a love letter to the morally grey man
🎵it was a murder, but not a crime🎵
Please note: I scheduled this to be posted mere hours before the person of interest was named and taken into custody. I thought about diving back in and rewriting but I believe this piece is emblematic of my feelings in the moment before the possibility “The Adjuster” had been apprehended.
As I press publish on this, I’m watching the press conference held by Eric Adams in New York City. I have questions. And I have a feeling this will not be over for a while.
This act has already started so much.
A comment went viral on BookTok after the election.
Those who voted for the felon lauded the commenter with laughter and agreement. Those of us who have media literacy and understand what “morally grey” means were quick to post our responses. I’m including my own response here:
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Yes, I’m pretty active on TikTok, for better or worse. Give me a follow to enjoy me for its swan song before the ban on January 19th.
For those of you unfamiliar with the term, morally grey, it “refers to a protagonist in a story who is not clearly good or evil, but rather operates in a space where their actions and choices can be considered both morally right and wrong depending on the situation, often making difficult decisions that might involve questionable methods to achieve a seemingly good goal; essentially, a hero with flaws and complexities that challenge traditional notions of heroism.”1
The Robin Hood of it all.
Anyway, I’ve been thinking about this comment quite a lot in light of the recent killing of United Healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson. I probably don’t need to tell you about the unprecedented yet totally precedented response on social media. A celebration. Ding-dong, the witch is dead.
Cue playing “No One Mourns the Wicked” on repeat.
The media moralization of his death is funny and out of touch as stories of individuals denied care by UHC’s barbaric claims system pour in from every angle. Stories of people losing their parents thanks to denied healthcare, doctors having to waste precious time on appeal after appeal contributing to excessive burnout, the thousands if not millions of dollars of medical debt people are going into just to stay live.
Not only have celebrations broken out across the country, bringing together the disparate parties of our government except the Libertarians in New Hampshire, clearly, but a morally grey man has emerged.
Just as readers who voted for a felon touted Trump as their morally grey hero on BookTok, the vigilante killer of Brian Thompson has received the same treatment online.
This is our morally grey vigilante hero, more comparable to Dark Romance heroes than Donald Trump will ever be. What he did was, from a black and white moral standpoint, bad. But remember our definition of morally grey.2
He’s being called The Adjuster. Which is badass.
Perhaps you think I’m being cruel to celebrate the getaway of our current day Robin Hood which seems more and more likely as we’ve bypassed the first forty-eight and the NYPD are having responses like this:
“This isn’t ‘Blue Bloods.’ We’re not going to solve this in 60 minutes,” Kenny told reporters Friday. “We’re painstakingly going through every bit of evidence that we can come across.”3
We live in an age where it’s easy to be blind not only to tyranny but who the tyrants are. They are not kings shouting, “Off with their head!” indiscriminately at those they deem not worthy. They are not feudal lords with proximity to the king, making us all serfs working their land. They do not wear purple and ermine robes and crowns encrusted with gems worth more than most of us will make in our lifetimes.
They look like us. They walk among us.
That’s by design.
They do not have to wield swords or amass executions because they have two words to damn us: “Claim denied.”
They have pit us against each other in an effort to keep us from class consciousness. They are quietly wealthy so as to blend in with us, laughing behind our backs when we spend our hard earned money on obvious symbols of wealth.
So, while I may seem cruel and unfeeling for rooting for The Adjuster, I think we all have good reason to do so. We’ve seen the evaporation of the aisle over this because here’s the fundamental truth for most Americans, regardless of political party:
We know they want us dead. No matter who we voted for.
From a romance perspective, don’t be surprised in the next six months if we see an uptick in vigilante justice, politically infused romances with morally grey heroes who do wrong to make right.
It’s coming.
Some brief housekeeping:
Starting now, all free posts on my Substack will be archived and accessible only to paid subscribers after four weeks. This change is designed to add more value to premium subscriptions.
There will be select posts I will keep available always, including sneak peeks of upcoming work and essays I feel are worthwhile to be accessible to all, particularly pieces about mental health or political resilience.
I also want to invite you to check out Grieve and Galvanize, a community I’m building for artists in the wake of the election. I am currently in the midst of a 31-day gratitude challenge in order to prepare myself for the dark times ahead. It’s not too late to join in the fun and reflection.
Brahma, A. (2023, April 25). Morally grey characters & Why readers love them with a focus on “The Crows.” https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/morally-grey-characters-why-readers-love-them-focus-crows-brahma/
“Morally grey characters are those who have complex motivations and are not purely good or evil. They often make difficult choices throughout the story, and their actions are not always clear-cut in terms of morality. These characters are often driven by a desire to achieve their goals, even if it means engaging in morally questionable behavior. They may have a tragic backstory that has shaped their worldview, or they may simply be motivated by a sense of justice or revenge.”
Wang, J. (2024, December 8). WGN-TV. WGN-TV. https://wgntv.com/news/ap-search-for-unitedhealthcare-ceos-killer-yields-evidence-but-few-answers/