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'''Misanthropy''' is a general dislike, distrust, contempt, or hatred of the [[human]] species. The word comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] words ''μίσος'' (''misos'', "hatred") and ''άνθρωπος'' ( ''anthrōpos'', "man, human being"). |
'''Misanthropy''' is a general dislike, distrust, contempt, or hatred of the [[human]] species or a disposition to dislike and/or distrust other people's silent consensus about reality. The word comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] words ''μίσος'' (''misos'', "hatred") and ''άνθρωπος'' ( ''anthrōpos'', "man, human being"). A misanthrope is a person who dislikes or distrusts humanity as a general rule. |
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==Forms== |
==Forms== |
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[[Søren Kierkegaard]] wrote "How absurd men are! They desire rights they do not have and do not use the ones they have. They have freedom of thought, they demand freedom of speech." |
[[Søren Kierkegaard]] wrote "How absurd men are! They desire rights they do not have and do not use the ones they have. They have freedom of thought, they demand freedom of speech." |
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==Use in media== |
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{{Original research|section|date=September 2009}} |
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{{Cleanup|section|date=September 2009}} |
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===Literature=== |
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Misanthropy has been ascribed to a number of writers of [[satire]], such as [[W. S. Gilbert|William S. Gilbert]] ("I hate my fellow-man"), but such identifications must be closely scrutinized, because a critical or [[dark comedy|darkly humorous]] outlook toward humankind may be easily mistaken for genuine misanthropy. |
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Shakespeare's work [[Macbeth]] features a soliloquy wherefore Macbeth himself states that ''"Life's but a walking shadow...a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing..."'' |
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Also in one of J D Salinger's most famous works, [[Catcher in the Rye]], the leading character [[Holden Caulfield]] expresses deep hatred and futility towards humanity. |
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Heathcliff, the main character of Emily Brontë's novel, "Wuthering Heights", is a classic example of misanthropy in all the main aspects. |
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In 1992, southern American essayist and ''[[National Review]]'' columnist [[Florence King]], a self-described misanthrope, wrote a humorous book on the history of misanthropy called ''With Charity Toward None: A Fond Look at Misanthropy''. |
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Perhaps the most famous example of a misanthrope in literature is the [[protagonist]], Alceste, in [[Molière]]'s 1666 play ''[[Le Misanthrope]]''. Another example is [[Timon of Athens (person)|Timon]], the protagonist of [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Timon of Athens]]''. |
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The American satirical author [[Kurt Vonnegut]] often expressed misanthropic views in his books. In one of his most popular works, ''[[Slaughterhouse-Five]]'', the [[protagonist]] Billy Pilgrim "becomes unstuck in time." He is taken hostage by the [[Tralfamadorians]], a race able to see in [[Dimensions|4D]], who can travel through time and experience all the events in their lives, not necessarily in chronological order. Through the novel, they teach him a [[Fatalism|fatalistic]] philosophy, summed up in the book's signature phrase, "so it goes." |
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In another Vonnegut novel, ''[[Breakfast of Champions]]'', the protagonist [[Kilgore Trout]], a science fiction author, writes many books about man destroying the world and the pointlessness of human existence. The book has passages throughout showing the destruction of Earth due to man and man's pointless existence. |
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Some works by [[Franz Kafka]], such as ''[[The Metamorphosis]]'' and ''[[A Hunger Artist]]'', also display misanthropic views. |
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In ''[[No Exit|Huis Clos]]'', [[Jean-Paul Sartre]] wrote, "So that is what hell is. I would never have believed it. You remember: the fire and brimstone, the torture. Ah! the farce. There is no need for torture: '''hell is other people'''." |
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Eighteenth century Irish satirist [[Jonathan Swift]], in a letter to the poet [[Alexander Pope]] concerning ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]'', a novel penned by the former, wrote: "[but] principally I hate and detest that animal called man" {{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}. Lemuel Gulliver, considered by several critics to be Swift's mouthpiece and literary alter ego{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} |
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, expresses an overwhelming disgust with respect to human beings, particularly in "A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms". |
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The eponymous protagonist of [[Comte de Lautreamont]]'s ''[[Les Chants de Maldoror]]'' is misanthropic to the point of [[surreal humor|absurdity]], lending to the interpretation that the book is a [[parody]] of [[Romanticism]]. In one episode, Maldoror goes so far as to fire a [[musket]] at sailors swimming toward shore from a sinking ship and then [[zoophilia|makes love]] to a female [[shark]] that was feeding on them.<ref>http://www.kisa.ca/maldoror/english.html</ref> |
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The English writer [[Jane Austen]], famed for her use of irony, parody and satire, frequently showed a cynical attitude towards society and many of the people within it. Elizabeth Bennet, in ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]'', says to her sister Jane: "''You'' wish to think all the world respectable, and are hurt if I speak ill of any body ... There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of either merit or sense." (''Pride and Prejudice'', Volume 2, Chapter 1.) |
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Tyler Durden from Chuck Palahniuk's [[Fight Club]] is very well known for his hatred of humanity and society.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}} |
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Finally, the most well-known literary misanthrope is Ebenezer Scrooge, the main character in [[Charles Dickens]]'s 1843 novel ''[[A Christmas Carol]]''. The word "Scrooge" is now nearly synonymous with "miser" and "misanthrope".{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}} |
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=== Films === |
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The characters Travis Bickle from ''[[Taxi Driver]]'', Frank Slade from ''[[Scent of a Woman]]'', Daniel Plainview from ''[[There Will Be Blood]]'', Bertram Pincus from ''[[Ghost Town (film)|Ghost Town]]'', Walt Kowalski from ''[[Gran Torino (film)|Gran Torino]]'', Melvin Udall from ''[[As Good as it Gets]]'', and [[Randal Graves]] from ''[[Clerks]]'' are some examples of misanthropes in film. |
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In the 1984 hit "[[Ghostbusters]]", turn-of-the-century New Yorker [[Evo Shandor]] viewed the Human race as a whole, "too sick to survive," after the conclusion of [[World War I]]. Therefore, he held rituals for a cult in anticipation of the [[apocalypse]]. |
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[[Nocturno Culto]] of [[Darkthrone]] released a documentary film, ''The Misanthrope'', in which he deals with black metal and life in Norway. |
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In the Australian film ''[[The Proposition]]'', Arthur Burns assures Samuel that they are not misanthropist, and instead a family. |
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''Grosse Pointe Blank'' (1997): Mr. Newberry: I visualized you in a haze as one of those slackster, flannel-wearing, coffee-house misanthropes I've been seeing in ''Newsweek''. |
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In the Stephen King adaptation ''[[Cujo (film)|Cujo]]'' a character is diagnosed as an alcoholic misanthrope. |
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In ''[[The Dark Knight]]'', one of [[Joker (comics)|The Joker's]] underlying motives is misanthropy, exemplified by quotes such as, "I'll show you, when the chips are down, these civilized people will eat each other." |
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In the film (and graphic novel) ''[[Watchmen (film)|Watchmen]]'', [[Rorschach (comics)|Rorschach]]'s personality has the classical signs of misanthropy, including his popular quote "all the whores and politicians will look up and shout, 'Save us!' And I'll whisper, 'no'," due to his view on good and evil being so black-and-white. |
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The short Internet trajicomedy, "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog", shows misanthropy in its protagonist, Dr. Horrible, who sees humankind as ignorant to its own problems, and seeks to join the "Evil League of Evil" in order to enact social change upon conquering the world through use of his inventions. The song, "My Eyes" (or "On the Rise") exemplifies his attitude in sharp contrast to Penny's (his love interest) idealism. Also, the song "Slipping" further explores his paradigm. |
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=== Television === |
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* The archetype of the misanthropic doctor has become something of a stock character in television. |
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* [[Gregory House|Dr. Gregory House]], the title character and protagonist of the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox]] show ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'', is referred to as a misanthrope frequently within the show and displays stereotypical misanthropic tendencies, such as his stock quote - "Everybody lies", a solitary lifestyle, a deliberate lack of empathy with his patients, and his exclusion of all but a single friend. |
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* [[Perry Cox|Dr. Percival 'Perry' Cox]] and [[Bob Kelso|Dr. Robert 'Bob' Kelso]] are two of the main cast from the [[NBC]] TV comedy series ''[[Scrubs (TV series)|Scrubs]]''. They have blatant misanthropic tendencies; especially those displayed by Dr Cox in the first two seasons. It is, however, a recurring theme; in the fourth season, both Dr Kelso and Dr Cox present the theory of everyone being 'bastard-covered bastards with a bastard filling' to [[Dr Molly Clock]]. |
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* [[Doc Martin|Dr. Martin Ellingham]] from the British comedy-drama ''[[Doc Martin]]'' dislikes, and has little to no tolerance for, people who display social or emotional behaviour, or who have overtly moral or religious viewpoints, but does have affection for a few individuals. Ellingham has been diagnosed with [[Asperger syndrome]]. |
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* [[Becker (TV series)|Dr Becker]] from the US comedy series ''Becker'' has a dislike and mistrust for most of the people living in his home city of New York. He sees them as alternatively stupid, lazy, untrustworthy and dishonest or a mixture of the aforementioned. |
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* Col. [[Saul Tigh]] from ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]''. Also, on the same series, Chief Petty Officer [[Galen Tyrol]] gradually becomes misanthropic due to his many negative experiences through the series, with both [[Humans]] and [[Cylons]]. |
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* Mandy from ''[[The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy]]'', exhibits misanthropist traits throughout the show's run. |
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* Zim, Gaz and Ms Bitters are three characters from the short lived nicktoon ''[[Invader Zim]]'' that show misanthropic behavior in every episode they appear in. |
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* [[Squidward Tentacles|Squidward]] from ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'', who shows he is a misanthrope by not having any friends, performing solitary activities, showing dislike and distrust for the people around him, and displaying rude behaviour towards others. |
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* [[Bernard Black]] from ''[[Black Books]]'', shows blatant and outright misanthropy towards the costumers that buy books from his very unsociable bookshop and anyone who happens to be around him. The result of this is his house is a mess, he has only two friends (who he's horrid to as well), and he gets angry at the smallest things. |
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* [[Daria Morgendorffer]], high school character in the eponymous animated [[MTV]] series ''Daria'' (1997-2002). Extremely intelligent but plain and unfashionable, Daria is highly contemptuous of 'normal' people, including her fellow students, teachers and family. She has only one real friend: arty [[Jane Lane]], less misanthropic but still cynical. Daria's favorite TV show is ''[[Sick Sad World]]'', and she has a [[Franz Kafka]] poster on her bedroom wall where 'normal' teenage girls might have contemporary movie or music celebrities.In the series finale she wins the Dian Fossey Award "for dazzling academic achievements in face of near total misanthropy" during her high school graduation. |
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*Vince Clark of the BBC series ''[[15 Storeys High]]''. |
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* [[Mr. Burns]] of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' displays misanthropy due to his utter disregard for the physical and emotional status of the people around him. |
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* [[Uchiha Sasuke]] of ''[[Naruto]]'' exhibits a misanthropic view of life following the brutal murder of his entire ninja clan and immediate family by his older brother. Sasuke's mysanthropy is a foil of the title character [[Naruto]]'s high-energy optimism. |
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* In the season two opening episode of ''[[Murder, She Wrote]]'', [[Jessica Fletcher]] poses as a misanthrope widow to investigate the murder of an old friend in a luxurious Jamaican hotel. |
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===Science fiction=== |
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Another variation, called '''Anti-Humanism''', is sentient [[Extraterrestrial life|non-human]] hatred of humans. Anti-Humanism can range from mild [[Xenophobia]] to ideas of committing acts of genocide against the human species. At times, it is a response/counter to the ideas of [[Anthropocentrism|Humanocentrism]]. It is similar to race supremacy via the oppressed minority fighting and [[Reverse discrimination|discriminating]] against the supremacist majority, instead of standing for equality. |
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===Video games=== |
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In the [[Ocarina of Time]] and [[Majora's Mask]] games of the [[Legend of Zelda]] series, a character named Grog is often seen sitting under a tree, looking quite depressed. When spoken to in the early part of the game, he answers; "The world is disgusting, my own mother and father are disgusting, you must be disgusting, too". In the later part of the game, he plays a part in a sidequest. The player must bring a cucco (chicken) to him, receive a mushroom in return, bring it to a witch in Kakariko village who will make a medicine with it. When the player returns to see Grog, he is told that he has become a stalfos, one of the game's enemies. |
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In [[Majora's Mask]], he is still sitting under a tree in Romani Ranch. His only regrets, knowing that the moon will crash within three days, is that he will not live to see his cuccoo chicks grow into adults.<ref>http://www.zeldawiki.org/Grog</ref><ref>http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Grog</ref> |
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In Nancy Drew:[[Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake]], the [[birdwatcher]] Red Knot dislikes people because he came to see birds not people. |
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In Gears of War 2, one of the Collectibles has a character Baird making fun of the Locust's hate for them saying that their Misanthropy is underrated. |
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===Music=== |
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* The band [[Toxic Narcotic]] |
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* Misanthrope - [[Ihsahn]] |
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* Misanthrope - [[Death (band)|Death]] - [[Symbolic (Death album)|Symbolic]] |
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* "I hate people" by the [[Anti-Nowhere League]] |
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* [[Shai Hulud (band)|Shai Hulud]] - Complete Discography |
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* Smile by [[AFI (band)|AFI]] |
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* [[People=Shit]] by [[Slipknot (band)|Slipknot]] |
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* Ain't Like You by By [[Blood For Blood]] |
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* Pure Hatred by [[Chimaira]] |
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* Absolute Misanthropy by [[Kreator]] ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hordes_of_Chaos_(album) Hordes of Chaos] Album) |
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* [[Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia]] by [[Dimmu Borgir]] |
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* [[Human = Garbage]] - [[Dystopia]] |
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* Saferwaters by [[Chevelle]] |
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* I Don't Care About You by [[Fear (band)]] |
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*[[In Flames]] - [[/Graveland (song)|Graveland]] and [[Artifacts of the Black Rain]] |
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* [[Strung Out]] - "The Misanthropic Principle" |
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* [[Darkest Hour (band)|Darkest Hour]] - ''[[The Misanthrope]]'' |
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*[[The Acacia Strain]] - Complete Discography |
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* practically every song by [[G.G. Allin]] |
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*People by [[Barbra Streisand]] |
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*[[Together We'll Ring In the New Year]] - [[Motion City Soundtrack]] |
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* [[Ænema]] by [[Tool (band)]] |
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* [[Anthropology]] by [[Random Hand]] |
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* Misantrop by [[Zyklon Boom]] |
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* People by [[Boyd Rice and Friends]] |
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* I Don't Like You by [[Skrewdriver]] |
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* "[[Do the Evolution]]" by [[Pearl Jam]] |
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* [[Celeste (band)|Celeste]] - Complete Discography |
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* Misanthropic Coil - [[Sonic Syndicate]] |
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* Kringle - [[Jack Off Jill]] (Contains the line, "I try to hate equally. They say that's misanthropy") |
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* [[The Berzerker]] - February |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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{{Wiktionary}} |
{{Wiktionary}} |
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{{Wikiquote}} |
{{Wikiquote}} |
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{{col-begin}}{{col-2}} |
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*[[Biocentrism]] |
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*[[Cynicism]], [[Pessimism|Philosophical pessimism]] |
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*[[Hate]], [[Malevolence]] |
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*[[Hermit]], [[Recluse]] |
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*[[Human condition]], [[Human nature]] |
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*[[Humanism]], [[Humanitarianism]] |
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*[[Iconoclasm]] |
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*[[Misandry]], [[Misogyny]] |
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{{col-2}} |
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*[[Misotheism]] |
*[[Misotheism]] |
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*[[Nihilism]] |
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*[[Pessimism|Philosophical pessimism]] |
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*[[Pentti Linkola]] |
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*[[Philanthropy]] |
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*[[Posthumanism]] |
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*[[Racism]], [[Sexism]], [[Sexualism]] |
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*[[Speciesism]] |
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*[[Hikikomori]] |
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*[[Voluntary Human Extinction Movement]] |
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*[[Immanuel Kant]] |
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{{col-end}} |
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==Notes== |
==Notes== |
Revision as of 17:06, 21 October 2009
Misanthropy is a general dislike, distrust, contempt, or hatred of the human species or a disposition to dislike and/or distrust other people's silent consensus about reality. The word comes from the Greek words μίσος (misos, "hatred") and άνθρωπος ( anthrōpos, "man, human being"). A misanthrope is a person who dislikes or distrusts humanity as a general rule.
Forms
While misanthropes express a general dislike for humanity on the whole, they typically have normal relationships with individual members of society. Misanthropy may be motivated by feelings of isolation or social alienation, or simply contempt for the perceived prevailing characteristics of humanity.
Misanthropy is commonly misinterpreted and distorted as a widespread and individualized hatred of humans. Because of this, a great number of false negative tie-ins are often associated with the term. An extreme misanthrope may indeed hate the human species generally, but it does not necessarily entail psychopathy. Misanthropes can hold normal and intimate relationships with people, but they will often be very few and far between. They will typically be very selective with whom they choose to associate. This is also where their aversion is most prevalent, because their perspective may show an overriding contempt towards common human faults and weaknesses in others and, in some cases, themselves.
It is because of that aversion that most misanthropes will often be categorized as loners, living in seclusion. They may not find solace or effective functioning in society as a result of their perspective. However, effectively functioning in society may have little or no value to the misanthrope, and the prospect of fitting into their culture may seem unnecessary or undesirable.
Misanthropy can often be characterized as disillusionment with what is perceived to be human nature. The misanthrope, having grown to expect humanity to assume a romantic and simplistic ideal, is consistently confronted with conflicting evidence. On the other hand, the object of a misanthrope's dislike may be a pervasive culture which is perceived as denying human nature. In both cases, the misanthrope may (or may not) view themselves as somehow distinct from a majority of the human species. Many misanthropes often express a highly sarcastic sense of humour, and often have a preference for various forms of social or political satire.
Overt expressions of misanthropy are common in satire and comedy, although intense misanthropy is generally rare. Subtler expressions are far more common, especially for those pointing out the shortcomings of humanity.
Some philosophers, such as Arthur Schopenhauer, view humanity as a futile, self-destructive species.
Philosophy
In Plato's Phaedo, Socrates states, "Misology and misanthropy arise from similar causes."[1] He equates misanthropy with misology, the hatred of speech, drawing an important distinction between philosophical pessimism and misanthropy. Immanuel Kant said, "Of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing can ever be made," and yet this was not an expression of the uselessness of humanity itself. Similarly, Samuel Beckett once remarked, "Hell must be like... reminiscing about the good old days when we wished we were dead." This statement may be seen as rather bleak and hopeless, but not as anti-human or expressive of any hatred of humankind.[citation needed]
Seneca the Younger, in his treatise On Anger, suggests that one's misanthropy can be mitigated or cured by laughing at the foibles of humanity rather than resenting them. Seneca's Stoic philosophy regarded all forms of anger as corruptions of reason and therefore detrimental to good judgement; he thus argues that hatred and misanthropy must be eliminated for the individual to attain sanity.
In early Islamic philosophy, certain thinkers such as Ibn al-Rawandi and Muhammad ibn Zakariya ar-Razi often expressed misanthropic views.[2] In the Judeo-Islamic philosophies (800 - 1400), the Jewish philosopher, Saadia Gaon, uses the Platonic idea that the self-isolated man is dehumanized by friendlessness to argue against the misanthropy of anchorite asceticism and reclusiveness.[3]
The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, on the other hand, was almost certainly as famously misanthropic as his reputation. He wrote, "Human existence must be a kind of error." Schopenhauer concluded, in fact, that ethical treatment of others was the best attitude, for we are all fellow sufferers and all part of the same will to live. He also discussed suicide with a sympathetic understanding which was rare in his own time, when it was largely a taboo subject. However, his metaphysics ultimately led him to conclude that suicide was no escape from the suffering of the world. He claimed that the world was one side representation—how we perceived it—and one side will—the underlying indivisible metaphysical matter that was the basis of existence. Because suicide does not allow one to escape from the will (from which all suffering proceeds), it is pointless to kill oneself. Schopenhauer instead suggests aesthetic enjoyment as the only escape from the suffering of the world. This would be along the lines of the cathartic release points of Mozart's Requiem, or the charmingly mysterious smile of the Mona Lisa. He also offers an escape from suffering through compassion; however, he believed that very few are capable of reaching this state, and those who do reach it have rejected their humanity (further demonstrating his misanthropy).
Søren Kierkegaard wrote "How absurd men are! They desire rights they do not have and do not use the ones they have. They have freedom of thought, they demand freedom of speech."
Use in media
Literature
Misanthropy has been ascribed to a number of writers of satire, such as William S. Gilbert ("I hate my fellow-man"), but such identifications must be closely scrutinized, because a critical or darkly humorous outlook toward humankind may be easily mistaken for genuine misanthropy.
Shakespeare's work Macbeth features a soliloquy wherefore Macbeth himself states that "Life's but a walking shadow...a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing..."
Also in one of J D Salinger's most famous works, Catcher in the Rye, the leading character Holden Caulfield expresses deep hatred and futility towards humanity.
Heathcliff, the main character of Emily Brontë's novel, "Wuthering Heights", is a classic example of misanthropy in all the main aspects.
In 1992, southern American essayist and National Review columnist Florence King, a self-described misanthrope, wrote a humorous book on the history of misanthropy called With Charity Toward None: A Fond Look at Misanthropy.
Perhaps the most famous example of a misanthrope in literature is the protagonist, Alceste, in Molière's 1666 play Le Misanthrope. Another example is Timon, the protagonist of Shakespeare's Timon of Athens.
The American satirical author Kurt Vonnegut often expressed misanthropic views in his books. In one of his most popular works, Slaughterhouse-Five, the protagonist Billy Pilgrim "becomes unstuck in time." He is taken hostage by the Tralfamadorians, a race able to see in 4D, who can travel through time and experience all the events in their lives, not necessarily in chronological order. Through the novel, they teach him a fatalistic philosophy, summed up in the book's signature phrase, "so it goes."
In another Vonnegut novel, Breakfast of Champions, the protagonist Kilgore Trout, a science fiction author, writes many books about man destroying the world and the pointlessness of human existence. The book has passages throughout showing the destruction of Earth due to man and man's pointless existence.
Some works by Franz Kafka, such as The Metamorphosis and A Hunger Artist, also display misanthropic views.
In Huis Clos, Jean-Paul Sartre wrote, "So that is what hell is. I would never have believed it. You remember: the fire and brimstone, the torture. Ah! the farce. There is no need for torture: hell is other people."
Eighteenth century Irish satirist Jonathan Swift, in a letter to the poet Alexander Pope concerning Gulliver's Travels, a novel penned by the former, wrote: "[but] principally I hate and detest that animal called man" [citation needed]. Lemuel Gulliver, considered by several critics to be Swift's mouthpiece and literary alter ego[citation needed] , expresses an overwhelming disgust with respect to human beings, particularly in "A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms".
The eponymous protagonist of Comte de Lautreamont's Les Chants de Maldoror is misanthropic to the point of absurdity, lending to the interpretation that the book is a parody of Romanticism. In one episode, Maldoror goes so far as to fire a musket at sailors swimming toward shore from a sinking ship and then makes love to a female shark that was feeding on them.[4]
The English writer Jane Austen, famed for her use of irony, parody and satire, frequently showed a cynical attitude towards society and many of the people within it. Elizabeth Bennet, in Pride and Prejudice, says to her sister Jane: "You wish to think all the world respectable, and are hurt if I speak ill of any body ... There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of either merit or sense." (Pride and Prejudice, Volume 2, Chapter 1.)
Tyler Durden from Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club is very well known for his hatred of humanity and society.[citation needed]
Finally, the most well-known literary misanthrope is Ebenezer Scrooge, the main character in Charles Dickens's 1843 novel A Christmas Carol. The word "Scrooge" is now nearly synonymous with "miser" and "misanthrope".[citation needed]
Films
The characters Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver, Frank Slade from Scent of a Woman, Daniel Plainview from There Will Be Blood, Bertram Pincus from Ghost Town, Walt Kowalski from Gran Torino, Melvin Udall from As Good as it Gets, and Randal Graves from Clerks are some examples of misanthropes in film.
In the 1984 hit "Ghostbusters", turn-of-the-century New Yorker Evo Shandor viewed the Human race as a whole, "too sick to survive," after the conclusion of World War I. Therefore, he held rituals for a cult in anticipation of the apocalypse.
Nocturno Culto of Darkthrone released a documentary film, The Misanthrope, in which he deals with black metal and life in Norway.
In the Australian film The Proposition, Arthur Burns assures Samuel that they are not misanthropist, and instead a family.
Grosse Pointe Blank (1997): Mr. Newberry: I visualized you in a haze as one of those slackster, flannel-wearing, coffee-house misanthropes I've been seeing in Newsweek.
In the Stephen King adaptation Cujo a character is diagnosed as an alcoholic misanthrope.
In The Dark Knight, one of The Joker's underlying motives is misanthropy, exemplified by quotes such as, "I'll show you, when the chips are down, these civilized people will eat each other."
In the film (and graphic novel) Watchmen, Rorschach's personality has the classical signs of misanthropy, including his popular quote "all the whores and politicians will look up and shout, 'Save us!' And I'll whisper, 'no'," due to his view on good and evil being so black-and-white.
The short Internet trajicomedy, "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog", shows misanthropy in its protagonist, Dr. Horrible, who sees humankind as ignorant to its own problems, and seeks to join the "Evil League of Evil" in order to enact social change upon conquering the world through use of his inventions. The song, "My Eyes" (or "On the Rise") exemplifies his attitude in sharp contrast to Penny's (his love interest) idealism. Also, the song "Slipping" further explores his paradigm.
Television
- The archetype of the misanthropic doctor has become something of a stock character in television.
- Dr. Gregory House, the title character and protagonist of the Fox show House, is referred to as a misanthrope frequently within the show and displays stereotypical misanthropic tendencies, such as his stock quote - "Everybody lies", a solitary lifestyle, a deliberate lack of empathy with his patients, and his exclusion of all but a single friend.
- Dr. Percival 'Perry' Cox and Dr. Robert 'Bob' Kelso are two of the main cast from the NBC TV comedy series Scrubs. They have blatant misanthropic tendencies; especially those displayed by Dr Cox in the first two seasons. It is, however, a recurring theme; in the fourth season, both Dr Kelso and Dr Cox present the theory of everyone being 'bastard-covered bastards with a bastard filling' to Dr Molly Clock.
- Dr. Martin Ellingham from the British comedy-drama Doc Martin dislikes, and has little to no tolerance for, people who display social or emotional behaviour, or who have overtly moral or religious viewpoints, but does have affection for a few individuals. Ellingham has been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome.
- Dr Becker from the US comedy series Becker has a dislike and mistrust for most of the people living in his home city of New York. He sees them as alternatively stupid, lazy, untrustworthy and dishonest or a mixture of the aforementioned.
- Col. Saul Tigh from Battlestar Galactica. Also, on the same series, Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol gradually becomes misanthropic due to his many negative experiences through the series, with both Humans and Cylons.
- Mandy from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, exhibits misanthropist traits throughout the show's run.
- Zim, Gaz and Ms Bitters are three characters from the short lived nicktoon Invader Zim that show misanthropic behavior in every episode they appear in.
- Squidward from SpongeBob SquarePants, who shows he is a misanthrope by not having any friends, performing solitary activities, showing dislike and distrust for the people around him, and displaying rude behaviour towards others.
- Bernard Black from Black Books, shows blatant and outright misanthropy towards the costumers that buy books from his very unsociable bookshop and anyone who happens to be around him. The result of this is his house is a mess, he has only two friends (who he's horrid to as well), and he gets angry at the smallest things.
- Daria Morgendorffer, high school character in the eponymous animated MTV series Daria (1997-2002). Extremely intelligent but plain and unfashionable, Daria is highly contemptuous of 'normal' people, including her fellow students, teachers and family. She has only one real friend: arty Jane Lane, less misanthropic but still cynical. Daria's favorite TV show is Sick Sad World, and she has a Franz Kafka poster on her bedroom wall where 'normal' teenage girls might have contemporary movie or music celebrities.In the series finale she wins the Dian Fossey Award "for dazzling academic achievements in face of near total misanthropy" during her high school graduation.
- Vince Clark of the BBC series 15 Storeys High.
- Mr. Burns of The Simpsons displays misanthropy due to his utter disregard for the physical and emotional status of the people around him.
- Uchiha Sasuke of Naruto exhibits a misanthropic view of life following the brutal murder of his entire ninja clan and immediate family by his older brother. Sasuke's mysanthropy is a foil of the title character Naruto's high-energy optimism.
- In the season two opening episode of Murder, She Wrote, Jessica Fletcher poses as a misanthrope widow to investigate the murder of an old friend in a luxurious Jamaican hotel.
Science fiction
Another variation, called Anti-Humanism, is sentient non-human hatred of humans. Anti-Humanism can range from mild Xenophobia to ideas of committing acts of genocide against the human species. At times, it is a response/counter to the ideas of Humanocentrism. It is similar to race supremacy via the oppressed minority fighting and discriminating against the supremacist majority, instead of standing for equality.
Video games
In the Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask games of the Legend of Zelda series, a character named Grog is often seen sitting under a tree, looking quite depressed. When spoken to in the early part of the game, he answers; "The world is disgusting, my own mother and father are disgusting, you must be disgusting, too". In the later part of the game, he plays a part in a sidequest. The player must bring a cucco (chicken) to him, receive a mushroom in return, bring it to a witch in Kakariko village who will make a medicine with it. When the player returns to see Grog, he is told that he has become a stalfos, one of the game's enemies. In Majora's Mask, he is still sitting under a tree in Romani Ranch. His only regrets, knowing that the moon will crash within three days, is that he will not live to see his cuccoo chicks grow into adults.[5][6]
In Nancy Drew:Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake, the birdwatcher Red Knot dislikes people because he came to see birds not people.
In Gears of War 2, one of the Collectibles has a character Baird making fun of the Locust's hate for them saying that their Misanthropy is underrated.
Music
- The band Toxic Narcotic
- Misanthrope - Ihsahn
- Misanthrope - Death - Symbolic
- "I hate people" by the Anti-Nowhere League
- Shai Hulud - Complete Discography
- Smile by AFI
- People=Shit by Slipknot
- Ain't Like You by By Blood For Blood
- Pure Hatred by Chimaira
- Absolute Misanthropy by Kreator (Hordes of Chaos Album)
- Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia by Dimmu Borgir
- Human = Garbage - Dystopia
- Saferwaters by Chevelle
- I Don't Care About You by Fear (band)
- In Flames - Graveland and Artifacts of the Black Rain
- Strung Out - "The Misanthropic Principle"
- Darkest Hour - The Misanthrope
- The Acacia Strain - Complete Discography
- practically every song by G.G. Allin
- People by Barbra Streisand
- Together We'll Ring In the New Year - Motion City Soundtrack
- Ænema by Tool (band)
- Anthropology by Random Hand
- Misantrop by Zyklon Boom
- People by Boyd Rice and Friends
- I Don't Like You by Skrewdriver
- "Do the Evolution" by Pearl Jam
- Celeste - Complete Discography
- Misanthropic Coil - Sonic Syndicate
- Kringle - Jack Off Jill (Contains the line, "I try to hate equally. They say that's misanthropy")
- The Berzerker - February
See also
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Notes
- ^ 1 "Plato, Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo". The Perseus Digital Library.
{{cite web}}
: Check|url=
value (help) - ^ Stroumsa, Sarah (1999), Freethinkers of Medieval Islam: Ibn Al-Rawāndī, Abū Bakr Al-Rāzī and Their Impact on Islamic Thought, Brill Publishers, p. 9, ISBN 9004113746
- ^ Goodman, Lenn Evan (1999), Jewish and Islamic Philosophy: Crosspollinations in the Classic Age, Edinburgh University Press, pp. 25–6, ISBN 0748612777
- ^ http://www.kisa.ca/maldoror/english.html
- ^ http://www.zeldawiki.org/Grog
- ^ http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Grog