Rational Criminal

While surfing through the channels on TV just the other day, I stopped at one channel watching Alfred Hitchcock speaking. I think at that time, he was talking about violence in movies and what society has become. He was referring to violence in real life. At that moment, he was telling a story that could be chillingly true in real life –that a robber with a gun in his hand is telling the victim ‘I am so sorry that I have to do it, but I am helpless and poor. I will not harm you much except for the money.  Please forgive me for what I have done.’ After telling this, the robber takes all the money from the victim, picks up his gun and then shoots him through his heart. Mr. Hitchcock was saying that in “reel” life, he knew it was an irrational plot for a film as the criminal knew what he was doing and was also talking very rationally until he committed that heinous act. But in modern day society, he knew that (It was an interview in the later part of his life) such an incident could not be ruled out.

Since at that time, I was also going through a similar thought process, his example resonated in my mind very strongly. Hitchcock’s premise was very true. Because in modern times, you don’t say what is true, or what you want to say. You only utter what the lawyer has asked you to. I will not give the example of Netahr iKand or AjmalKasab ,as their crimes are beyond the imagination of all (almost!) living humans.But let us take incidents from day to day life experience where we see people doing exactly the opposite of what they are prophesying. Have all of us transmogrified ourselves into the impossible rational criminal as Hitchcock has narrated in his story?

Also read Nilaknatha  ,Meghe Dhaka Tara