Revenge

           Have you ever been so angry with something that someone has done to you that you considered seeking revenge on them?  Maybe somebody has betrayed you or lied to you.  Whatever the case may be, you might have wanted to exact revenge on them.  Maybe this hasn't occurred to you but you've probably came across revenge in a piece of literature or a movie.  After a few bloody encounters between characters,  revenge becomes a key topic in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet.  Secondly, two of my favorite movies, Taken and Taken 2, portray revenge between two families. 
          When Taken came out in 2008 and I saw it for the first time it immediately became my favorite movie.  The trailer to the movie is attached here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCbDUREBwUg . The action, Liam Neeson's acting and the theme of the movie all came together to make one phenomenal film. Here is my personal favorite scene in the movie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgmO32IdwuE.  The movie began with Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills, a former CIA member who is looking to rebuild his relationship with his daughter, Kimmy.  As a divorced father, he struggled to connect with his fast aging only child.  Against his intuition, Kimmy travels to Europe with her friend, Amanda, and while on the phone with her father, she and her friend are abducted by intruders.  Brian wastes no time gathering evidence and discovers the girls have been kidnapped by Albanians who specialize in the trafficking young touring females.  Bryan arrives in Paris in the search for his daughter and Amanda.  A one man army, taking down men one by one, Bryan did anything to get his daughter back.  After killing anyone and everyone in his way Bryan and Kim were reunited once again.  This leads us into the second Taken, when Kim, Bryan and Lenore, Bryan's Ex-wife, travel to Istanbul for a family vacation.  As soon as they arrive, the family members of those who were killed by Bryan are on the search for him.  They try to avenge him with the consequences they think he deserves by attempting to kill him and his family.  Bryan fights to the death with many men reminding them that what their sons did to all of those girls deserves the punishment of death.  After several extraordinary life or death battles between Bryan and the Albanians he gets his family back and they return to the U.S. safe and sound. 
            I'm sure you have heard of the tragedy, Hamlet by William Shakespeare or maybe you've gotten the opportunity to read it.  Hamlet begins with a King who is murdered by his brother and his brother proceeds to take the throne of sovereignty along with marrying the dead king's wife, Gertrude.  I know what you're thinking, "he married his brother's wife?" whatta creep!  When Hamlet, the dead kings son, gets wind that his uncle, Claudious, killed his father he becomes furious.  Throughout the majority of the story Hamlet plans his revenge against his uncle while losing his mind along the way.  He unknowingly kills Polonioius, Claudious'  chief counsellor which fills Polonious' children Ophelia and Laertes with wrath.  Claudious becomes aware that Hamlet knows he killed his father so he also tries to come up with a plan to get rid of Hamlet.  The whole fiasco brilliantly illustrates revenge and its colossal domino effect. 
            Okay, so maybe your uncle didn't steal your father's throne or you weren't kidnapped in Paris.  But whatever the reason may be, most of us have been wronged in some way and have been confronted with the idea of revenge.  Revenge is not only found in our lives but in literature and media, as shown in the examples I have given.  In my opinion revenge makes for a good plot line in stories but probably isn't the mantra to live by.