Friday, October 23, 2009
Cops
I am driving a l-o-n-g w-a-y (Chicago to Phoenix) with my daughter and father, so we have the sky to talk about. As my dad and daughter were talking about some episodes of Cops, I was thinking those shows about people being arrested or getting traffic tickets are forms of epicaricacy, or for the Germans, Schadenfreude. Why would people watch those shows if they didn't enjoy them? They are getting enjoyment out of others' misfortunes. How sad.
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Is there a difference between epicaricacy/schadenfreude and seeing bad people get their just desserts?
I'd have said that all the real-life cops type police shows (and we have them here too) aren't for people who enjoy watching other people's suffering. They always seem to me to be a (mostly failed) attempt to reassure the public that the bad guys always get caught and punished.
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