Whose Justice is it Anyways?

The episode “White Bear” was a very unusual sight to see.  This story really questions the real meaning of justice and what it means to be a human being.  The fact that there was a park created because of her just to instill torture upon her is horrible.  I am not saying that Victoria did not deserve some kind of punishment for her actions; however, wiping her brain and making her live the same day over and over again as if it did not happen the day before is cruel, psychological torture.  This was a prime example of “eye for an eye” punishment, but what bothers me is that we did not get to see or hear about the events leading up to this point.  I stated in class that maybe the woman was forced to record her boyfriend burning the little girl alive, you never know.  This was a tragic event that happened to this little girl, but making Victoria go through this torture repeatedly is obviously doing more harm than good.

                White Bear Justice Park was built to get justice for this little girl, but I think it has turned into much more than that.  It has essentially turned into a torture chamber for this society.  I think this park became more for them than the little girl.  After three weeks of this kind of punishment, it is clear that the people in the society have become obsessed with seeing this constant suffering of a person who they think deserves it and have begun to get pleasure from making Victoria miserable.

                The justice system is designed to rehabilitate a wrong-doer and make them realize the crime he or she has committed is bad and that they should move forward with making better decisions.  The justice system in this society seeks to “avenge” this little girl that was abducted and to torture the person who committed the crime, which should not be a goal of the justice system.  Victoria is not seeing that her actions were bad because she literally becomes a new person every day.  She is not the same Victoria from three weeks ago because she has no memory of the actions of the original Victoria.  If they had only made Victoria go through this punishment one time and make her live with the guilt, then I could see that as real justice.  After three weeks of this kind of psychological cruelty, they are just having fun torturing her and playing mind games.  I believe the mission of White Bear Justice Park is for a criminal to see what harm they have caused for others; however, once someone starts to become obsessed with another person’s pain, there is no real justice.