Seriously…SPOILERS!
At the tender age of 24, I’m pretty sure I’ve still got a bit of the asshole that all kids have in their late teens/early twenties still left in me. That’s just a consequence of what it means to be young, I guess. We think we know better than the world and we’re tremendously selfish about what we want for ourselves, but it’s really our (Scott Pilgrim and myself) actions toward women that define us as assholes.
I’ve heard many readers complain that they can’t get through Scott Pilgrim because they find his relationship with Knives Chau to be so appalling. Here’s a quick summary: Scott meets and begins dating 17-year-old Knives Chau (he is 23), a high school student and the first girl he’s dated since breaking up with his capital ‘E’ ex one year ago. Their relationship is pretty mild, considering that Scott is Knives’ first boyfriend and Scott is not actively trying to be a dirtbag, but it’s still a little on the creepy side when you consider the age difference.
Not long after they begin dating, Scott meets “the girl of his dreams”, Ramona Flowers, who has literally been traveling through his dreams as a shortcut through Toronto. He quickly becomes infatuated with her and begins pursuing a relationship with her without breaking up with Knives first. In fact, he goes on a date with Ramona, makes out with her, sleeps with her (no sex, but still) and begins to date her all before he actually break up with Knives.
For a lot of people this is unforgivable. For me this just brings back uncomfortable memories that I’d rather forget.
Unlike Scott Pilgrim, I was a lot younger when I was that stupid. When I was 16 I was dating this girl from high school. About two months into the (short) relationship, I cheated on her with another girl. It was a one night thing, but it was still a thing. I didn’t break up with my girlfriend for another two months and I never told her. Ever.
Scott and I also have a few other particularly bad decisions in our histories like poor handling of girlfriends we moved away from or womanizing. We have been bad guys.
The climactic moment for Scott Pilgrim that allows him to finally defeat Gideon comes when he realizes these things about himself. The Power of Understanding allows him to self-reflect and grow and become something I fear I’ve yet to become: a good guy.
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