Crime TV is my thing. In particular, it’s the murder investigations that hold my interest most. News, sports, comedy is not as compelling as it used to be. It is the fascination with criminal stupidity that can keep me spellbound for hours.
There is no better babysitter. I can watch an episode, dose off for a few hours, wake up and the same episode will be replaying. If lucky, I might wake up at the point of the story I fell asleep.
Of the plethora of crime genres, from serial killers, trucker killers, spouse killers, kid killers, jilted lover killers, to greed motivated killers, it is the stories of crimes committed by accomplices that I can’t fathom. For as long as I can remember, I was taught that “You don’t do bad, but, if you do, do it by yourself.” The rationale being that if there is more than one participant, somebody is going to talk.
So, I don’t understand how anyone gets an idea to do something stupid and heinous and is able to find some one or several just as stupid to participate.
It is challenging enough to find one person to like the same music, same physical activity, same number of children to create, same financial goals. There seems to be no end of stories where criminal-minded individuals have no problem finding someone else to rob a bank, steal cars, burglarize businesses or worse, go on a killing spree. Is the idea broached the same way you would ask someone to go have a beer or catch a sporting event?
How do you even ask someone to be stupid with you? What’s your sign? Do you like long walks on the beach where there might be innocent, vulnerable people all alone? Or do you like something more fast paced like carjacking? Or, even something as subtle as a mob beating of a single person who doesn’t fit a preconceived norm? And how lucky the like-minded stupid-mate must be. Of all the people in the world, you chose me.
Maybe it isn’t that hard to find one person who is just as jilted by social guidelines. But, four, eight, 12? What would convince or excite 11 college students to join one nutcase to lure another innocent student to a location and physically beat him?
This month, 12 male college students, ages 18-21, have been charged with several crimes after they lured a fellow student to an off-campus apartment and physically beat him because they didn’t agree with his personal dating preferences. All the villains are of age to legally enter a business agreement. While maybe not fully, mentally developed, we can assume they are old enough and developed enough and trained enough to know this was a crime and very stupid. And how could the ringleader not know that at minimum, two of the dozen would squeal under the slightest pressure?
With today’s technology, stupidity is easily captured. One of the 12 recorded the crime and showed it to others who were not involved. From the evidence, authorities were able to make immediate arrests and file charges. Too quick to make an interesting hour-long episode. The university has temporarily suspended the dirty dozen. They are no longer allowed to be on campus or engage academically in person or virtually. The victim is recovering from broken ribs and bruises received during the assault.
I prefer my TV criminals to act alone. It takes a little longer to catch them. And, it is a little easier to understand that an individual may go off the normal human behavior grid and act out in the wrong way. But to successfully solicit others with like deviousness, I will never comprehend.
In the words of my stepdad, a very wise man, “Do good. Do good with others. But, if you do bad, do it by yourself.”
https://daily-journal.com/opinion/jackson-with-today-s-technology-stupidity-is-easily-captured/article_a1322c82-a2ad-11ef-aa30-b70d617b759f.html