| Everyone is informed about criminal activity through | | | | 'superheroes' disregard the laws of the land and |
| the media. Even in fiction, crime pervades the drama | | | | instead form their own laws, methods, and |
| in movies, television, and books. In this way, crime is | | | | punishments - at times, overlapping with public |
| a normal part of life. No one can pick up a newspaper | | | | jurisprudence, but certainly not always. |
| or tune their television to the news without hearing | | | | In another recent case, a man arrested for running |
| about crime. However, acts of vigilantism capture | | | | over and killing a police officer. The police, in a fury, |
| headlines of the media and the imagination of the | | | | combed the land for the murderer until a suspect |
| ordinary man. | | | | was apprehended within hours. Two days after his |
| We are often told 'no man can be judge, jury, and | | | | arrest, the suspect was found dead in his cell. The |
| executioner' and while most people are not, we have | | | | accused, Ronnie White, was being held in solitary |
| an invested interest in those who do. Last year after | | | | confinement; this means that a prison guard or official |
| spotting a couple of thieves robbing his neighbor, Joe | | | | would have had to help the vigilante get access to |
| Horn of Texas shot and killed the two men. Earlier in | | | | White's cell where he was strangled to death. The |
| this month of July, a grand jury cleared Joe Horn of | | | | national media sensation revolved around the vigilante |
| all criminal charges. The decision made headlines | | | | justice while the murder of the police officer did not |
| across all media outlets. Joe was celebrated by many | | | | dent the headlines anywhere but locally. |
| as a hero. But the truth of the matter is that he | | | | So why is vigilantism so popular in our cultural forms? |
| executed the thieves of his own volition. | | | | This fascination with the heroic vigilante lends |
| Why is this man being heralded as a hero for the | | | | credibility to a public rationalization for renegade |
| killing of men? Perhaps a look into another venue of | | | | justice - at least, vicariously. Most people, at one time |
| our culture can give us the answer: the cinema. With | | | | or another, have vengeful thoughts; but there is a |
| the success of comic-book heroes on film we get a | | | | strong line between thinking and acting by becoming |
| sense of what the public mentality wants to see. | | | | the vigilante and enacting vengeance. In a way, |
| Characters such as Batman and Spiderman are | | | | people satisfy their vigilante desires by the vicarious |
| household names in the movie theaters. They draw in | | | | experience they attain through the media and cinema. |
| millions of dollars from consumers who want to see | | | | These outlets offer fulfillment while allowing the |
| vigilante justice. There is no denying that these | | | | common man avoid deviant behavior. |