The Punisher, by nature, resorts to gun violence. When Punisher catches a bad guy they go away for good. The wheels of justice grind too slowly. The justice system, extremely flawed in all our comic books, can't even clean the streets of regular criminals let alone spies, assassins, and tech wizards. Frank Castle metes out justice eerily reminiscent of Gene Hackman in Unforgiven.
America's suffered from shooting after shooting after shooting. In the wake of Las Vegas (a horrific tragedy) I assumed we'd had our fill of public violence. Surprise surprise when I pour through an episode of The Punisher and I hear "the Liberals are attacking us" and later witness an armed shooter running around the streets of New York City. This show not only talks selectively about gun rights (there's an anti-gun senator who's targeted by this active shooter) but also includes a story that could just as easily have been from yesterday's newspaper. That once-in-a-million chance where art imitates life and vice versa and it scares me.
Home made bombs explode in Federal buildings all over New York City. His firmly anti-establishment position couches him against anything part of The System. Lewis Wilson, the shooter, identifies with Frank Castle because he assumes both work extraditially to correct the broken system. Lewis keeps telling Frank they're alike, they want the same thing, they use the same methods. Frank Castle has to correct him.
Lewis Wilson wants to take on the Government. Frank Castle wants to take on bad people. The show asks the question: where is the line between The Punisher and another active shooter? How can we worship a gun-toting civilian who kills people and fear the exact same thing?
The show's best answer: Innocence. Frank Castle only kills guilty criminals. He lays flat several thieves and would-be murderers in the first episode. Lewis Wilson kills innocent people. He tries to murder the leader of his recovery group.
The Punisher's not a comic book built on forgiveness, but it seems to me the moral of this show is: violence only begets violence. By searching for revenge Frank Castle descends down a well of violence that grows with each episode until he literally gouges a dead man's eyes out and scrapes a man's face against a shattered mirror.
I suppose I shouldn't be surprised since vigilantism and America go hand-in-hand. Most of our comic books reflect a general foreign policy of unnecessary (or unlawful) intervention or brinksmanship. As a national identity the right to bear arms reflects the outdated idea we can protect ourselves from tragedies like Lewis Wilson. Except let me point something out: The Punisher is a United States Marine Corps veteran. I doubt a high percentage of gun carriers in the US have the same background and training. We're living in a fantasy world where we happen to be at the right place at the right time with a pistol in our hands, well within our right to take a human life.
Where are words among all this? They always fail in comic books. No hero saves the day by negotiating a peace treaty. The whole point of the Punisher is he's going to kill people. He's the vigilante always on the edge in every comic book. Every team up he's ever been a part of the heroes reject him because he kills. Frank Castle is always going to kill the criminal, and that's what makes him outdated. He will never find mercy in his heart.All of this makes me incredibly sad to say it's a well-written tv show. Ignoring all the blood and guts it's deftly developed with strong characters impinging on each other until every last bit unravels and all that's let is Frank Castle standing in a pool of blood with his justice. The good guys win, the bad guys lose. Does that make me a hypocrite for enjoying a show with enough support of second-amendment rights to make me nauseous? Yes.
John Bernthal's statement about the show does not suggest an easy answer, instead he offers: "art can hold up a mirror to society and show the problems in our society. It is not up to art to give an answer to these problems." The Punisher weighs in pretty heavily on this one, mirror or no.
The video shares Bernthal's statement regarding the show.
Americans digest violence as easy as candy. To differing degrees but compared to the rest of the world we love vigilantes and we love watching people bleed. The Punisher delivers in spades on all of that. His image brands cops and military alike (to alarming degrees) empowering the role of public servants to public watchdogs. He's the dark fulfillment of many of our desires, but the whole point is we need to be better than Frank Castle. Despite our darkest wishes and evil desires we can not succumb to murder and lose ourselves in fighting injustice with injustice. Unfortunately we'll never see that in The Punisher. We'll never see Frank Castle be anything less than slightly murderous. Perhaps we should let that sink in. Heroes are not always heroes.
