Stupid courage

I recently picked up a copy of The Princess Bride on DVD, and I was watching it with William Goldman's commentary earlier. I've read both of his books on screenwriting in Hollywood, and in the second one he wrote about the making of the film. He repeats some of his observations, making me wonder if doing the commentary inspired the book or the other way around. Anyway, one thing he said on the commentary stuck out for me, when Inigo Montoya finally gets his revenge on Count Rugen at the end, for killing his father. Referring to the twenty years Inigo has spent learning to be a swordsman and tracking the Count down, Goldman calls it a "stupid quest" and says "Nothing moves me as much on Earth as stupid courage."

For a moment, I considered the alternatives open to Inigo. He could have simply grieved for his father, learned a trade, started a family, and told his kids the story of the evil man who killed their grandfather. Or he could have grown bitter, turned evil himself, and continued the cycle of the strong preying on the weak (even in the story, he starts out as a criminal and drunkard).

The difference, I think, is that people want to write stories in which characters like Inigo are the heroes, and people like to hear those kinds of stories. Their courage may be stupid, but we recognize it as human, and even if we never have to display it ourselves, we hope it's there inside us if we ever need it.