The blind lady carrying the balanced scales

Transcription

1 Justice Unit III

2 The blind lady carrying the balanced scales

3 At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst. Aristotle

4 Nemesis The ancient Greeks had their own ideas about Justice and vengeance. In western culture we have borrowed many of these ideas and adopted them into our own modern society. They are reflected in the values and attitudes that we possess as individuals and they are present in our popular forms of story telling. Nemesis is an idea we have adopted into our modern culture and the idea is present in many of our stories around the theme of justice

5 Nemesis Definition: noun (pl. Nemeses ) the inescapable agent of someone's or something's downfall. A long-standing rival; an archenemy: will Harry Potter finally defeat his nemesis, Voldemort? a downfall caused by an inescapable agent (often Nemesis) In literature, the use of a nemesis refers to a situation of poetic justice wherein the positive characters are rewarded and the negative characters are penalized. The word also sometimes refers to the character by which this justice is brought about as Nemesis was the patron goddess of vengeance according to classical mythology. Example: In the popular book series Harry Potter, the protagonist Harry Potter is the nemesis of the evil Lord Voldemort.

6 There are four themes for story telling around these dimensions: Punitive-Justice: Judge, Jury and Executioner examples Dexter, Othello s murder of Iago Corrective-Justice: Heroes like Superman and Daredevil live by moral codes of non-lethal force. They apprehend criminals but are also known for dispensing looser-justice on occasion where there are grey areas. Othello s dealing with Micheal Cassio after the fight in the streets of Cyprus Corrective-Vengeance: A darker space; anti-heroes like Batman seek vengeance for their personal tragedies. With little restraint, just short of death, Iago setting out to destroy Othello Punitive-Vengeance: The vigilantes that take the law into their own hands and operate outside of the law, V in V for Vendetta seeking vengeance for his time spent at Larkhill.

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8 JUSTICE Justice Vigilantism Vengeance

9 Vigilantism

10 In popular culture, most vigilante stories are influenced by the crimes that create, define and drive them Many are variations on the influential Batman story, recognising that Batman was influenced by earlier vigilante stories such as Zorro, The Scarlet Pimpernel or Robin Hood. Batman was a definitively more urban, modern and darker psychological telling of this original story. A modern interpretation of the Batman story is serial killer, Dexter. It is easy to see the many similarities between these two characters Dexter is a modern version of Batman in a society that is looking for a different kind of hero to challenge the evil we perceive around us. The vigilante remains a favoured theme by Hollywood and its audiences, there are many variations on this subject

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12 The Righteous Murderer

13 Question Is there ever a time/circumstance when murder is justified? If so, when. If not, why not?

14 The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

15 Law and Order Is it a reflection of concrete examples of injustice that we don t trust the establishment? Or, is the story telling we are seeing influencing our growing mistrust of the law and their ability to deliver Justice?

16 Art imitates life? This idea raises a few questions if popular culture (T.V, Film, Books ) is a reflection of real life situations Q- 1 Is it just fiction or do we believe that the lawful side of society is contaminated by the corrupt? Q-2 Do we think only the rule-breakers or system-challengers are those that can fight for the laws and justice of the majority?

17 Justice and technology In a post-snowden and Assange world this raises some interesting questions about how justice will happen in a world where technology seamlessly enters every part of our lives. Question: If increasingly, our stories are shifting to themes that the system must be fixed from the outside, what does this say about the mainstream justice in our society?

18 Four types of law enforcement Good/Law: The guardians or keepers of the law those that enforce the law. Evil/Law: We recognise that corruption is part of law-keeping where individuals might partake in the abuse of their power for personal gain. Evil/Outlaw: Criminals act outside of law; they are not part of the civic body. Good/Outlaw: There is a grey area where people break the law for good reasons, e.g. being a whistle-blower. It is in the enforcement of law that we see the grey areas present in the Good/Outlaw quadrant that are most informative about society today. This is a contradiction that can be perceived in different ways. While the opposing quadrant of Evil/Law is more black and white, the Good/Outlaw quadrant is potentially good or evil depending on your starting perspective. The recent actions of wikileaks or Edward Snowden have been discussed from different sides of the media ring as being either criminal or heroic. The actions of vigilantes are likewise discussed as being those of a person delivering Justice or an individual taking law into their own hands. Revenge is an act of passion; vengeance of justice. Injuries are revenged; crimes are avenged. Samuel Johnson

19 Vigilantism A vigilante is defined as: A member of a self-appointed group of citizens who undertake law enforcement in their community without legal authority, typically because the legal agencies are thought to be inadequate. Vigilantism appears to rise when there is a perception that the system is no longer functioning. When NYC was struggling with high crime rates, Berhhard Goetz, in 1984 shot four men and was dubbed the subway vigilante. This is one of many examples that can be found globally. These accounts involve a citizen taking justice into their own hands. Questions about vigilantism???is Vigilantism ever justified?