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Crime and Punishment

 If you have been on the receiving end of abuse (emotional, physical, sexual), then there can be a desire to understand the choices of the predator. Why did this person treat me this way?


You might then find yourself torn between compassion and anger. If you feel empathy for your abuser....is this just an example of "bleeding heart" silliness? If you refuse the possibility of empathy, what does this do to your own soul?

The new documentary "Predators" has an extraordinary scene toward the end. Chris Hansen, a faux-journalist, has built a career on "gotcha" moments. He arranges sting operations--entraps sexual predators--then films the minute of humiliation for the American public. Hansen claims to feel troubled by men who prey on teenagers, but then he himself becomes a man who preys on teenagers. He ensnares a high-school student who wants to hook up with another high-school student. The "predator" is eighteen--and his transgression means that he cannot go back to school, can't hold a job, can't be in the presence of his own sibling without supervision from a police officer.

"Predators" captures the mom on camera. She is furious at Hansen--"I wish he could feel one percent of the pain that we feel." Also, she asks this: "Would you want your entire future altered because of a mistake you made on your worst day?" As she speaks, her son begins sobbing in the background. The sound of the sobs is the most memorable part of this movie.

At times, "Predators" can feel frustrating because it doesn't offer many answers. What are we supposed to make of Chris Hansen? What is a "correct" theory of punishment? When is rehabilitation possible? If we're talking about one mistake, does it matter if the perpetrator is eighteen or forty years old? If it does matter, to what extent does it matter?

Of course, a consistent rejection of easy answers is also the movie's strength. We *should* feel unsettled when we look closely at the world.

Terrific documentary.


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