Warmbier, Victim Blaming, and the Not-So-Small Screen

Good day.

We here at Raccoon Inc. would like to say a word of apology for not posting anything for years.  A situation has arisen, however, that must be addressed.  That situation is this:

We looked around // and then we found // the man for you and me!

Granted, it's not a new or even that emergent of a situation, but rather one that I think people need reminding of.  Not the movie, either, mind you.  The movie was great!  Still in my top five all time.  No, what I'd like to cast your attention to is a very sharp comment by Mr. Hitler.

"If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed."

And he should know!  The man was a master manipulator, and he was not wrong in this regard.  If you have a lie and it's big enough and you say it enough, it will indeed get drilled into everyone's head.  This sort of back and forth, nebulous grip that we have on the "truth" was highlighted thematically very recently in the third season of FX's show Fargo.

Perception of reality becomes reality.

See?  Whether or not something is complete bull doesn't matter as long as you believe it is true, and this is where we get to the meat of what we here at Raccoon Inc.'s editorial board would like to get at. Presenting: the late Mr. Otto Warmbier.

There's a cool shot of the young man.

This is the young gentleman who went on a New Years (2016) vacation to North Korea, was ostensibly charged with theft for stealing a propaganda poster, tried and sentenced to fifteen (15!) years hard labour. After a year, North Korea released him back to the United States in a come where he died roughly a week later after it was found that he had received significant neurological damage due to indeterminate causes. Here are the pictures that were released by North Korea of the trial.

Uh huh.

Mmhmm.

Gotcha.

As for proof that he actually stole the poster, the North Koreans offer this hard hitting evidence.

In flagrante delicto!

Cameras don't lie, right?  Clearly, we've caught our criminal mastermind.

Eat your heart out, Varga.

So at this point, I'd just like to say that this is all nonsense.  Complete and utter nonsense.  Garbage. Please, bear in mind that the information that you're receiving here, the "evidence", comes from a show trial.  For greater emphasis:

A COMMUNIST SHOW TRIAL

It's a show trial.  It's designed to be shown to the people.  You mess with the boss and this is what you get, right?  The actual guilt?  The actual crime?  Confessions are forced.  Charges are fabricated. Evidence is likewise created.

Everything's made up and the points don't matter.

It's all second to the pageantry.  The American kid cried on the stand and said that he wanted to take the poster back to his church as a trophy.  Is there are more perfect picture that they could have painted than this one?  Parading an American kid in front of the cameras for a bit "trial" will show the rest of the DPRK two very important things.  One is that while those Americans think they are so big and tough, they can't just walk in here and do what they want while they're in our house.  Two is that if a rich American kid can't get away with stealing such a paltry thing as a poster, no one can.  No one is above the law.  No one.  And for a church yet!

Bosh!  Flimshaw!

The original claim was that Otto had "carried out a hostile act against the DRPK".  Is there any veracity to that at all?  Well, this is from the same people who claimed that Kim Jong Il shot a 38 under par at the Pyongyang Golf Club.  Would you believe that?

You have selected "No".

We could go on about the outrageous claims that the DPRK or any other totalitarian regime has made, but the point is that when you control the message, you control the truth.  Did Otto steal or do anything at all? Who knows, but I wouldn't believe anything the DPRK had to say about it.  The truth of the matter is that the DPRK always likes to have a few American hostages on hand in case of emergency.  It's a good insurance policy.  He didn't have to steal anything or do anything.  He may just have had his number drawn.  It's that simple.  So no one's actually going to believe that he stole anything, are they?

"Is it wrong of me to think that Otto Warmbier got exactly what he deserved?  I see him crying at his sentencing hearing and think, 'What did you expect?"     
- (Now Former) University of Delaware Professor Katherine Detwyler

"North Korea Proves Your White Male Privilege is Not Universal"
- Huffington Post Headline

"Why Do People Blame Otto Warmbier For His North Korea Sentence? Privilege Can Sometimes Come At A Price"
- Bustle Headline

And we could go on, but you get the drift.  The idea is that he earned his fate because karma.  Rich white kid pokes the bear and gets mauled.  

This is total nonsense.  There is this idea that he somehow poked the bear, and to believe that you have to believe that he attempted to swipe a poster, which, I say, is nonsense.  When you go back to the whole question of what truth is, it's completely counter-productive to believe anything that North Korea says because it's whole existence is predicated upon lies.  It is a creature that must lie in order to survive, and if we believe them, the joke's on us.  Instead, we must look coolly at the facts.  An American kid bought a tour to North Korea, the kid was arrested attempting to leave the country, the kid was tortured, and North Korea spit him back out just in time to ensure that the kid's death was not on their soil.

And that's about it.  Any attempts to shoehorn privilege or victim blaming is really just an attempt to grab edgy headlines and ultimately should be ignored.

Please, stick to reputable sources.

BONUS ROUND

Oh, and one last little non-sequitur here today before we call it a wrap.  (I'm gonna call these little ending side-notes the BONUS ROUND from now on.  Seems catchy.  Games still have bonus rounds, right?)  Back to the subject of David Thewlis.

Merry Christmas

In Season 3 of the FX show Fargo, David Thewlis played a wonderfully slimy villain and it was a sort of creepy kind of joy to see the actor open up the valve and convey an almost omnipotent brand of menace. Damn.  Fine.  Work.  Now contrast Varga with this:

And a Happy Remembrance Day

Thewlis' Ares in Wonder Woman was flat, boring, lazy and hollow compared to the gleefully villainous Varga to the point where it's almost a waste to plug him in there and hope that something good happens. In fact, the thought that crossed my mind is, why am I even watching movies anymore?

It's not just Thewlis, either.  There are a host of good examples of brilliant television performances that turn to stone in blockbusters.

Is it better here...

...or here?

Number one...

...or number two?

Is it clearer now...

...or now?

How about A...

...or B?

I could go on all day like this, but the amount of money and time I spend on great big theatre going movies is decreasing steadily when there is a just plain better product available in my living room at no extra charge.

And that's all the time we have for today.  Thank you very much for reading and have a wonderful day!