A classic for annals of the death of right and wrong:
The megahit “Desperate Housewives” (which I will admit to never watching) has a very special message for everyone, so you better listen up: if someone is “slow” and murders a 17-year-old girl they’re not a killer, they’re “confused.” Also, you can be “sweet” but dangerous. Lovely.
Apparently there’s a character who’s been living in the basement of one of the women on the show. Now it’s revealed that person is a murder suspect. Here’s the underlying leftist social message, from the AP:
Caleb, being held in secret by neighborhood newcomer Betty Applewhite (Alfre Woodard), may be responsible for the killing four months ago of a teenage girl in Chicago _ a crime for which another man has been arrested.
“It’s time we talked about her, Caleb,” Betty tells him after seeing a TV news report of the arrest. “Until you start accepting responsibility for what happened, you know I can’t let you out of here.”
Page Kennedy, the actor playing Caleb, remained a barely glimpsed mystery figure before Sunday. He’s glad to emerge from the shadows, but careful not to disclose much about his character.
“I do know that he’s sweet but he can be very dangerous,” Kennedy told The Associated Press…
During Sunday’s episode, Betty is seen composing a letter to Chicago police advising that an innocent person is in custody. Her son, Matthew (Mehcad Brooks), warns her that she’s putting Caleb, who appears to be in his 20s and developmentally disabled, in danger.
“He’s not a killer,” she said. “He was confused.”
“They’re not gonna care how slow Caleb is. They’ll just execute him,” Mehcad replies.
Just one more reason to turn off the television. The problem is, of course, is that while you may find this tripe worthy of rejecting, millions of others will sit hypnotically in front of the television (as they do every night) and soak this absurdity in.
At the same time, the character is right–I don’t care how “slow” someone is, and neither should you. It does not take a high IQ to know right from wrong. And every “slow” person out there should be just as outraged by the suggestion that the intellectually average or even retarded are prone to violence.
The issue of the value of current prime-time television programming is fairly straightforward. Tripe is rampant. For those who hypnotically view the tripe, heaven help them.
The issue of justice for victims of crimes committed by people who have mental retardation is comparatively complex. People who have mental retardation often have other associated conditions. For example, there is a positive relationship between childhood exposure to lead poisoning and mental retardation, and a condition also associated with lead poisoning is a general lack of impulse control. Is a child exposed to lead poisoning responsible for a crime committed due to his lack of impulse control?
I think justice for victims of crimes committed by people who have mental retardation should be determined on a case-by-case basis.
Crimes committed by anyone, including people who have mental retardation, are tragic. Some people who have mental retardation are responsible for their actions, but I would argue that others are not.