Choice

So, you are sitting there watching a movie, playing a game, or reading a book. There is a villain that is trying to rule the world, make money, or just be evil and the good guys of the story are doing their best to stop this nefarious plot. Of course, the villain isn't working alone and has several mooks working for him. This is where today's lesson is: how is the mook reacting to the treatment the villain is sharing?

The villain's pictures are copyrighted.
Enjoy this one instead.

Often, in order to characterize a villain as a true scumbag, writers will have it treat the underlings (also called mooks) with utter contempt. Sometimes I've wondered, "why does [insert mook here] keep following [insert villain here]?" it would be the logical choice to quit the job, maybe even go to work for the good guys. After all, the hero treats his friends kindly, and the cruel boss won't be bothering you anymore. Sometimes this does happen, and it's called a heel face turn (or mook face turn with a bit of help face turn). These are the smart mooks that we should try to be like. (Confused by the terms? Follow the links or visit TVTropes.org to learn more.)
A scripture I've shared before is in 2 Nephi 2:27, and reminds us that we have the same choice presented to the mooks. How often do we make choices that puts us in Satan's camp instead of God's, when one leader will treat us so much better than the other? Just look at the evidence of people being happy, comfortable with who they are, filled with hope and joy as they follow what is found in the scriptures. I know that the presence of Jesus Christ in my life has provided me with more instances of joy than all my game playing, meme consumption, or trope following. I know that you can have the same joy, all starting with investigating The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If you want to try it out, mormon.org is the best place to start.