The movie White Bear starts off by making you wonder if it is set in some sort of dystopian future where people are controlled by radio waves. What is actually happening though is that the main character is being put through a daily punishment and having her memory wiped each night. Upon realizing this, the movie's whole feel turned from a sense of confusion, to an appalling reversion. In what universe or timeline could that be considered acceptable? But after some thought, it is easy to see that people can dehumanize others that they consider to be criminals. Guantanamo bay has very little in the way of protests or public outcry with regards to its practices. Isn't it completely possible that what happened in this movie could be eventually seen as normal?
In comparison to our current day justice system, which is by no means perfect, the method of punishment in this movie seemed like it gave no room for improvement. While the effectiveness of our justice system is mediocre at best, it at least leaves room for hope that people can improve. It leaves room for humanity and the fact that we can make bad decisions and eventually live to regret, learn, and improve ourselves.
Taking a step back to the premise of the movie, how could something like this ever happen? Wouldn’t it be ruled as cruel and unusual? It potentially could become commonplace to have memory therapy that doesn't go to the extreme shown on the main character. That would make the unusual aspect that we perceive not really be a factor.
It's easy to become desensitized to what's around us if we don't take the time to look around and think for ourselves. If this happened tomorrow, the government for sure wouldn't allow it, but what about in forty years? Would you speak out against the inhumanity, or would you take it in stride and keep moving on with your life?
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