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The one dangerous fault I find with this whole argument is the assumption that everyone who is convicted of commiting a heinous crime is guilty. Given the number of men who are doing time or who have been executed and later found to be innocent, I think our outrage should be directed at the legal system and making sure the person who did the crime does the time.
The one dangerous fault I find with this whole argument is the assumption that everyone who is convicted of commiting a heinous crime is guilty. Given the number of men who are doing time or who have been executed and later found to be innocent, I think our outrage should be directed at the legal system and making sure the person who did the crime does the time.
I watched the movie 'Capote' online last night. It was the movie that covered the period of time when Truman Capote was writing his best selling novel 'In Cold Blood'.
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Originally Posted by ovcatto
It doesn't help your overall argument when you pick one of the greatest crime novels and crime writers who ever lived. I think that given the right material Capote, when on his game could have made you sympathetic to just about anyone.
I don't believe that anyone sympathizes with real murderers, unless someone is mentally "twisted". Movies (as in "Sopranos", "The Godfather" etc.) give us the whole story, not only the moments of slaughter. We can see some normal life there too (moments of happiness, some drama, sex scenes, intrigue) as in many other movies. We get so much into the movie and I think that is the moment, when we start to sympathize with characters. It is easy to forget that they are bad, bad people. On the other hand, we just watch the movie, right?
Now, what about all those small kids who watch this kind of movies? They can't understand that it is just a movie (their young minds are just taking snapshots ). But this is a whole different story..
I have sympathy for many people who commit heinous crimes if they have come from a place of pain. However, everyone in life has painful experiences and makes their own choices on how to act upon them. Therefore, those who download their pain onto others, are destined to suffer the penalty for their actions without pity.
I have sympathy for many people who commit heinous crimes if they have come from a place of pain. However, everyone in life has painful experiences and makes their own choices on how to act upon them. Therefore, those who download their pain onto others, are destined to suffer the penalty for their actions without pity.
Have at it then; if you are that sure in your conviction that police, witnesses, prosecutors, judges, and juries never make mistakes; your conscience shouldn't feel a thing when an innocent man is executed.
sym⋅pa⋅thy–noun
1. harmony of or agreement in feeling, as between persons or on the part of one person with respect to another.
2. the harmony of feeling naturally existing between persons of like tastes or opinion or of congenial dispositions.
3. the fact or power of sharing the feelings of another, esp. in sorrow or trouble; fellow feeling, compassion, or commiseration.
vs.
empathy–noun
1. the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another.
I think that we are talking about empathy as opposed to sympathy. Great crime stories allows us to see through the eyes of the criminal, it gives us understanding, but it doesn't necessarily makes us root for them. With one exception, organized crime.
When it comes to the mob or gangster, the victim is always someone of equal or greater criminality so we can become divorced from the greater moral issue. I remember reading about mob families suing other mobsters for wrongful death, and I'm thinking to myself... wrongful death?!? Seems like just an occupational hazard. They chose to be in the line of work they were in and getting killed by their competitors or co-workers seems like an assumed risk.
When it comes to your average every day murder, robber whatever, I tend to listen or read their story and getting a real since of sadness not only for their victim but for the loss of their soul (so to speak). To me every criminal is a case of a life wasted, that's a tragedy in its own right.
Psyopaths are very commonthese days IMO. hey can knock a old lady in the head for a few dollars in her purse. I thnik taht drug depoendence makes many physopaths alos as they will sell form their own parents and write hot checks that break them besides be a danger to them.But I saw no feeling sorry for the murders in the Capote movie. Certainly none for Capote who was shown to be a vulture basically; ands some comparison of him and the criminals was evident.
Spell check is your friend, learn how to use it or at the very least, a dictionary.
Assuming there's no doubt that one did commit a heinous crime, no, I don't have any sympathy for them.
Sure, I bet in a lot of cases they did have some pretty messed up lives, but that doesn't give them the right to ruin someone elses. They should have found a better way of dealing with their issues. You choose not to, then too bad for you.
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). But this is a whole different story..
