Gray morality in films

In a lot of discussions revolving films that feature Gray-and-Grey Morality, it's always pointed that the heroes could be seen as the villains. But given the nature of gray morality, couldn't one just as easily still see the heroes as heroes?

In Inglourious Basterds, I never felt much sympathy for the Wehrmacht officer executed by the Bear Jew. Yes, he refused to sell out his men, but I don't think that automatically makes him good and the Basterds bad. He's demonstrably anti-Semitic, arrogant, and condescending, and there's no proof that he hasn't committed war crimes of his own or at least condoned them against undesirables. If the situation were reversed, and Aldo Raine was the one being interrogated, he would likely cuss out his interrogator to similar effect; but I'm sure some viewers would be quick to point out what Raine had done to make any execution of him justifiable. Sympathy can go the other way, but it can just as easily go back the way it came.

edited 30th Mar '12 9:07:37 PM by Robotnik

I felt that the point of that scene was to simply show that German soldiers were human beings, not cartoony evil caricatures of them. Let's not forget, the Basterds are carrying out a war crime in this scene, and it's far from the only one.