Personal Identity in White Bear

After finishing “White Bear”, I was left with one question. Can you morally punish a person for a crime they can’t remember committing? In the PowerPoint, it says that our justice system is made to make sure the same person who committed the crime must be punished for that same crime, but what if they don’t remember? Or, what if that person was threatened, coerced, or even brainwashed to do so? These things would drastically alter the circumstances and meaning around why the person ultimately committed the crime. However, I’m not sure our justice system takes that into account as often as it should. So, “White Bear” decided to address this issue.

            “White Bear” seemed to mock our justice system, because the entire show’s story was about teaching this unknowing woman a lesson for what she and her boyfriend did to a young girl that they kidnapped. If you switched up the story to fit reality, this woman would be on trial and possibly sentenced to jail time for being associated with the murder of this little girl. She doesn’t remember what she did, though, and she also only filmed the murder, but didn't participate in it. Does that seem fair? I think that is the main question this episode is trying to ask of everyone. Without her memory, she has no identity. She has no idea who she actually is. So, in the end, how could she possibly feel remorse for her crime unless she has her identity? Otherwise, this constant form of “punishment” is really just an outlet for the community to feel as though they’ve received justice for the young girl’s death. Also, aren't all of the people filming her equally responsible for her torture, since they're punishing this woman for doing the same thing when she filmed that child's murder? Also, is this show trying to tell everyone that, for once, we should put down our phones and help instead of stand by and document an incident? Look at every terrorist attack that has happened in the past couple of years. It's been ingrained in everyone to film the unexpected to a point where the content ends up on snapchat's story page and people will just casually scroll past it. In my opinion, after watching this episode, I think society needs a major wake up call.