Hope

On Wednesday we watched a film called White Bear, which portrayed a young woman being tortured by an indifferent, revenge-seeking society. She underwent enormous amounts of psychological and emotional trauma throughout the episode as we watched her endure an endless array of horrific encounters. This particular episode of Black Mirror seemed to touch on our modern justice system, ultimately leaving the audience with the ever-lingering question, famously posed by Plato: What is justice?

This question of justice fades into two smaller subgroups within our justice system: prison and capital punishment. Undoubtedly these are both excruciatingly tricky subjects. Much like one's views on abortion, people present straw-man arguments to diminish the credibility, even the humanity, of the opposing sides' beliefs or claims. For example, those who are for capital punishment see it as taking the life of someone who has taken the lives of many more, many times through horribly cruel and inhumane methods; those who oppose may claim that we do not have the right to simply kill them, despite their crimes we cannot play God. Similarly with prison, some see it as locking people in a useless box; others as keeping dangerous men and women off the streets. Where does it end?

White Bear is, in some ways, brilliant because it makes one truly consider both the meaning and possible application of such a disturbing film. In my opinion, there seems to be an underlying cry for change in our system that must first being with the human heart. People's desperate cries for blood when someone they love is hurt or killed can at many times be unjustified and unprecedented. Too often we forget the human being standing before us (which the victim of the film begs the audience to remember her humanity). There are many dangerous people on the streets, who have thankfully been put into prison; but in order for definite, real change to take place within our justice system, the people must recognize more fully the humanity of themselves, the victims, and the perpetrators.