Assigning good or evil to a person seems irrational to me. A person might be a danger to be dealt with but that doesn’t mean they’re “bad”. I understand dualistic thinking as a normal survival tool, but in our contemplative moments such thinking falls short IMO.

This reminds me of the starkly realistic Russian film Elena, in which a woman poisons her husband. None of the characters could be called “evil”—all are understandable as simply flawed humans.

Yes, in our American Hollywood culture we are presented with the good person, generally thought of as a victim, and the evil bad guy, one upon whom we can vent hatred and anger. I wish we could get away from the Hollywood model because it fosters all kinds of unhappiness and misery, even national discord.