posted
Often in movies today we see the main character as a "bad guy." He can be a simple thief, a con man, or a bank robber that stole millions of dollars. Somehow the director can get us to root for that man, so that we're hoping that the man will get away from the cops, escape from jail, or even succeed in the complex plan that will leave many without enough money to live off of while the criminal is a multi-millionaire living in Paris.
You could watch a movie like this today and cheer on the "bad guy" the whole time, then the next day you hear in the news about someone who did a very similar crime in reality and you want justice to prevail.
Obviously in the movies we root for these people because: 1) we know it's not real (except in a few cases); 2) more importantly we get to know the character well. We may know why he's doing it. He may have a certain charm we find appealing. Or we might not like the characters who play the "good guys." There could be many other reasons.
So this raises my question. Would you turn in someone that you knew and liked very well who you knew had just committed a crime? Would it be morally right to let them go when every time you see someone on the news who has committed a crime you want justice? If you would turn them in, then why do we want the criminals to win in some movies who probably did worse crimes?
This excludes extreme cases like murderer and rape, or very small things. Unless you want to include extremes in your answer, in that case ignore this.
I guess in most movies when a crime is being committed, I usually DON'T root for the criminal, but that is probably because I'm the daughter of a cop.
However, I did very much cheer the team in Oceans 11, which I thought was a a great movie. And that was a major heist.
I hope I would normally turn people in. Yet it might also depend on the crime. I do know personally of someone who drives, fairly often, while on a suspended license. I don't report him. I know he got a suspended license NOT due to drugs or alcohol or anything, but due to the fact he had a speeding ticket that he was unable to pay when he was unemployed. He recently got a job, and I think it better for him to be able to get to work to earn money to pay off his debts (including the one to the court to get his license back) than to whistleblow on him for driving illegally.
So I don't count this a big crime. If he robbed a place of something, I would probably turn him in.
posted
I have no idea what I would do. (Well, I have a couple of ideas, but I don't know which one is correct.)
That's something that I'll worry about when I need to worry about it. Sufficient is the day for the evil I already have to deal with.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Actually, does anyone else has a friend that's their bail buddy? Meaning, in the case that you're ever arrested, you have an agreement with that friend that they'll bail you out (of course accompanied with them giving you crap for the rest of your life) and that you'd do the same for them.
Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
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posted
I think I need to make Coccinelle my bail buddy. The only problem is that if I'm doing anything that would land me in jail, I'm probably with her.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
I don't see how you can compare the two. The one is real, and therefore has real victims and real consequences, and the other is pure fiction that doesn't hurt anyone.
So yes, I would turn someone in if I knew they had committed a crime.
Having said that, I should point out that I don't typically root for the criminals in movies, either. I'm the only person I know that was rooting against the main character in John Q, for example. I tend to view immoral acts as still being immoral even in fiction, though of course I don't get any true outrage over them, since as I said, it's not real.
Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
The fact that we might root for the "criminal" in the movies is because he's usually given a style, an elegance, a charisma that you don't see in an everyday criminal that you just heard about. And even in these circumstances, film makers rarely make a "good guy" out of a killer. You might see a film centered on a thief - Tomas Crown Affair, Ocean's Eleven -, a bank robber - Bandits -, someone who goes against the "system" - Fight Club, etc. Or the film could be a comedy, in which case in doesn't really count, does it? It's meant to laugh, even death comes in very comic ways...
Back to real life: I'm a very "go by the book" person. Not because I think every law is right, but because in my opinion breaking it is not a good way to show your opposition. I really feel sick when somebody I know breaks a rule/law in my presence, even if it means "only" taking an extra article when eating at the students' campus. I never did it, though almost everybody else does it. So I don't think I could live knowing that somebody I care for committed a very severe crime. I'd talk him into turning himself in, and if that would fail, I would do it. I'm lucky my brother's like that too, I don't have to worry about him doing the right thing!
Has anyone here seen "21 grams"? Could you live with yourself after killing someone, even if it were in an accident? I definitely could not. I'd turn myself in, like the guy in the movie did.
Anyway, this raises another question, which I think was also discussed on Hatrack some time ago: what's the appropriate way to punish someone for a crime. I'll have to find that thread and revive it. All this and more after a short commercial break...
Posts: 4519 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I don't believe in morals, so I can't say that not turning in a friend is wrong. Whether or not I would do it, however, depends on many factors such as what the crime is.
Posts: 3060 | Registered: Nov 2003
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posted
Phanto just hit the nail on the head - I'd have to evaluate the crime, how I felt about the whole thing and how good a friend this person really is.
Some things I will not tolerate and the buddy who I would help hide bodies knows where I draw the line.
posted
I really don't know. I'm a very fickle person. But I wasn't really rooting for the people in "Bandits", I have to say. I kind of hate Bruce Willis.
I liked the original "The Italian Job". The ending... was... absolutely... perfect.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
I'd get him a good criminal defense lawyer and have the lawyer arrange a surrender in a fashion that will do the most good for the brother's case.
posted
You also might root for the "bad guys" because they are competing against worse guys like in The Italian Job or Gone in 60 Seconds.
Posts: 3446 | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
Sometimes with movies my moral compass spins a little. Like in Hannibal - I was actually rooting for Verger (wheelchair guy) to capture Hannibal.
Verger is argubly just as bad as Hannibal, but it was Hannibal I wanted to see humbled.
Posts: 1515 | Registered: Feb 2002
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