Are you the hero or the villain?

My sister and I popped a big bowl of popcorn and watched one of my favorite action movies, Salt.

SPOILER ALERT AHEAD

The main character, Evelyn Salt, has been through an unthinkable amount of pain in her life. Instead of turning her into a heartless, cynical human, she has allowed the pain to carve compassion and ethics into her character.

In the movie, a foreign country tries to brainwash her as a child. They put her through a vigorous program that will equip her to grow up and be a spy.

For most of the movie, no one knows whether Salt is the good girl or the bad girl… not even the viewer. She looks guilty, but you can’t help but cheer her on… you’ll find yourself wanting to see her win even though you feel conflicted.

Everything she’s doing makes her look bad, but in the end, you find out that she was doing the right thing all along. She’s the hero of the whole story, because she takes down a whole string of bad guys as well as the tyrant who runs the operation. When I watch this movie, I imagine myself being Salt. I want to be the hero of the story.