In the short film "White Bear," a woman wakes up with no memory of who she is. She starts to be chased by "hunters," and her pleas are ignored by the "onlookers." While going through this confusing journey, she get flashes of different memories. In the end, it is revealed that her name is Victoria, and she was involved in a kidnapping with her fiance, Iian. Disturbingly, she recorded the torture and murder of a young girl carried out by Iian. Also, we see that Victoria goes through this punishment on a daily basis with no memory of the previous day or the crime she committed.
In my opinion, this punishment is a waste of time. I don't think that this actually teaches Victoria anything. She finds out about her wrongdoings at the end of the "punishment," but that's basically no rehabilitation for her. She isn't given a chance to actually feel remorse. Her memory is wiped, and the cycle continues. The purpose of punishment is to not only punish an individual, but to let the offender think about what they have done and attempt to rehabilitate themselves. Victoria isn't offered the full extent of this process, so her punishment is very unjust in the moral and lawful sense.
Another question is raised when one is watching this film. What actually determines what type of person Victoria is? When the film starts out, we see a girl who doesn't know who she is and doesn't look like she is actually capable of hurting anyone. However, towards the end of the story, we find that appearances can be very deceiving. I believe that since Victoria cannot exactly remember what she did, she's not that same person anymore. Nonetheless, this doesn't change the fact that she committed a very disgusting crime, but I believe that the lost of her memory has rid her of any emotional connection she had with that crime.
In conclusion, this film left me with an indifferent feeling. I didn't really know what to feel after watching "White Bear." I wanted to feel sorry for Victoria, yet I also felt like she may have deserved the punishment to some degree. I have finally decided that no human being should go through this kind of torture every day of their lives no matter if the memory is intact or not. To sum up, if you want someone to feel the pain of their victims, it should not be dragged out for a long period of time. Once or twice is enough.
4 comments:
I agree with your view and I liked the questions you've asked. I agree that because the government is erasing her memory each day, Victoria is not able to experience full remorse for what she did. She can't even fully remember what she did, so punishing her this way does not solve anything. To what extent, or how should Victoria have been punished instead? I had the same neutral feelings towards Victoria, because I felt bad that she had to relive each day without fully knowing why, yet she did deserve some type of punishment for her actions. Overall, I enjoyed reading your post and agreed with your argument.
I agree with your statement on how she isn't getting any form of rehabilitation. She is not knowing what she wrongfully did there for, she has no form of ever getting better. This type of punishment shows how they are not giving the criminal a chance to even reflect on what they did wrong, and maybe becoming a better person.
I found it interesting that you felt indifferent about her punishment. I felt the opposite because it really made me wonder who's side I was on? I wanted to have a concise answer as to which punishment would be considered justifiable in her murder of a child. I think it is fair for her to get a taste of her medicine, but they are overdosing her in a way.
I agree that her punishment allows for no rehabilitation. If they would allow her to be remorseful instead of wiping out her memory that would be better.
Post a Comment