Measures of Likability

Strangely enough, I find it easy to philosophize while watching "Oliver!". The sweet angelic face of Mark Lester puts me into a deep thought, only to be awakened by "I'd Give Anything".

In Oliver! (I'll take any opportunity to put an exclamation point in the middle of a sentence I can get! HA!), the lead character's foil is a boy named The Artful Dodger. All of Oliver's natural goodness is the opposite of the cunning of the Dodger. Their childhoods were not altogether different; in fact, it could be argued that Oliver's was the more difficult (work house; funeral worker; "please, sir, may I have some more"; etc.). Dodger's skill at pickpocketing is a learned habit to a fault, but also is aided by a natural ability to be sneaky.

I wonder a lot how someone could be considered good or wanted based primarily upon how they look. How much can we control our looks? Yes, we can get cosmetic surgery or we can wear makeup (mostly only girls and David Bowie can pull that off as attractive); but measures such as these can only go so far. Why am I supposed to accept my place in society when it is grounded in the arbitrary nature of my looks?

Priding myself in the ability to truly love someone only when I know they're a good person, I found my world a little more crushed when I thought of the nature of goodness more. Oliver and Dodger both are orphans, yet they came out completely different. If one were to compare nature and nurture in their case, then it is in Oliver's nature to be good and in Dodger's nature to be furtive. If our goodness is based upon nature; why, then, is it okay for me to value others based on another arbitrary rating?

The thing about values is they can be learned, as though a habit, to the point where they become a part of you. If Dodger truly and really wanted to walk the straight and narrow, he could master a more respectable profession. If I wanted to be a nicer person, I could forget that overwhelming urge I have to perform acts of violence upon cats (stupid cats). How can we know what is good by nature and what is good by nurture? Am I right in liking people all the more when they are "good" or "kind" rather than "hot" or "a fox"?