The movie, "Groundhog Day" starring Bill Murray correlates with the "Black Mirror" episode we watched in class, "White Bear." In "Groundhog Day," Bill Murray goes through the same day over and over, and no hope to escape. He eventually (like a couple of years) escapes the cycle when he wins the heart of his co-worker Rita. Happiness emerges at the end of the movie, but sadly in "White Bear" that is not the case at all. The Episode goes way deeper and twists the mind of the audience on what side to be on. Victoria wakes up on complete oblivion, and everything going on around her is completely twisted. People are recording her, crazy clowns running her down, and she doesn't even know her first name. She is absolutely terrified but feels relief when others take her up and lead her away from the killer clowns. At the end when she had the trust of the young lady Jem, she gets stabbed in the back and what was a war zone, turned to a stage for many others to see. Victoria was in this storyline to replay the kidnapping of a little girl in which Victoria and her fiance horrifically murdered. These playwriters make retribution to the little girl by replaying the pain and hurt that was inflicted on her to Victoria every single day. Now that is "Groundhog Day" turned nightmare.
This episode was dark and controversial, who is in the right or wrong. You have Victoria who associated with the torture and murder of a little girl, which itself can be considered first-degree murder, then you have a privatized jail system that uses the torture of a nightmare relapsed over and over again. In my opinion, I believe this torture is justifiable. In today cases, either the murderer is either executed or left to in jail till death takes them, many have no sympathy for the individual. Though this kind of punishment seems unknown to us and seems way out of line, it seems to be a reasonable punishment for a murder. If you think about it, what punishment would satisfy the retributions to the family and child that was slaughtered for the world to see? An innocent little girl who felt safe and secured was slaughtered by those she trusted and then filmed for amusement. If that was my little girl, I would feel Victoria's punishment seems a little easy. The film portrays Victoria to just be lost and in need of help so we feel sympathy for her, but that should not be the case. Put yourself in the shoes of the family and world who knew the real story. The answer seems easy then. What may seem an unjustified form of punishment, actually seems justifiable when predisposed views of Victoria are removed and step in the shoes of the many who see a murderer instead.
5 comments:
I slightly disagree. We are kind of in between a fine line of is this justifiable? Don't you think it is a bit harsh to make someone live a "Groundhog Day" over and over to be punished from something they did? Maybe another punishment is more acceptable... I don't necessarily think it is fair to humiliate and change a persons whole life to honestly make money. Even though she did an awful thing, this type of punishment is inhumane.
To that I would say that no matter what you do to Victoria, the daughter isn't coming back. The question becomes when is the punishment excessive versus justified. For example, jail time may be justified because murderers are threats to society, but perpetually torturing someone seems a little much. People make mistakes. As the family of the murdered child, I'm not sure I'd want Victoria's punishment for her. I'd almost want simple jail time. A lifetime of living with your conscience seems better. Not sure though.
Hmmm. I like the parallels between "White Bear"and "Groundhog Day". The two films definitely have similarities. However, I feel as if Victoria's punishment is harsh. I think this mainly because she has no hope of learning from her mistake. If she were capable of learning while participating in this torture, it might be justified.
I disagree but I love the points you made as in why you believe this is the right thing to do. If we were to be in the families shoes who knows what we would do to the criminal.
One must be careful in how close a comparison can be drawn over Victoria and the child's murder when regarding how truly "equal" their respective fates are. No doubt, Victoria is deserving of punishment, perhaps even to an extreme degree, but her repeated mind-washing only serves to ensure a cycle of pointless violence. If her goal in kidnapping and torturing the girl was a show of pleasure in sadistic power, then so too should Victoria be forced to be aware of her cycle. In this way, her outliving the cycle of death evades any notion of "true, equivocal justice".
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