why is revenge so consuming?

[THAC0]

the character driven by revenge is so common in movies, books, and games that it is almost not cool anymore. But something about that trope keeps bringing people back to it.

V for Vendetta, Sweeny Todd, The Count of Monte Cristo, Princess Bride, Kill Bill, and that is just scratching the surface.

OT: A while back something very bad was done to me. I was depressed for a very long time (months), i am normally depressed anyway so when a depressed person gets depressed, you know shit's about to get real in here.

then one day it occurred to me that there were things i could do to get back at the person that had wronged me. I could have....revenge.

It required planning though. Careful planning and lots of time, but it was all very simple to do. I just needed to plan, and most of all, wait till the time was right to act. Then i will have...revenge.

And i felt better. the depression went right away and i was walking on sunshine for a few days, perhaps a few weeks. But now i can't seem to stop thinking about the revenge. I haven't even done anything yet, still in the planning and waiting stage. But its like the first thing i think of when i get up, what i think about during the day, and at night i dream about it. I haven't been this obsessed with something since i was 12 and starting to....well lets just say its pretty consuming.

I am being light hearted about this. But honestly, what is it about the idea of revenge that causes it to have this effect on people?

 

[Valate_v1legacy]

Revenge: Personally I don't have big vengeance issues (you get 7 major chances, fail, and I just ignore you.)

Except for when I was a little kid.

Vengeance... Was... GOD.

Because it was fun to make them feel your misery MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!
/tangent

 

[Manicotti]

Because it makes us less helpless.

 

[xdom125x]

Revenge is a good motive in movies because it is like a primal emotion(he hit me with stick, I hit him with bigger stick), so it doesn't even have to make sense. If a character is running on raw emotion they will do anything within their power.
Edit: They aren't thinking logically is what I was trying to say.
edit edit: Also they feel they are completely justified in thier desire for revenge.

 

[spartan1077]

Its the feeling of pure exultation that comes with inflicting pain on the person who wronged you. I view it as a visible streak of sadism, which a lot of people ignore or deny.

Quoted for truth.
I once spent a whole year living in complete and bliss ignorance of everyting else just plotting my revenge on one person, while I was in grade 3. I moved schools and haven't gotten around to doing all my super awesome revenge plans, but it was nice to think of how great it would be to see him...
*ahem*
It's just what Mack said. It's sadism and revenge can be sweet!

 

[MasterOfWorlds]

I could go into the psychological aspects of it, but the simple reason is that it makes you feel like you're the one in control and not the person that wronged you. You're not only stripping their power over you, you have proven that you're better than them. At least in theory.

I'm not big on revenge. Although if my friends hadn't held me back, I'd probably be in jail for killing my friend who sexually assaulted my gf, my best female friend, and a girl everyone knew had issues. It took four of them to hold me down. At the time, and for about a year afterwords, I still would have felt justified in doing it, and contemplated it seriously for a good long time.

 

[TheRundownRabbit]

What makes revenge so appealing is that despite popular though, revenge IS satisfying. Example: Someone kills a loved one, people will say "revenge won't bring them back", which is hardly the reason they will want revenge. Its because they want the guilty one to know that they caused them immense pain, and it puts them at peace knowing the guilty one suffered because of what he did.

 

[Paksenarrion]

Revenge is a dish without an expiration date.

 

[FinalHeart95]

A lot of people like the "eye for an eye" idea. Thus, revenge seems to be ideal.

I personally hate it, but whatever.

 

[Julianking93]

The idea of wronging those who have wronged you is something instilled in a lot of us.
Not sure if it's a natural thing or if it's something learned but many people feel the same way.
Some act on it, some don't.
It's hardly ever the right thing to do but... hell that didn't stop me from getting mine.

 

[Jorias]

There is actual evidence that concludes that revenge is in our genetics....http://www.biosistemica.org/EA_revenge.asp it's an evolutionary trait...

 

[TWRule]

Yes, keep rationalizing it with biology and psychology...

Or use your faculties of reason and have some self-discipline - then these "urges" for revenge are not an issue. Honestly, I can't say I've had such an urge since I was a child.

It's only consuming if you choose to consume yourself with it.

 

[lacktheknack]

I don't find it consuming. I'll be boiling mad, but forget it within minutes.

Now, if it was something REALLY bad, it might last longer, but I find being vengeful to be exhausting and depressing.

 

[Fidelias]

Well, it's used so much in stories because it shows a lot about a character. What a person does during anger and violence can tell you a lot about them. Not to mention how that character reacts when they do or don't get they're revenge.

As to what I think about revenge in particular? I think it's a normal reaction. And it's very, VERY easy to get consumed by it. I mean, when I was younger, I used to get so pissed off at other schoolkids when they did something to me. I wouldn't be able to think straight for an hour sometimes.(yeah, they never really did much, but you get the point) I can't imagine what it would be like to lose someone I cared about because of what someone else did. I can't even imagine what I'd do to the person responsible.

Sometimes revenge is bad, sometimes it's good. It's just a reaction to pain and anger and it's stupid to believe that humans, which are mostly driven by our emotions, can always control it.

Of course, that doesn't mean that it's okay for someone to go on a Kratos spree; getting revenge while condemning innocents. It's just that I can't really blame someone if they want to kill the murderer of their child.

 

[rddj623]

It's consuming because we feel like we must take upon ourselves retribution for what has happened to us. Whether that is really the case is not the point. The point is it FEELS like it must be done, and it feels like it will make all right with the world. It might help, but it certainly won't take away the pain that was caused. Just my experience.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

It is the truest way to achieve catharsis.

 

[turbo4400]

people are naturally competitive and revenge could just be a representation of this, and in an extreme situation like in the movies you mentioned it would be as a result of the fact that these people have worked for decades to get the life that they have at the beginning of the movie and when it is taken away from them they have nothing left to do but be crushed and wallow in sadness or be motivated by revenge.