Editorial on, "To Catch a Predator"

Last night, I settled in to watch some TV and came across a NBC show, "To Catch A Predator." I must say, this show has good entertainment value as it combines all that is taboo in society including: sex, (illegal at that) crime, voyeurism, on-line chatting with all that is "morally just," including: "baiting" a sexual predator, catching him in the act, filming it as evidence, to arresting and booking him. Yes, NBC has hit a home run here with combining all these elements and more in TCAP. In all seriousness, I have to give TCAP my vote for STUPIDSHITE "TV Show of the Year." The show expertly portrays the ignorance of America on many different levels. I first would like to state that NO SEX OFFENSES ARE JUSTIFIABLE UNDER ANY CONDITIONS. It's how we as a culture deal with these issues that I find so interesting.

First, we have Chris Hansen, the host of TCAP, in all his high and mighty moral dignity. Granted, Chris feels as if he is doing an admirable deed here, catching all these "slimy undesirables" acting in the most deplorable ways. Some of the guys (almost always white males between 25-40) drive hundreds of miles to get the "bait" In this case, the "bait" is a young woman acting as a thirteen year-old girl on the internet. The guys chat up this young woman, inevitably talking about sex, and sometimes more (masturbation, lewd pictures etc.) Some of these individuals get into their cars and head over to the girls house, which is "the trap." (set up by NBC and police.) The look on the men's faces as they arrive at the house are like a kid who just stole a box of candy bars. These individuals obviously have mental health issues that have not been dealt with. The men walk into the house, sit and chat with the girl until Chris Hansen walks in and confronts the "predators." Often, Hansen greets them in very congenial ways, adding to the strangeness of the entire situation. At first, you see these men react in disbelief having been caught in their most secretive moments, on camera, in front of millions of people. Oh my! Talk about getting caught with your pants down! The looks on these individuals faces goes from disbelief to utter despair within seconds. Many of the "predators" get up and try to leave/escape only to be greeted outside the house by the police who immediately arrest them, guns drawn. A whole range of emotions/reactions are present, from anger and rage at these individuals, a sense of relief that they have been caught, to a strange kind of "greek tragedy, "black comedic" element that pervades throughout the entire scene. Many of the "predators" admit to having watched the show!

Anyway, as previously stated, all this drama makes for an interesting hour of entertainment power. All in all, There were seven individuals caught on the show, which was filmed in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Below, I have presented a few observations regarding TCAP and how we deal with these types of problems in our society.


Chris Hansen



Good Guys vs. Bad Guys

The show depicts the "predators" as the Bad Guys and the police, the young lady, and Hansen as the good guys. This is like a weird re-invention of the American Western. Very clearly defined lines are drawn. Predator = bad, everyone else = good. Although, it seems rather straight forward and logical, I believe this is an oversimplification of good and bad, and ultimately a false paradigm. Let me explain.

One of elements that draws the viewer into TCAP, is that the "predators" caught are people who in many ways appear "normal." These folks are doctors, ex-police officers, construction workers, etc. Some even draw on our sympathies as one individual had a severe medical condition. We have come to understand in recent years that "predators" come from all walks of life. Individuals with mental health issues can easily get themselves into trouble with access to the internet and the ability to communicate so freely. Hence, we live in a society that now states a "predator" can be anyone, even your NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR. So you see, a show like TCAP is able to capture individuals in our society that are at their weakest moments and at the depths of their mental illness. I AM IN NO WAY JUSTIFYING THE ACTIONS OF THESE INDIVIDUALS, I AM ONLY STATING MY OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THIS SHOW. The bottom line here is, do we equate human weakness with being a BAD PERSON? Does the bus stop there? I think this issue is much more complex than the show makes BAD AND GOOD out to be.


Pornography - Erotic/Sexual Images in Culture

Sexual images have been common place in our society for thousands of years. Ancient Egyptians put pornographic images on their pots and other artifacts. I am not going to get into a whole dissertation about pornography here, I just would like to state that humans have been using pornographic images as a component for exploring sexuality since "the beginning." Now that we live in a hyper media saturated/internet based culture where everything is so accessible, including pornography, individuals are able to explore their sexual curiosities online with unabated "freedom." The problem here is that individuals with low-self esteem, sexual dysfunction, and various tendencies towards sexual perversion are able to act out in ways that are criminal on the internet. Hence, the "predator" tag comes into being as you have these individuals communicating with innocent children. To break it down, the basic issues are: 1) accessibility/ability to sexually fantasize on the internet 2) the ability to chat or come into contact with minors who are subject to deviant sexual criminal behavior.

Do we go as far as to say that PORNOGRAPHY is the culprit here? Do we get rid of all the PORNOGRAPHY in the world and that will take care of the problem? That's not going to happen. How about the internet? Do we make it illegal to chat on the internet? Throw everyone in jail who chats on the internet? That's not going to happen. Catch all the "predators" in shows like TCAP? and morally "sanitize" our society from all sexual deviants? That's not going to happen.

Educating our society about these various psychological conditions would probably be a better way to start. I will explain further below.


Why no women "predators" in TCAP?

Recently, there have been a few female "predator" cases, most notably the Deb LaFave case. What makes her case so interesting is that Deb was a school teacher and a very attractive woman, the exact opposite of what we might think of as a profile for a sexual predator of children. Perhaps Hansen and NBC can do a TCAP focusing on women.

On the internet, male sexual predators are often characterized as being "scum of the earth" perverts, but when it comes to someone like LaFave, she is often characterized as nothing more than a "slut." This characterization is obviously misguided, ignorant, and sexist, but it brings light to how our society "sees" sexually deviant behavior. Even if a TCAP edition devoted to catching women turns up not attracting as many "predators," this would allow for a more in depth discussion regarding the overall problems our society faces regarding sexually deviant behavior.


Deb LeFave

Disturbing "BIG GAME HUNTER" Approach

A disturbing element to this show, besides the predators themselves, are the wholesale exposure of HUNTING human beings by police officers. This is almost apocalyptic by it's nature and reminds me of the novel, "The Lord of the Flies." Also, the show portrays police officers as big game hunters of human beings. In this show they even lay bait, by using a young woman!!! Regarding psychological symbols, what do these images describe to millions of viewers, many of them children. That young woman can be used like "fishing/hunting bait" and that police officers are doing this to catch their "big game' with guns drawn? Talk about alienating images!! I said hello to an NYPD officer the other day and I realized it almost seemed "foreign" to me. Is that how we are setting up our society today? Having law enforcement be a feared and eavesdropping entity that can hunt us all down at any given moment? The novel "1984" comes to mind here. Big Brother? Are you watching?

Sexual Perversion/Crime/ The FUTURE

I was having a disagreement with a friend of mine regarding sexual perversion as it related to criminal behavior. My stance is that all criminal behavior is in fact BEHAVIORAL, in that it has been created through human experience/condition, and depending on the degree of the problem/illness can be addressed and corrected BEFORE a crime has been committed. My friend stated that she felt perversion was, in fact, well, perversion that could not be helped or cured. The problem that I have with this point of view, is that it leaves us with "no where to go" scenario as a society. The "perversion is perversion" argument is a "dead end" and ultimately can create a dangerous hierarchical way of thinking which cultivates hatred and other negative judgmental stereotyped behaviors. As per many religious institutions in the world today, we are taught to be compassionate, even to those who have tried to kill us. This means all living things. The problem with TCAP, is that it creates a polarized image of morality in our culture. Sure, the show gets a bunch of sexual predators off the streets and this make for good television and helps the greater good to a certain degree, but what do we really need to do in order to make strides in our society regarding these very passionate and emotionally charged issues.

A long term approach of promoting awareness and helping individuals with psychological issues to get HELP for their problems seems to be more of a proactive long term solution to curing some of societies ills. Also, working with young people to help them better understand the power of communication (as exhibited on the internet), self-empowerment, and the ability to make choices to control ones own life would also be a good area to focus on.

Overall, the GOAL should be to create a society that supports one another rather than alienating itself from ITSELF! Otherwise, are we going to keep building more prisons to fill up? What happens when the criminal/prison population becomes bigger then the just and morally correct society? What do we do then? Perhaps Chris Hansen can run a special on CBS about how people found help in their lives before going down the dark shadowy roads of the internet and other places, turned their lives around and have healthy and productive lives. A show like that probably wouldn't make for very entertaining television, eh Chris?

Happy New Year's Everyone!!!


Lupiani