Thursday, June 22, 2006

Follow-up

"A vigilante is just a man lost in the scramble for his own gratification. He can be destroyed, or locked up; but if you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, and if they can't stop you, you become something else entirely... A legend."

That just seems a fitting quote to go along with why I was talking about in my last post. It's from Batman Begins. It's probably the best out of all the Batman movies; if you haven't seen it, you should. (Steve.)

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

2 months later...

Tomorrow would've been two months exactly since I posted last. Funny how all it takes is some ignorant fucker to send me running right back here. Today I saw a shirt that had a red octogon on the front of it (i.e. a stop sign) and it said "Stop Snitching" and the back said "You have the right to remain silent." Now, I've laughed at some pretty fucked-up shirts. (Tshirthell.com is a favorite of mine.) But, as near as I could tell, that shirt wasn't trying to be funny. It didn't say "Stop snitching or the mob will kill you," or "Fight the man: Don't snitch." I mean, I don't even think those are especially funny (namely 'cause I just made them up, and I'M not funny), but there's at least an effort at humor there. I didn't get that vibe from this shirt at all; it seemed as though it was legitimately decrying those criminals who turn on their fellow criminals.

Presuming I'm right, what would prompt this woman (yes, a woman) to wear a shirt that was promoting criminals keeping silent? She was with a younger girl (smoking and driving, but looked like she was 12), and I wonder if this woman would want the criminals to keep quiet if that girl disappeared, or was raped, or murdered. Would she then encourage them not to snitch? Or would she instead hope and pray that someone out there who knew something would develope a conscience and give the police a chance to solve the crime?

As every day goes by, the more I'm convinced that the world needs a hero. I don't mean like police, or firefighters, or soldiers; I know they're heroes in their own right. But I mean someone, something, to stand out; to give hope to people and fear to bad guys. A vigilante who works for the law, and yet flies above it, unrestrained by the policies and procedures and red tape and scrutinization that the police have to wade through. Someone with their own sense of morality, who can catch criminals in the act and exact their own form of justice on the spot. To quasiquote a superhero movie (without referencing it, for those who haven't seen it): "I'm not going to kill you, but I don't have to save you either." That's what we need. I wonder... if I had started training in martial arts when I was younger, if I were more advanced and capable now... would I have the strength to fill that role?