MovieChat Forums > Ginger Snaps: Unleashed (2004) Discussion > Sympathy for the handsome rapist

Sympathy for the handsome rapist

posted 11 years ago by kukumav
3 replies | jump to latest

Aaaaamazing how twisted human nature is - Here is a truly evil guy taking advantage of people in their darkest hour and it's okay for so many on this board, at least he's not some "ugly old freak".
" Well the girls seemed to be enjoying it too y'know, it's not like he forced them" - Right, because addiction has no physical effects on the body and because all you need is will power to overcome those cravings - What Tyler did was no different than threatening to pour that last bottle of water on hot desert sand while you were dying of thirst. Of course they did whatever he asked of them.
But he gets away with a sympathy vote because he's that kinda hot blond dude.
What's even more disguasting is the desperate women siding with him - or should I say wo-men ?

This movie was brilliant in its portrayal of abuse. Tyler abused their weakness, Ghost abused their trust. They were both predators in their own way but of course the handsome bloke gets the pat on the back.

[–] freeist 11 years ago

First, who are you quoting?

Having been on several Ginger Snaps fan forums, I've never seen anybody write about him with the reverence that Sam is given. It seems to me if they like Tyler, it's by throwing away everything about his character except the image; and Eric Johnson, who played Tyler, is attractive.

As for the "sympathy vote" (?) or females siding with him, people don't apply the same morality to fantasy as they do to real life. Why should they? No real people can be hurt. The character is dangerous neither to the viewer or anybody else. You can't apply real morality to relationships between a fantasy characters and the real world.

One question to contemplate is how Tyler saw his crimes? His dealings with Brigitte and Ghost toward the end hinted that he considered his sexual abuse to be subversive, but not shameful. It is easy when you're talking about how a character sees himself to sound like you approve of his behavior.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] freeist 9 years ago

Some of them disturbed me. Particularly the ones who said the girls deserved it, or quoted Ghost as saying the girls were happy (and that was apparently what Tyler told Ghost). But there was little understanding that addiction is an illness. They judged the girls as immoral and therefore deserving of what Tyler did. It was really a variant on slut-shaming. And rape isn't natural justice. Nobody deserves to be punished with rape.

I think Tyler himself felt justified because he believed the females he raped were "sluts." I notice he made no such advance on Ghost, and he knew Ghost was capable of murder. So, really the people answering your post agree with Tyler's moral code, but not his self-serving notion of natural justice. Sadly, I think that's

But you asked people who they hated most. When weighed that against Ghosts actions, hands down, Tyler comes out better. Ghost coldly put her grandmother into constant, excruciating and endless, bedridden pain. She delighted in the details of planning it. She had fantasies of torture. She imprisoned Brigitte to use her to commit more murders.

Tyler deceived himself into thinking he was the good guy, just a bit subversive. Ghost didn't even pretend to be good, except to fool others.

So, I have to say on the balance of it, Tyler comes out better. That's not to say he shouldn't have been put in prison for a long time for what he did.

And I'm not a believer in natural justice. He didn't deserve to die. I said before that I would have preferred a version of the screenplay where Brigitte kills Ghost, Tyler and Alice. As werewolves go, Brigitte was a pacifist. Very lame. She needed therapy. Tyler should have never walked out of her room alive the first time he visited her.