Irish directed film on James Bulger comes under criticism for humanising the killers

SharpshooterTom

Detainment is a short film currently being nominated for an oscar about the James Bulger killing directed by Irishman Vincent Lambe. The film attempts to depict the killers in a different light instead trying to humanise them rather than just to present them as 'evil' in the directors own words.

Not surprisingly the films getting a lot of criticism and its being denounced as insensitive lacking decency.

He was on Good Morning Britain earlier today and was getting a bit of grilling from the hosts (particularly from Ben Shephard, a guy who gets far too much work on UK TV, he's really boring) for not bothering to get consent from Denise Fergus (James mother) and responded that he knew she would say no. She's going to be on tomorrow to undoubtedly provide a fairly angry response.

Was this done in bad taste? Plenty of other films about various murders don't often seek permission from family members. But I guess the nature of this one and the sheer brutality of the crime perhaps he should've been a bit more sensitive.

Likely to do wonders for his career though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mIpiYKcP7M

Mr. Incognito

Because they are humans.

This white and black nonsense peddled by the media is bull****.

Hitler won Times Man of the Year in 1937 for Bringing Germany back from the great depression.

People are complex. They are not divided into "evil" and "good"

When 2 children murder another child there's some serious questions that need to be asked and examined and not just lump them into the "evil" pile and move on.

I welcome this discussion.

kneemos

Wish people would drop this "evil" bull****. Like it's an explanation for anything.

gerrybbadd

Extremely poor taste.

The boy was 2 when he was taken and tortured by those 2 animals. What they did was calculated, and cruel in the extreme. They set out that day to take a child for the purposes of what they ended up doing. What they did to James was inhuman. There's no humanising those 2 bastards.

And Venables continues to offend, has been caught with child porn on more than one occasion. I think he's back inside at the moment.

kneemos

gerrybbadd wrote: »

Extremely poor taste.

The boy was 2 when he was taken and tortured by those 2 animals. What they did was calculated, and cruel in the extreme. They set out that day to take a child for the purposes of what they ended up doing. What they did to James was inhuman. There's no humanising those 2 bastards.

And Venables continues to offend, has been caught with child porn on more than one occasion. I think he's back inside at the moment.

Humans do these things,and a lot worse. It shouldn't be catagorised as being an external force.

SharpshooterTom

Weepsie wrote: »

Nominations aren't for 3 weeks?

Sorry oscar-shortlisted, my apologies.

https://www.thesun.ie/tvandshowbiz/3568419/detainment-vincent-lambe-oscar-film/

Mutant z

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Because they are humans.

This white and black nonsense peddled by the media is bull****.

Hitler won Times Man of the Year in 1937 for Bringing Germany back from the great depression.

People are complex. They are not divided into "evil" and "good"

When 2 children murder another child there's some serious questions that need to be asked and examined and not just lump them into the "evil" pile and move on.

I welcome this discussion.

I have absolutely no hesitation in describing those children now adults as pure scum of the earth and yes they are absolutely evil for brutally torturing a defensless toddler to death in the most horrific way possible which they have never shown an ounce of remorse for so forgive me if I don't follow your advice because the simple fact is they are cold blooded killers who should have rotted in prison for the rest of their lives.

gctest50

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

Because they are humans.

This white and black nonsense peddled by the media is bull****.

Hitler won Times Man of the Year in 1937 for Bringing Germany back from the great depression.

People are complex. They are not divided into "evil" and "good"

When 2 children murder another child there's some serious questions that need to be asked and examined and not just lump them into the "evil" pile and move on.

I welcome this discussion.

One of the boys threw blue Humbrol modelling paint, which they had stolen earlier, into Bulger's left eye.
They kicked him, stamped on him and threw bricks and stones at him.
Batteries were placed in Bulger's mouth
Finally, the boys dropped a 22-pound (10.0 kg) iron bar, described in court as a railway fishplate, on Bulger.
He sustained 10 skull fractures as a result of the bar striking his head.
Dr Alan Williams, the case's pathologist, stated that Bulger suffered so many injuries —42 in total— that none could be isolated as the fatal blow.
Thompson and Venables laid Bulger across the railway tracks and weighted his head down with rubble, in the hope that a train would hit him and make his death appear to be an accident.
After they left the scene, his body was cut in half by a train.
Bulger's severed body was discovered two days later on 14 February

.

SharpshooterTom

Mutant z wrote: »

I have absolutely no hesitation in describing those children now adults as pure scum of the earth and yes they are absolutely evil for brutally torturing a defensless toddler to death in the most horrific way possible which they have never shown an ounce of remorse for so forgive me if I don't follow your advice because the simple fact is they are cold blooded killers who should have rotted in prison for the rest of their lives.

But we don't know that though because they've have to live the rest of their lives in secrecy in case of vigilante attacks. No one knows (well in the case of Robert Thompson anyway) what type of adults they are or how they feel.

PuppyMcPupFace

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

But we don't know that though because they've have to live the rest of their lives in secrecy in case of vigilante attacks. No one knows (well in the case of Robert Thompson anyway) what type of adults they are or how they feel.

I was in the north of England at the time. I couldn't give one ****e how they "feel" as adults..
They're sick bastards who should still be locked up

valoren

It's coming up to the 256th anniversary so it will be on people's minds to remember this.
The film uses transcripts from the police interviews and from what we can surmise then it will be the words of two scared witless boys explaining how and why they murdered a toddler.

For the most part, we simply see photos of the killers, we listen to descriptions of them. We never hear from them. They most certainly would not be presented sympathetically in the film. The humanising part is the performances of the actors who will let us focus on the fact that these were actually ten year old kids who committed murder.

In the same vein, I posted in the 'I bet you didn't know that' thread recently about a recording of Hitler speaking in his normal speaking voice. We usually just hear Hitler orating, making impassioned political speeches like a deranged loon. This is done deliberately to maintain the notion that this guy was just an evil mad man which is true and to not humanise him.

Yet to hear his speaking voice it humanises him in a very disturbing way. You realise this guy was just a man, just like me, chit chatting away absentmindedly to others as if he was just back to work discussing what he'd done over new years while in the throes of death and destruction across the world.

It's the same here. To watch a short film with two ten year olds talking like ten year olds. The difference being that they talk normally while we know they've committed such a horrible murder. It makes it all the more disturbing that way and I am sure this is the intent of the production.

nthclare

You'll have the usual pattern of people defending these evil bastard's, always from the left.

I seen something a while back about lefties saying paedophiles are another sexual orientation, and how hard it must be to be rejected by society for being a naunce.

If society ever say's it's ok to be a naunce or child killer then Armageddon has surely arrived.

They don't belong here, they're sick twisted and need to be all rounded up and strung up by their nuts and bolts....

sbsquarepants

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

But we don't know that though because they've have to live the rest of their lives in secrecy in case of vigilante attacks. No one knows (well in the case of Robert Thompson anyway) what type of adults they are or how they feel.

And I for one just don't fúcking care. I'd quite happily strike the match to burn either or both of them at the stake. They are absolute scum and will never, not in a million years, ever be deserving of any shred of sympathy.

Some things really are black and white.

nthclare

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

But we don't know that though because they've have to live the rest of their lives in secrecy in case of vigilante attacks. No one knows (well in the case of Robert Thompson anyway) what type of adults they are or how they feel.

I still feel guilty about the time I released a specimen bass and it washed in belly up onto the beach a while after....

It doesn't matter, they're evil.
Im sceptical about people who don't see anything otherwise.

Mr. Incognito

There's no lesson to be learned to stop this tragedy happening again if we don't actaully analyse how it happened.

They were ten.

Where did they learn violence from.

Where did they get these ideas from.

One of the killers asked if they had brought the child to hospital to fix him.

I'd rather examine it than just wipe it away with evil.

Of Course some people are too blinded by hate which is the same exact dysfunction that leads to violence.

Ironic.

Mutant z

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

But we don't know that though because they've have to live the rest of their lives in secrecy in case of vigilante attacks. No one knows (well in the case of Robert Thompson anyway) what type of adults they are or how they feel.

Well John Venables has been convicted of downloading child pornography so that says it all really he's a danger to children and should permanently be kept locked away for everyone's sake.

donkeykong5

ThomasFlynn wrote: »

Detainment is a short film currently being nominated for an oscar about the James Bulger killing directed by Irishman Vincent Lambe. The film attempts to depict the killers in a different light instead trying to humanise them rather than just to present them as 'evil' in the directors own words.

Not surprisingly the films getting a lot of criticism and its being denounced as insensitive lacking decency.

He was on Good Morning Britain earlier today and was getting a bit of grilling from the hosts (particularly from Ben Shephard, a guy who gets far too much work on UK TV, he's really boring) for not bothering to get consent from Denise Fergus (James mother) and responded that he knew she would say no. She's going to be on tomorrow to undoubtedly provide a fairly angry response.

Was this done in bad taste? Plenty of other films about various murders don't often seek permission from family members. But I guess the nature of this one and the sheer brutality of the crime perhaps he should've been a bit more sensitive.

Likely to do wonders for his career though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mIpiYKcP7M

Omg. Have Jamie s parents and family not been through enough. Ffs. Now someone dragging it all up again. Without even informing them or asking their permission. New bloody low.

King of Kings

I care or at least am interested how they turned out. I'm loathed to discard a child at 10 for the remainder of their lives without even the chance of redemption or worse hang them like the mob wanted.
This doesnt take away from their horrific crime or seek to upset the bulger family.

They were 10 years old, i feel the blood lust energy of the mob is better spent.

As it turns out one of them is clearly beyond help the 2nd one hasnt been in trouble since he left care. But is it not better that he lives a life than not?

For the record i'd hang adult child killers (esp if it was a sexual crime) as they are well beyond the age of reason and are beyond redemption.

Bannasidhe

nthclare wrote: »

You'll have the usual pattern of people defending these evil bastard's, always from the left.

I seen something a while back about lefties saying paedophiles are another sexual orientation, and how hard it must be to be rejected by society for being a naunce.

If society ever say's it's ok to be a naunce or child killer then Armageddon has surely arrived.

They don't belong here, they're sick twisted and need to be all rounded up and strung up by their nuts and bolts....

Oh stop it.
Stop using a brutal crime to get a political dig in.

No one is "defending" them.
Some people have said rather than dismiss them as "pure evil" we try and understand why they did the horrific things they did - so maybe we can learn to recognise the warning signs and maybe be able to act in time to prevent such horror ever being inflicted on another innocent.

PuppyMcPupFace

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

There's no lesson to be learned to stop this tragedy happening again if we don't actaully analyse how it happened.

They were ten.

Where did they learn violence from.

Where did they get these ideas from.

One of the killers asked if they had brought the child to hospital to fix him.

I'd rather examine it than just wipe it away with evil.

Of Course some people are too blinded by hate which is the same exact dysfunction that leads to violence.

Ironic.

Well kumbayah and all that bollocks.

Fine, give them extensive therapy. Whilst doing a 30 stretch.

Cienciano

Hard to criticise a film that you haven't seen. But I always found this murder to be one of the worst I've read. I would definitely not watch the movie, I don't think I could, I don't see the point.
The wiki article alone is hard enough to read imho.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger

nthclare wrote: »

You'll have the usual pattern of people defending these evil bastard's, always from the left.

Come on then, share some of it. I'd like to see all the people defending James Bulgers killers.

Dyr

kneemos wrote: »

Humans do these things,and a lot worse. It shouldn't be catagorised as being an external force.

How is evil an external force?

This documentary smacks of the cosseted belief that people are always inherently good and if they're not then it must be as a result of some terrible affliction or trauma

Some people are just evil c***s

nthclare

Bannasidhe wrote: »

Oh stop it.
Stop using a brutal crime to get a political dig in.

No one is "defending" them.
Some people have said rather than dismiss them as "pure evil" we try and understand why they did the horrific things they did - so maybe we can learn to recognise the warning signs and maybe be able to act in time to prevent such horror ever being inflicted on another innocent.

So tell me, how many times this has happened in Ireland or England since it happened ?

The warning signs were there as far as I knew they were not like other kid's, we'd have to delve into a lot of files to filter it out.

Who's mentioning politics ?

I know you like challenging me now and again, but this is a different story....

PuppyMcPupFace

Cienciano wrote: »

Hard to criticise a film that you haven't seen. But I always found this murder to be one of the worst I've read. I would definitely not watch the movie, I don't think I could, I don't see the point.
The wiki article alone is hard enough to read imho.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger


Come on then, share some of it. I'd like to see all the people defending James Bulgers killers.

Read up. "Oh poor babbies, what nasty grown ups made them do it???"

Bull****.

tayto lover

Wasn't Venebales caught in N. Ireland after his release downloading child porn?
What did he learn from all the counsellors in prison? Nothing at all. Evil bastards.

I'd have backed executing them as soon as they were found guilty of wee Jamie's horrific murder.

kneemos

Bambi wrote: »

How is evil an external force?

This documentary smacks of the cosseted belief that people are always inherently good and if they're not then it must be as a result of some terrible affliction or trauma

Some people are just evil c***s

Some people are psychopaths,in fact a lot of people are psychopaths. Doesn't make them "evil"(whatever that is) it means if the circumstances are right they can kill without feeling. It's a human condition.

sbsquarepants

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

There's no lesson to be learned to stop this tragedy happening again if we don't actaully analyse how it happened. .

There is no lesson to be learned - there always has been and always will be bad, rotten, evil, disturbed, whatever term you want to use, people in the world. It's the human condition - some of us are just no good!

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

They were ten.

Where did they learn violence from.

Where did they get these ideas from. .

Who knows, who cares. It has always been that way - it's been blamed on everything from head injuries, to video games right back to witch craft and demonic possession.
Some people are just cúnts!

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

One of the killers asked if they had brought the child to hospital to fix him. .

So what?

Mr. Incognito wrote: »

I'd rather examine it than just wipe it away with evil.

Of Course some people are too blinded by hate which is the same exact dysfunction that leads to violence.

Ironic.

It's not ironic at all.
Most people have no real problem with violence if they actually stop to think about it. Their problem is with senseless or gratuitous violence.

All violence is not created equal - giving some junkie trying to rob your grannies hand bag on the street a good kick in the nuts is not the same thing as torturing and killing a toddler!

nthclare

tayto lover wrote: »

Wasn't Venebales caught in N. Ireland after his release downloading child porn?
What did he learn from all the counsellors in prison? Nothing at all. Evil bastards.

I'd have backed executing them as soon as they were found guilty of wee Jamie's horrific murder.

Exactly, I see my lad he's 17 now but he is a good lad.
Always empathic and worried about his younger cousins if they fell over or anyone was sick or hurt.

He's naturally empathic, still a cheeky moody teen-ager, but he had no malice in him.

We went fishing one time for wrasse, you use hardback crab's as Bait...

He was horrified by the thought of it, I said son why don't you like me using crab's for bait...

Because the quabby will cry.....an innocent kid who didn't like the thought of hurting anyone physically or mentally....

Sums it up really, some kid's grow out of pulling legs off flies etc others progress onto breaking people's legs....

Dempsey

All killers are human and largely a product of their environment so it will be interesting to see what the film has to say

Dyr

kneemos wrote: »

Some people are psychopaths,in fact a lot of people are psychopaths. Doesn't make them "evil"(whatever that is) it means if the circumstances are right they can kill without feeling. It's a human condition.

So your contribution to this thread is that you don't understand what the word "evil" means, not that hard to look it up in a dictionary.

Or I suppose you can go down the beard scratching routine of "but what is "evil" really?"

begbysback

kneemos wrote: »

Humans do these things,and a lot worse. It shouldn't be catagorised as being an external force.

I agree, it seems this short film would benefit society in a deeper understanding, though at a cost to the family of little James.

There are some questions which need to be asked, like is it a case of one boy having an influence over the other, and though what they did cannot be excused, were the kids abused themselves?

I do agree with the filmmaker that asking these questions will help to understand, though the cost to the family has to be acknowledged. It’s probably going to be the most emotionally charged nature v nurture debate.

tayto lover

Evil psychopaths lack empathy.
My own lads used to cry if our wee dog was sick and they'd sit with him all night.
These evil feckers wanted to inflict pain and enjoyed watching a little tot suffer. Completely different to the norm and completely cunning, calculating and evil.
The world doesn't need their sort.

nthclare

begbysback wrote: »

I agree, it seems this short film would benefit society in a deeper understanding, though at a cost to the family of little James.

There are some questions which need to be asked, like is it a case of one boy having an influence over the other, and though what they did cannot be excused, were the kids abused themselves?

I do agree with the filmmaker that asking these questions will help to understand, though the cost to the family has to be acknowledged. It’s probably going to be the most emotionally charged nature v nurture debate.

Some people will do anything in the name of Art.

donkeykong5

begbysback wrote: »

kneemos wrote: »

Humans do these things,and a lot worse. It shouldn't be catagorised as being an external force.

I agree, it seems this short film would benefit society in a deeper understanding, though at a cost to the family of little James.

There are some questions which need to be asked, like is it a case of one boy having an influence over the other, and though what they did cannot be excused, were the kids abused themselves?

I do agree with the filmmaker that asking these questions will help to understand, though the cost to the family has to be acknowledged. It’s probably going to be the most emotionally charged nature v nurture debate.

Do you think the filmmaker should have informed Jamie's parents that he was making a film about their murdered child?

Whatever about the killers, it's the family I really feel for. Every time someone sparks interest in the case, the media contacts the mother or father for comment. Every time someone seeks to examine the case, for righteous reasons or because they seek something sensational to raise their own profile, the parents are brought back to that time and find themselves considering some other angle of that horror.

No murder is committed by a monster, they're all committed by humans. Maybe the humans have something monstrous inside them, and that makes examination important so history is prevented from repeating itself. Ideally the examination is by trained health professionals, not to be confused with documentary makers.

manonboard

Bambi wrote: »

Some people are just evil c***s

May I ask bambi,
how do you imagine that to be true? Surely what ever things that you describe as evil.. have a cause?
If not, is the only other alternative that you think it spontaneously appears.. if so.. arent you just as likely to be a victim of it, or someone close you know?

To me, evil is just a word people use to attribute to a dark prescence that can't exist as just a regular part of us.. and i think its used as a way to say "I am NOT evil.. look, i can point to others that ARE evil.. so i am NOT"

Whatever made these children do what they did.. They were children.. Those that came before them create those circumstances.. unless we are saying that they were born evil as babies? I don't believe babies can be evil.

donkeykong5

Ben Sheppard is a brilliant interviewer. He raised all questions I would have asked the "filmmaker " as well.

judeboy101

gctest50 wrote: »

.

You forgot the sexual assualt

begbysback

donkeykong5 wrote: »

Do you think the filmmaker should have informed Jamie's parents that he was making a film about their murdered child?

He did, whether that was by daytime tv or previous I don’t know. Either way they were never going to approve of such an alternative perception.

Like I said, the emotional cost is all on the family.

nthclare

begbysback wrote: »

I agree, it seems this short film would benefit society in a deeper understanding, though at a cost to the family of little James.

There are some questions which need to be asked, like is it a case of one boy having an influence over the other, and though what they did cannot be excused, were the kids abused themselves?

I do agree with the filmmaker that asking these questions will help to understand, though the cost to the family has to be acknowledged. It’s probably going to be the most emotionally charged nature v nurture debate.

There's been documentaries about this before, and I'm sure the psychological reports on the child killer's will have a lot of information about the killer's backgrounds.

Wasn't the Chucky movie's banned almost immediately after this happened.

Some of us can remember a lot about this case as the news headlines and papers were peppered with all sorts of conclusions.

I think if you add up all the kids who were the same age of the killer's in the UK from that horrific day until 10 year's ago.

Divide it by the amount of times it happened since, the odds of it happening again will have a huge difference in averages...

Lone Stone

hmm should be an interesting watch. I read some thing about one of them going back in for pedophilia or some ****.

Bannasidhe

nthclare wrote: »

You'll have the usual pattern of people defending these evil bastard's, always from the left.

I seen something a while back about lefties saying paedophiles are another sexual orientation, and how hard it must be to be rejected by society for being a naunce.

If society ever say's it's ok to be a naunce or child killer then Armageddon has surely arrived.

They don't belong here, they're sick twisted and need to be all rounded up and strung up by their nuts and bolts....

nthclare wrote: »

So tell me, how many times this has happened in Ireland or England since it happened ?

The warning signs were there as far as I knew they were not like other kid's, we'd have to delve into a lot of files to filter it out.

Who's mentioning politics ?

I know you like challenging me now and again, but this is a different story....

YOU brought politics into it.
YOU are using horrendous crimes to have a go at what you call "lefties"

Tell me - if, as far as you know the warning signs were there - what were those warning signs? who saw them? Who understood them? How did they learn to recognise them? What files should be delved into? Who complies these files? Where do they get the data to put in these files?

By studying and seeking to understand why people commit these crimes. Not defend. Not excuse. Understand to find ways to prevent.

"Not like other kids" - well shut down all behavioural science units immediately. Apparently "not like other kids" is all we need to know.

As for liking to challange you - I couldn't give a monkeys about you. It's not about YOU. It's about the utter tastelessness of ANYONE using horrific crimes against children to get political digs in.

manonboard

tayto lover wrote: »

Evil psychopaths lack empathy.
My own lads used to cry if our wee dog was sick and they'd sit with him all night.
These evil feckers wanted to inflict pain and enjoyed watching a little tot suffer. Completely different to the norm and completely cunning, calculating and evil.
The world doesn't need their sort.

tayto, as a thought experiment. May i ask,
if your own lads for some reason suddenly had less empathy, either due to a nuerological change, a injury, or a immune system response (some biological trigger).. would you class them as evil? They wouldnt have the ability to make the same decisions as you and I. They would do things that appear evil because they dont feel empathy.
If the answer is no, then i dont think they psychopaths of any type can be called evil consistently since they obviously have experienced something, likely biological, to end up in the same circumstance.

I'm pretty curious in a genuine way. I have autism and when I was younger it took me a very long time to develop empathy to a level like everyone else. The feelings and responses seem so 'far away' that it was too energy consuming/time consuming to surface them. So I certainly did things that I wouldnt do now because i empathize alot more now. I theorized when younger i could be evil.. but later reasoned it's not possible for the reasons stated above. Just curious. Hope its ok that i asked.

donkeykong5

begbysback wrote: »

donkeykong5 wrote: »

Do you think the filmmaker should have informed Jamie's parents that he was making a film about their murdered child?

He did, whether that was by daytime tv or previous I don’t know. Either way they were never going to approve of such an alternative perception.

Like I said, the emotional cost is all on the family.

He did not inform them. They heard about it when the film was oscar nominated. Which is disgusting and sly and not on.

PuppyMcPupFace

manonboard wrote: »

May I ask bambi,
how do you imagine that to be true? Surely what ever things that you describe as evil.. have a cause?
If not, is the only other alternative that you think it spontaneously appears.. if so.. arent you just as likely to be a victim of it, or someone close you know?

To me, evil is just a word people use to attribute to a dark prescence that can't exist as just a regular part of us.. and i think its used as a way to say "I am NOT evil.. look, i can point to others that ARE evil.. so i am NOT"

Whatever made these children do what they did.. They were children.. Those that came before them create those circumstances.. unless we are saying that they were born evil as babies? I don't believe babies can be evil.

Garbage. Utter fluffy liberal useless garbage

begbysback

nthclare wrote: »

Some people will do anything in the name of Art.

You have spoken well of your son, if I may ask a difficult question - if you lived on the same road as the 2 killers, and your son was 10 and wondered off with the other(s), if the other boy had an influence over your son do you think at 10 years old he could have stood up for himself in such a horrific situation?

NaiveMelodies

gctest50 wrote: »

.

I had never read those details before. So upsetting and horrific.

manonboard

PuppyMcPupFace wrote: »

Garbage. Utter fluffy liberal useless garbage

You may label it as such, but if you wish to dispel it. It would do your argument much better to simply show the flaws in it. It seems quite like a decent set of logical induction/deduction.

I know you don't know me. I am not someone that would be considered liberal. I have very conservative views on many topics. I must challenge them and challenge what i replace them with, or else i'm stubborn and destined to not grow.

nthclare

Bannasidhe wrote: »

YOU brought politics into it.
YOU are using horrendous crimes to have a go at what you call "lefties"

Tell me - if, as far as you know the warning signs were there - what were those warning signs? who saw them? Who understood them? How did they learn to recognise them? What files should be delved into? Who complies these files? Where do they get the data to put in these files?

By studying and seeking to understand why people commit these crimes. Not defend. Not excuse. Understand to find ways to prevent.

"Not like other kids" - well shut down all behavioural science units immediately. Apparently "not like other kids" is all we need to know.

As for liking to challange you - I couldn't give a monkeys about you. It's not about YOU. It's about the utter tastelessness of ANYONE using horrific crimes against children to get political digs in.

Where did I mention politics ?

You're the one bringing up politics, I've yet to see where I brought politics into this.

seamus

Vincent Lambe is a highly regarded director, and a far cry from an attention seeker.

The problem here is that the James Bulger murder is a sacred cow of the British tabloid class, and any discussion of the murderers which doesn't characterise them with horns and pitchforks will have them wailing about how it's "too soft" on them and "humanising" them.

Believing the murderers to be just randomly "evil" and beyond explanation helps them avoid uncomfortable truths.

Dyr

manonboard wrote: »

May I ask bambi,
how do you imagine that to be true? Surely what ever things that you describe as evil.. have a cause?
If not, is the only other alternative that you think it spontaneously appears.. if so.. arent you just as likely to be a victim of it, or someone close you know?

To me, evil is just a word people use to attribute to a dark prescence that can't exist as just a regular part of us.. and i think its used as a way to say "I am NOT evil.. look, i can point to others that ARE evil.. so i am NOT"

Whatever made these children do what they did.. They were children.. Those that came before them create those circumstances.. unless we are saying that they were born evil as babies? I don't believe babies can be evil.

Can we forgo the first year philosophy student beard scratching and strawman carry on?