Celebrating 24 Years of Se7en: An Absolute Masterpiece! – Editorial

Se7en: The Absolute Insanity of a Strong Conviction

Premise: ‘I think therefore I am’ was a famous line from an infamous philosopher. A human being can be defined as nothing more than the embodiment of the thoughts that occur in between its ears. The experiences we witnessed, the convictions we believe in, combined with our dormant animal instincts stir our actions into a mix. Most of us try to hide or ignore these facts and starts a chase that leads to a lifetime of lies.

But serial killers aren’t most of us. Many of us have tried to understand them, most of them to no avail. The best we can explain what a serial killer is this – Human with animal instincts that cause any violence in a civilized society takes over the body and mind. Keep in mind that we don’t call any human that kills strangers a ‘serial killer.’ Because some still do that in the name of their country and we applaud them by garlanding gold plated coins or pinning medals on their chests.

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No, a serial killer is a title that suits a moral megalomaniac who seems to be confident about figuring out the world in his/her view. And won’t blink to end a life because of his/her strong convictions. A good crime movie can always be judged by the complexity of the killer’s character in it. Se7en comes under that list of movies that have killers so complex that we can’t wrap our heads around their concrete beliefs. Similar movies are Silence of the Lambs, American Psycho and such.

Movie: So, the story of Se7en goes like this. A young/talented detective was put under a wise/experienced “to be retired in a week” detective to learn the ropes of a Sin City. A serial killer surfaces that kills because he can. And as his victims are random strangers, the law struggles to keep up with him. The young detective was so determined to catch the killer who leaves clues that leads to ‘The Seven Deadly Sins’.

After five gnarly murders, he surrenders to the police. It doesn’t make sense to the veteran detective that he’d give up. But, in the grand finale, the killer plans continue to be horrifying that his partner (young detective) becomes a murderer by the end by emptying his pistol into the killer’s body.

“Nature vs Nurture” is a debate which dates back as far as we can talk. It simply means people are what they are because of the nature of their birth (animal ancestry) or because of the way they grew up (society). In this movie, the nature of the killer is unknown, and the nurture part is clear as air. He’s just a man in this society with a little more complex beliefs than an average citizen. He gets ticked by the fat people because of their appearance but, laughs in the face of trouble. That’s just a start.

The convictions of the killer are so strong that morally no one can argue or reason with him. He became obsessed that The Seven Deadly Sins are the worst and we allow or commit them every day around us. To teach humanity a lesson and pass-on his so-called legacy, he plans these murders as far back as one year. We couldn’t help but admire that kind of commitment and planning.

If similar commitment and planning were to be acquired by the world leaders, we wouldn’t be inheriting our children this ball of trouble now we call a planet. Can you imagine what we can do with 7+ billion individuals strong with a common conviction as strong as the killer? We can conquer the long awaiting alienable worlds spinning around our sun-like stars.

Convictions between us may vary or be alike, but, the strength of your conviction determines your devotion and the distance you are willing to go for it. The box scene in the movie shows that the killer simply isn’t afraid nor care for our reactions and emotions no matter how painful they are. The indifference of the detective’s pain and wrath proves his point right (for him of course).

Turns out the two missing sins from the killer’s ‘masterpiece’ is wrath and envy. The envy of the killer to lead a peaceful life makes him kill the detective’s wife. And the detective’s wrath ends the killer’s life making his masterpiece (as he likes to call it) complete by fulfilling The Seven Deadly Sins.

Conclusion: Back when I was a kid, there used to be a black bold line at the end of (almost) every story. It read “Katha Kanchiki Manam Intiki” which means the “Story is done, we go back home to lead the usual way of life.” I may never get the chance to thank the editors who put those valuable words at the end of every story because that can mean all the difference between having a life and living a lie. People now are more connected than ever but are divided by their religious and political convictions. I hope there was a way to tell them – it’s okay, it’s all part of a story, go back to your life.

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‘Every magnificent story you can find was told by a human, but, no amount of stories is equal to a human’s life no matter how strongly you believe them.’