In every folk tale, in every book, there is a hero or a heroine. and there is a witch or a troll or a crook or an evil stepmother or just a general villain. and I remember reading when I was young and I always felt sorry for the bad ones and the tricksters. I never identified with the little lost kids, but maybe that's 'cause I didn't have brothers or sisters. and so when the witch died I cried 'cause I didn't want them to hurt her - likewise when the troll got tricked and when the dragon got killed. and I hated the part when the wolf got ax-murdered, and the moral of the story always left me unfulfilled. and I was not a sociopath I was a six-year-old who could tell the difference between good and bad - a little boy with built in ethics who didn't need to be told that it was wrong to be mean to your mom or to lie to your dad. but I knew if I had to choose sides I'd probably pick the empire; I hated ewoks and I loved the death star. and I never felt sorry for the last unicorn - I always thought that song needed a lot more guitar. and I did not grow up to be a serial killer,
though there are a few people on my list, and whenever I see a child reading a book about a boy-wizard I find myself grinding my teeth and clenching my fists and I want to say 'hey kid here's a bedtime story for you: the wicked witch wins and the orphans lose. they did everything right and now they're orphan fondue. the moral of the story is you don't always get to choose