Autobots are tetotalers  

 

Well, they chose the Decepticons because of the oil, right? To the Constructicons it's like they were treating them better. It's not that I'm calling the Autobots bad guys.

 

O your funny...Maybe you should read what he wrote.
morality is subjective.

 

Seems to me that the only definition of good and evil anyone can agree on, and that "fits" is:

"Good" = Stuff you think it's ok to do.
"Evil" = Stuff you don't think it's ok to do.

The only thing that changes is who sets down the rules for what's "ok". For some people, their god(s)/goddess(es)/superiors, for others logic, and for others it's just what they "feel".

The Autobots feel that that the Decepticons are nothing but power hungry criminals and thus seek to punish and destroy them at all costs. Even if that punishment can seem extreme to an outsider. (Take what happened to Wasp for example. Merely finding a Decepticon communicator in his trunk was enough to have him stripped of his very status as an Autobot and imprisoned for an untold number of years. An act which literally drove him insane.) The Decepticons (primarily Megatron) feel that they are La Resistance and the Autobots are nothing but ultra-anal Knight Templars and seek to (in Megatron's own words) "free themselves from Autobot tyranny".

Both sides however seem to be following "Utopia Justifies the Means" and thus BOTH come off (to an outside observer) as equally flawed.

There are two outcomes that would make sense (to me) given this portrayal. Either a CLEAR line must be drawn (via one side or the other kicking the dog) and the now objectively established "Good Guys" must defeat the objective "Evildoers", OR both sides must come to the realization that neither is perfectly good or perfectly evil and strike some sort of harmonious balance.

Personally, I don't agree with the Autobot ruling class's methods as presented so far, and I've yet to see any actions perpetrated by the Decepticons that is out and out "evil". If one goes by Megatron's POV (with the Decepticons as "freedom fighters"), then every Decepticon action we've seen so far IS justified. When you're an underground resistance then sometimes you must take seemingly drastic actions just to survive, let alone win.

 

But the way you said it implied you believed the Autobots were abusing them because they didn't have good enough oil.

The only problem is, we KNOW Megatron would never settle for equality.

 

Maybe M.Knight's gonna introduce us to the awesome des ex machina plot hole device, both 'cons and 'bots were wrong. And Sari has to make them realize their errors. Or some crap like that... >V>;

They were treated to better oil  

 

In b4 'power of friendship'

 

Exactly. Megatron will settle for nothing less than being in total control. He'll literally die before he accepts a fate other than being "Lord High Megatron".

From a storytelling aspect, Animated is at something of an impass when it comes to a clear cut resolution. Either the factions will have to fall into a storybook 'unfailingly good vs. irredeemable evil' dichotomy during the course of season 3 (with the "Gray Decepticons" like Blackarachnia doing a last minute heel face turn) or the series will end with one side victorious and we'll be left with uncomfortable questions regarding whether or not the "right side" won for the "right reasons".

If I had to choose, I'd actually pick the latter option.

 

Sentinel Prime is still a jerk.  

 

If you rewatch the episode, the Autobots were actually pretty snooty and judgmental. Constructicons would obviously be useful to have on a team(particularly with all the city repairing in that episode), but Optimus and the others failed to see this. Bulkhead was more welcoming, but the rest of the Autobots were all 'you shouldn't be hanging around with these guys'.

By contrast, at least from the constructicon's perspective, the Decepticons saw their potential. Even if they saw it simply as something to be exploited. Megatron promised them great things, whereas the Autobots had no time for them. The good oil just sweetened the deal.

 

Well there's a little of that, but if you watch the episode, they mostly express disapproval at the Constructicon's rowdy behaviour. They really do look down their noses at them.

 

Hey, nothing can match the jack-assery of the Autobots from G1 (concerning Skyfire).

I mean, in Skyfire's debut episode he falls into the ice at the end and all the Autobots are all sad, etc. etc. THEN... when they decide they NEED him for a mission they go and rescue him from under the ice. Not because they missed him, not because it was the right thing to do, but because they needed him for a mission.

 

 

Blurr didn't do anything. xD

Even if you take into account he was probably under Master Disaster's control most of the time, he left and didn't come back until the season finale! xD

 

Jerkbots hardly.

Megatron sees himself as a Freedom fighter. The way he goes about it is more like terrorism but I digress.

 

The show is a kids show. They have to portray the good guys and bad guys in a way that kids will understand. They can't make the Decepticons outright evil killing machines, and the Autobots can't be supremely self sacrificing, willing to die rough and tough soldiers. They have to tone it down a bit or risk traumatizing the parents that watch these shows over their kids' shoulders. "My kids can't watch this! They will be scarred for life!"

Decepticons are the bullies.

Autobots are the buddies.

 

Oddly enough, "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" is an actual saying.  

 

It doesn't undermine my argument at all, I think. After all, didn't the Decepticons start the Great War? They wanted to take Cybertron in their lust for power and they failed and got kicked off. So far, there has been no indications that the Decepticons want anything else than take Cybertron from the Autobots and rule it as they see fit: by oppression and tyranny.

How can a Decepticon see an Autobot civilian as a criminal, by the way? I'm pretty sure that most Autobots that are not in Academy or Elite Guard, thus civilians, are of the same worker-droid types.

In a real-life situation, yes, contrast between good and evil would be much less clear, and would be a matter of perspective, but this is a kid's show/toyline that has a clear outline: Autobots=Good, Decepticons=Evil. As much as I applaud the writers of Animated to grey the line between good and evil, there can't be any question as to which side is which.

To be honest, I find it a bit sad some people want to go to lengths to 'prove' the Decepticons are the good guys when they are not. But don't listen to me, I'm just one big Autobot propaganda bot.