Okay, Michael was manipulated into killing two innocent people in order to save his son's life.

Sawyer was twice manipulated into murder. One was an innocent man. The other was the guy who had ruined his life. But he did it purely out of vengance.

Yet, I've noticed that people seem to be supporting Sawyer's actions alot more than Michael's. It seems that Lost viewers seem a lot more inclined to hate Michael's actions over Sawyer's. Why is that?

because micheal is evil and killed those people needlessly sawyers a bit evil too but we like him

Michael murdered two of his fellow Losties....then purposely lead 4 more into an Other's trap. All for very selfish, but somewhat understandable reasons....to get Walt back and get the heck off the island. In my eyes....that was unforgiveable. He cooperated with the enemy...killed some of his own team...and conspired with the Others to get his people captured. Walt or no Walt...there were other ways he could have dealt with his situation. He KNEW what he was doing was wrong.

Sawyer, on the other hand, did not. When he killed Duckett in Austrailia, he THOUGHT he was killing the real Sawyer...the man who scammed his family and caused the trumatic murder/suicide of his parents...it was Hibbs who wanted Duckett dead...not "James". He didn't know he was killing an "innocent" man. As for Cooper, the actual REAL Sawyer...as Locke so eloquently put it..."got what he deserved". And while Sawyer has conned his fellow Losties, stolen from them and even had Sun kidnapped...he's never point blank murdered one of them.

That fact alone puts him leaps and bounds in front of Michael from a "morality" standpoint.

The strange thing is....When Michael was approached by Miss Klugh about going back to get the "Listies"....and freeing Ben...Michael asked..."Why don't YOU go do it"? and Miss Klugh responded "We can't DO that".

And tonight, Locke seemed to ask the same thing when Ben was trying to get him to kill Cooper...almost like they are testing the Losties....making THEM perform this "gesture....of free will....a commitment...". It's possible Ben knew that Locke would never kill his father....but he knew "James" would.....thus enabling Sawyer to make the ultimate "gesture".

This would imply that the Others are trying to somehow recruit ALL the Losties....making them perform these "gestures" without direct knowlege of the "commitment" they are making. This "free will" thing has been popping up quite a bit lately.

But IMO...Michael's "gesture" was far worse than anything Sawyer has done...so I am less disappointed in Sawyer's actions, comparatively speaking.

How is killing two men out of a pure thirst for revenge better then killing two people in order to save a ten-year-old child from some sick sociopaths?

I understand Sawyer's need for revenge, but it is still just as bad, if not worse, as what Michael did.

Because Sawyer is a more popular character. He has the "bad boy rogue" image going for him. And there is the possibility of a potential romance with Kate for him. Michael's character does not have such advantages. He was presented from the get go that he was a flawed parent. Fans completely ignored the fact that he was new at parenthood and pointed out his flawed handling of Walt with relish.

I find it interesting that fans love to call Michael a "traitor" for betraying Jack, Sawyer, Hurley and Kate to the Others. Yet, many seemed to have forgotten that after Michael had revealed Walt's fate to the Losties, no one bothered to make the effort to get Walt back. Yet, Jack, Locke and Sawyer tried to get Michael back, when he went off into the jungle after Walt.

I think it's mostly because of the people they killed. Micheal killed Ana, who while many fans dis-liked her, she was not that bad and Libby, probably the nicest person on that island. These were characters we had invested time in and in one way or another cared about. Sawyer killed cooper, no one cared about him and he was evil. It has to do with the effect it has on the viewers. If people weren't sad about Ana, they were about Libby and therefore bitter towards Michael. That's my perceptive anyway. You're right, they're both (and Locke) pretty guilty. And at least Michael was doing it to save his 10-year-old son. Sawyer was just doing it for revenge. There's also the fact that the alpha males like Sawyer, and the fan favorites could go on a murderous rampage and kill everyone in the camp, but people would shrug it off and say, 'he's just misunderstood', but the ones who aren't sex icons and fan favs get crucified. :rolleyes:

It was shocking and upsetting to see Ana-Lucia and Libby gunned down in cold blood, but exciting and satisfying to see Locke's deadbeat dad getting choked to death.
Michael had tears in his eyes when he shot Ana-Lucia and Libby but Sawyer's look, whilst garroting Cooper, was one of merciless, irrational rage. I don't think Sawyer got much satisfaction out of the killing because it happened so fast.

Personally I have more sympathy for Michael...

Unlike Sawyer, Mike was a good honest man before the plane crash. The Others transformed that good man into a murdering lunatic. Michael had his son kidnapped at gunpoint. Then his raft was blown up and he was left to drown. He endured emotional torment and agony for several weeks until the Others kidnapped him too and then dangled his child in front of him while demanding that he betray his old friends. It was cold calculated evil what the Others did to Michael. The Michael that shot Ana and Libby and then shot himself in the arm was not a sane man. He was crazed wreck. That's what happens to a person when their child is abducted.

I don't have much sympathy for Sawyers revenge kick. And Sawyer killed a redshirt Other as well as Cooper and Duckett. When Sawyer was loading up to go on the Walt rescue mission he was acting like it was hunting season ("At least now I get to kill somebody...") Sawyer is rather remorseless and thick-skinned about his crimes. He doesn't do amends, hes amoral. Michael was out of his mind when he killed, but Sawyer knew what he was doing.