he is a despicable character; he lost his soul a long time ago. He must have been abused as a child, or something; that kind of sadistic behavior just isn’t normal.
YE: Well, let me actually ask you this: the Shinra president knows about the horrible experiments that Hojo does, but he lets it slide. Why do you think that is?
MO: Because he [Hojo] and the other leads of his upper management staff get the job done. He just wants them to get the job done. As with the destruction of Sector 7, sucking the life force out of Gaia, and manipulating life through horrible experiments and torture, as long as it serves his agenda and accomplishes what he wants, he turns a blind eye to their methods. There is one exception of course and that is Reeve Tuesti, Shinra’s Head of Urban Development. And look how he is ridiculed and perceived as being spineless by the president and the rest of the upper management team. I am in fact very surprised that the president has tolerated Reeve for so long. I would have expected the president to have Heidegger [Shinra’s Head of Public Safety] orchestrate a hit on Reeve, like throwing him off the side of the plate and making it seem like an accident.
YE: Continuing our discussion of the “board of evil”, what are your thoughts on Scarlet?
MO: I think Shinra’s main criterion for selecting their management is that you have to be a severely abused child beyond repair. I mean, how else can you explain such horrid behavior? Scarlet is another one of these types. To her credit, she has some highly desirable characteristics as a model worker and a director, such as high intellectual intelligence and drive. She also is extremely reliable and delivers, which makes her a very valued asset at the company. However, my admiration for her stops there. She has a huge ego and an absolute disregard for life, beyond her own and those who immediately benefit her, such as the president. When you observe her in her scenes, you feel this perverted sense that she gets a high from her sadistic behavior. Something has clearly gone wrong in her childhood, or she has a significant mental condition which blocks her ability to feel empathy.
MO: I think Shinra’s main criterion for selecting their management is that you have to be a severely abused child beyond repair. I mean, how else can you explain such horrid behavior? Scarlet is another one of these types. To her credit, she has some highly desirable characteristics as a model worker and a director, such as high intellectual intelligence and drive. She also is extremely reliable and delivers, which makes her a very valued asset at the company. However, my admiration for her stops there. She has a huge ego and an absolute disregard for life, beyond her own and those who immediately benefit her, such as the president. When you observe her in her scenes, you feel this perverted sense that she gets a high from her sadistic behavior. Something has clearly gone wrong in her childhood, or she has a significant mental condition which blocks her ability to feel empathy.
YE: Reeve always struck me as an anomaly in Shrina’s upper echelon. Why do you think he still puts up with the horrible treatment by his peers and boss and stays working at Shinra?
MO: Maybe I am being a bit harsh here, but I am not totally sympathetic to Reeve; he knowingly works for a really terrible company, he cannot claim any ignorance of the atrocious actions taken by his peers at Shinra. Yet he continues on, and I infer that he has been at the company for a long time. What does he intend to accomplish there? He is smart enough to know that the president does not listen to him or take him seriously, so if he really dislikes the actions of his company, why doesn't he quit and take on another job where he does not have to be involved with these ethical dilemmas? If he's really passionate about protecting the people of Midgar, heck, he could even join Avalanche! As far as him being treated like dirt by his peers and the president and persevering with it, I am wondering if he is a glutton for punishment, again, probably owing to some dysfunctional part of his childhood.
YE: You really think all of Shinra’s top brass had traumatic childhoods, don’t you?
MO: [laughs] Yes, I guess that has been my go-to explanation, hasn’t it?
MO: Maybe I am being a bit harsh here, but I am not totally sympathetic to Reeve; he knowingly works for a really terrible company, he cannot claim any ignorance of the atrocious actions taken by his peers at Shinra. Yet he continues on, and I infer that he has been at the company for a long time. What does he intend to accomplish there? He is smart enough to know that the president does not listen to him or take him seriously, so if he really dislikes the actions of his company, why doesn't he quit and take on another job where he does not have to be involved with these ethical dilemmas? If he's really passionate about protecting the people of Midgar, heck, he could even join Avalanche! As far as him being treated like dirt by his peers and the president and persevering with it, I am wondering if he is a glutton for punishment, again, probably owing to some dysfunctional part of his childhood.
YE: You really think all of Shinra’s top brass had traumatic childhoods, don’t you?
MO: [laughs] Yes, I guess that has been my go-to explanation, hasn’t it?
YE: I have heard on fan websites that Reeve stays at Shinra to try to negate some of their atrocities.
MO: Okay, suppose we gave him the benefit of the doubt. As a player of FF7 Remake, where do we see him having a significant impact on this? He does vocalize his opposition to dropping a plate on 50,000 people in Sector 7, but his wimpy efforts only make his peers and the president ridicule him more. And you would think someone of his stature would be smart enough to have proposed a valid alternative option to the president that the president would like even more, or that at least would cause him to rethink his original plan.
YE: Something puzzling to me about Reeve is why the president tolerates him despite clear tensions and dislike. What are your thoughts?
MO: Now that is a challenging question. I don't have a good explanation for that, though it must be because there are some benefits that Reeve provides to the president. I think it is demonstrated that the president tolerates staff members he does not like as long as they're providing profit, inventions, and other value to his company. Another explanation, and this is just my own hypothesis, is that the story creators made him so out of place on purpose to really hammer home how terrible and heartless the other Shinra Heads and the president are. Again, I have no idea if this is valid, but at the very least, it sure works very effectively, even if this was unintentional.
MO: Okay, suppose we gave him the benefit of the doubt. As a player of FF7 Remake, where do we see him having a significant impact on this? He does vocalize his opposition to dropping a plate on 50,000 people in Sector 7, but his wimpy efforts only make his peers and the president ridicule him more. And you would think someone of his stature would be smart enough to have proposed a valid alternative option to the president that the president would like even more, or that at least would cause him to rethink his original plan.
YE: Something puzzling to me about Reeve is why the president tolerates him despite clear tensions and dislike. What are your thoughts?
MO: Now that is a challenging question. I don't have a good explanation for that, though it must be because there are some benefits that Reeve provides to the president. I think it is demonstrated that the president tolerates staff members he does not like as long as they're providing profit, inventions, and other value to his company. Another explanation, and this is just my own hypothesis, is that the story creators made him so out of place on purpose to really hammer home how terrible and heartless the other Shinra Heads and the president are. Again, I have no idea if this is valid, but at the very least, it sure works very effectively, even if this was unintentional.
YE: We have spent a lot of time discussing the decision-makers at Shinra, but they are only a small fraction of all Shinra employees. What are your thoughts on all the ordinary office workers?
MO: I am sure many of the rank-and-file Shinra employees are generally innocent. They just want good jobs, to be secure and live above the plate. They do not know all the evil things that are going on. Even the low-ranking security officers they employ, even when they shoot intruders, they think that they are doing it for the greater good of the company and to protect the company’s intellectual property, inventions, power reactors, and so on. Some of the employees may know more, in fact, we know some of them do, like Scarlet’s scientists and Reeve’s lead assistant. But they also do a certain degree of turning a blind eye, likely because they fear retaliation, and want to keep the relatively good life that they have; everyone knows how much worse life could be below the plate. In exchange for not asking questions and being compliant, the company then takes care of them; and they have little incentive to become activists, especially because they are naive to the true horrors and intents of Shinra. A wonderful exception to this is of course Jessie when she realizes how Shinra has caused her father to become devastatingly ill. but she is definitely the exception, and not even a Shinra employee.
MO: I am sure many of the rank-and-file Shinra employees are generally innocent. They just want good jobs, to be secure and live above the plate. They do not know all the evil things that are going on. Even the low-ranking security officers they employ, even when they shoot intruders, they think that they are doing it for the greater good of the company and to protect the company’s intellectual property, inventions, power reactors, and so on. Some of the employees may know more, in fact, we know some of them do, like Scarlet’s scientists and Reeve’s lead assistant. But they also do a certain degree of turning a blind eye, likely because they fear retaliation, and want to keep the relatively good life that they have; everyone knows how much worse life could be below the plate. In exchange for not asking questions and being compliant, the company then takes care of them; and they have little incentive to become activists, especially because they are naive to the true horrors and intents of Shinra. A wonderful exception to this is of course Jessie when she realizes how Shinra has caused her father to become devastatingly ill. but she is definitely the exception, and not even a Shinra employee.
YE: This interview has certainly been quite dark, and that is frankly, expected. However, is there anything light-hearted we can draw from on Shinra to uplift our readers?
MO: There is always a glass-half perspective, isn’t there? I do not want to diminish anything we have talked about, but there are maybe a couple examples that come to mind. One of them is when Cloud and his party are in Sector 6 to visit Aerith’s home. They stumble upon a giant TV display at a busy intersection in the neighborhood where Scarlet is giving an interview about the recent Mako reactor bombing. Towards the end of the interview, the reporter asks a question that irritates Scarlet, and she proceeds to knock the interviewer and cameraman down. That is kind of funny. Another lighthearted moment is when Barret, Tifa, and Cloud are climbing up the stairs at Shinra headquarters to get to the top floors to avoid detection. You are climbing dozens of stairs and naturally get tired. What is funny is the higher you climb, the slower you move, simulating how difficult it would actually be to climb all those flights of stairs. And Barret's endurance is not as good as the others, to say the least. He has several funny lines as he runs out of gas. I can relate to the characters struggling; have you ever tried to climb up a ton of stairs at once? I have, and it is truly exhausting; you get a real burn in your thighs. [Editor’s note: You can choose to take the elevator or climb the stairs, but if you take the elevator, it stops a few times and you have to take on multiple enemies].
MO: There is always a glass-half perspective, isn’t there? I do not want to diminish anything we have talked about, but there are maybe a couple examples that come to mind. One of them is when Cloud and his party are in Sector 6 to visit Aerith’s home. They stumble upon a giant TV display at a busy intersection in the neighborhood where Scarlet is giving an interview about the recent Mako reactor bombing. Towards the end of the interview, the reporter asks a question that irritates Scarlet, and she proceeds to knock the interviewer and cameraman down. That is kind of funny. Another lighthearted moment is when Barret, Tifa, and Cloud are climbing up the stairs at Shinra headquarters to get to the top floors to avoid detection. You are climbing dozens of stairs and naturally get tired. What is funny is the higher you climb, the slower you move, simulating how difficult it would actually be to climb all those flights of stairs. And Barret's endurance is not as good as the others, to say the least. He has several funny lines as he runs out of gas. I can relate to the characters struggling; have you ever tried to climb up a ton of stairs at once? I have, and it is truly exhausting; you get a real burn in your thighs. [Editor’s note: You can choose to take the elevator or climb the stairs, but if you take the elevator, it stops a few times and you have to take on multiple enemies].
YE: Last question, do you think Square was trying to draw any symbolism with the evils of Shinra and events and malaise happening on our own planet?
MO: I am tempted to say yes. But I don't have any specific examples to draw from that would make sense or that would be probable enough. I would rather give credit to the story creators for having a vivid imagination and artistic intelligence to create an epic story. Without doubt, they drew from their observed experiences, but that could have been from films, fantasy novels, sci-fi, and many other sources, not necessarily something that is actually happening on Earth. I am not excluding the possibility that they drew upon some real-life events, as there certainly would be some events to draw from, such as great wars, horrible regimes from the past, and the depletion of oil. But I am guessing that the overall experience and story of Final Fantasy 7 is an amalgamation of many, many different sources, some potentially real, and many that are fiction. Weaving together all this material, and let's not discredit the imagination of the creators themselves to create a brand new world, characters, plot, and story, this then resulted in the amazing game of Final Fantasy 7 as we know it today.
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MO: I am tempted to say yes. But I don't have any specific examples to draw from that would make sense or that would be probable enough. I would rather give credit to the story creators for having a vivid imagination and artistic intelligence to create an epic story. Without doubt, they drew from their observed experiences, but that could have been from films, fantasy novels, sci-fi, and many other sources, not necessarily something that is actually happening on Earth. I am not excluding the possibility that they drew upon some real-life events, as there certainly would be some events to draw from, such as great wars, horrible regimes from the past, and the depletion of oil. But I am guessing that the overall experience and story of Final Fantasy 7 is an amalgamation of many, many different sources, some potentially real, and many that are fiction. Weaving together all this material, and let's not discredit the imagination of the creators themselves to create a brand new world, characters, plot, and story, this then resulted in the amazing game of Final Fantasy 7 as we know it today.
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