Primetime

Public shaming and Retribution I think this movie had a lot of potential in its premise. We have this character who believes he is not merely justified, but in fact a hero, for baiting pedophiles and shaming them on television. He believes in retribution. Although his worldview is presented very clearly, we never really get to see the opposing worldview; that of empathy, forgiveness and rehabilitation. There are no characters that philosophically oppose Chris Hansen. The TV executive at the start says he doesn’t like the show, but he doesn’t say it is morally wrong or anything. The producer woman occasionally criticizes Chris, but only because he’s doing a bad job or making her look bad. The morality of the show is almost not adressed. But the one character that does seem to question the morality of the show in the end is Dan Plum (Decoy Dan). I guess it’s nice that the movie recognizes the fucked up nature of the show. But as far as an engaging plot goes, I think the movie lacked real philosophical conflict. There are only 2 moments where Chris kind of is getting challenged. The first when he’s informed about the photos of his affair. For the first time, he will be the subject of public shaming, instead of its assistent. But this moment is not really caused by his show, but just by his affair. The only real challenge to his beliefs comes at the climax when the government official kills himself. But we’re already at the end, so there’s not really any character arc here.