MovieChat Forums > Midnight Express (1978) Discussion > Does anyone feel sorry for Bill Hayes af...

Does anyone feel sorry for Bill Hayes after seeing the movie?

posted 17 years ago by Elmware
95 replies | jump to latest

I sure don't feel sorry for him. He broke the law in another country and therefore should be punished in that country. Who does he think he is? To think that just because he's American, that he has the God given rights to smuggle drugs out of any country he pleases! The Americans should have been thanking Turkey for preventing a shipment of Hash from going straight into their country.

I think the Americans should have deported him back to Turkey to finish his sentence irregardless of how they treat their prisoners there.

[–] Splarne 10 years ago

the movie, i felt sympathy for him.

now, i just got finished watching this nat geo thing with the real billy hayes.... and let's just say he should face extradition back to turkey. i would have no problem believing that he has been shuttling back and forth to thailand doing the same thing now.

he was a ballsy smuggler and pretty much typical of a wide portion of the american population at the time. he had no clue there were any negative consequences to his actions, and then miraculously had a moment of repentance because they threw him in a cell with no blanket.

boo hoo, billy.

***

Go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!

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[–] baran_erik 9 years ago

You're an idiot.

[–] MoviemanCin 8 years ago

Yes I do. I realize he broke the law and deserved to be punished, but not with a 30 year sentence. That was cruel and unusual punishment.

Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar and doesn't.

[–] Mixalidis 8 years ago

No. You'd get a lot more than 3-4 years in most countries today for that, am I correct? He was already dissatisfied with that initial court decision. And yes, he acted like a self-entitled American at that point. I mean, what was he expecting?

Obviously, the 2nd court decision and happened to him in prison was awful.

Ironically, the real Billy Hayes is much worse- he smuggled drugs multiple times, enjoyed the support of the State Department throughout, managed to escape and became a celebrity.

[–] liscarkat (19031) 3 years ago

He could easily have avoided the entire nightmare by not committing the crime in the first place. He got himself into the mess by his own stupid decision. I do not feel sorry for him.

[–] Zarkoff (2147) a year ago

He was impulsive and made very foolish decisions, but I don't think he deserved such harsh treatment, no.