Snatched
The snatching of Kansas teen, Kelsey Smith, from a Target lot at dusk was obscene. Taking someone by force from a public parking lot in front of a popular store in daylight? That is serious adrenaline in very evil form. In fact, it reminds me of a movie I saw last weekend, "Mr. Brooks".
If you haven't seen it yet, "Brooks" portrays a serial killer who gets a spectacular rush from murdering strangers with the help of his very logical and cunning alter ego, Marshall. Long story short, there are scenes of Mr. Brooks teaching a serial killer trainee how to do the job. In particular, they drive around town looking at people coming out of shops, restaurants, walking down the street, intent on choosing one to kill. The scene is surreal and dangerously entertaining precisely because it conveys that rush of excitement you feel when you're on the hunt to find the very best whatever at a big sale.
But this hunt for people, for murdering people, could it really happen that way? That...casually? What disturbed me most about the movie was not the graphic scenes, but the notion that someone somewhere is watching. They are watching from a detached perspective with dark intentions.
I'm a crime analyst by trade and read plenty of police reports about people behaving badly. I know Kelsey's kidnapping is not the first time someone has been taken this way; children all over the world are snatched under our noses every day. This one is just especially vile to me. Maybe the coincidence of "Mr. Brooks" having opened the day before is too unsettling. Or maybe it's because another murderer has proven with their actions how powerful the God-given gift of free will really is.
If you haven't seen it yet, "Brooks" portrays a serial killer who gets a spectacular rush from murdering strangers with the help of his very logical and cunning alter ego, Marshall. Long story short, there are scenes of Mr. Brooks teaching a serial killer trainee how to do the job. In particular, they drive around town looking at people coming out of shops, restaurants, walking down the street, intent on choosing one to kill. The scene is surreal and dangerously entertaining precisely because it conveys that rush of excitement you feel when you're on the hunt to find the very best whatever at a big sale.
But this hunt for people, for murdering people, could it really happen that way? That...casually? What disturbed me most about the movie was not the graphic scenes, but the notion that someone somewhere is watching. They are watching from a detached perspective with dark intentions.
I'm a crime analyst by trade and read plenty of police reports about people behaving badly. I know Kelsey's kidnapping is not the first time someone has been taken this way; children all over the world are snatched under our noses every day. This one is just especially vile to me. Maybe the coincidence of "Mr. Brooks" having opened the day before is too unsettling. Or maybe it's because another murderer has proven with their actions how powerful the God-given gift of free will really is.
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