Friday, November 27, 2015
What is Justice?
Alone without her memory, a woman is sentenced to a Hell for something she can’t remember until the finale. Before this, she was sentenced for the murder of a child. The story outraged many, causing her to end up in the White Bear Justice Park. At first, they thought it was a just punishment for what she did to that little girl. After a while they probably still did think it was just but her torture quickly became entertainment for others. Excited and ready to participate, crowds of people came to witness the reenactment of this woman’s suffering. Forced to participate, we see the cruel punishment that she must live through over and over again. Attacking a child, people have a right to be upset but the woman becomes a source of entertainment that they would bring their own children to view. This dehumanization of the woman becomes something to laugh at as the voyeurs video her. The darker sides of humanity is awakened as the crowds hope to catch a glimpse at the monster, not realizing they are just as bad as she is. The need to deal out fair justice to the criminal becomes lost to a blind pursuit for retribution. This exaggerated tale of justice in an alternate time brings to light how anger could blind people from the pain they cause to others. Hiding behind their phones, they play a part in terrorizing the woman as well. What is reality for the woman becomes another show to watch for the guests. Everyone there plays their parts following the models of those around them as they take pleasure in the act. The perverted view of justice in White Bear makes us reconsider the effects of our own justice system. It is not focused on rehabilitating criminals but instead on punishing them. As we saw in White Bear, a case as highly publicized as hers was becomes entertainment for the media and its audience. We watch in morbid fascination just like those who go to the park, especially when it is a gruesome case. Looking to dole out a twisted form of justice, people are capable of allowing acts to occur that would not be considered fair. So can we be impartial when applying justice or does justice become what the people want?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Teresa,
ReplyDeleteTo follow justice by what the "people" want, this implies they have a say in the legal framework of society and I would hope they would also have education of what justice really is. I love this sentence of yours:
Forced to participate, we see the cruel punishment that she must live through over and over again.
It drew me in as one of the participators and yes I agree it was cruel punishment.
I also agree with your dehumanization concept. To allow children to view this atrocity, what's to say they wont become the next victim?
Great post Teresa
Theresa,
ReplyDeleteAs hard as we try, I think that there can never truly be impartiality in justice. We definitely DO try; we attempt to shelter juries from the outside world. We ask that judges reject political affiliation (The utter failure of this in particular is laughable). However, despite what means we put in place until we have a automated justice system (and I think that would be a dubious proposition) we will never have true impartiality because of human nature. As I mention in my blog post, I think that human nature is a good and bad force in the justice system. For example, it allows us to show mercy when necessary, but groupthink mentality can lead to what we see in White Bear.
Theresa,
ReplyDeleteI think you did a really good job at getting at the disturbing aspect at what happened at White Bear. The extent to how much these people revel in the punishment disturbs me and I think your focus on dehumanization is a very good thought and adds to this disturbing image of their "justice".