[Miscellany]

The other day I serendipitously found a discarded DVD from unknown origins on the street, which I immediately popped into my player and discovered it was that new gangland inspired Aussie mini-series (my story and I'm sticking to it). You see, due to the fact that all this mafia malarky happened not that far from where I'm sitting right now and is still being trialled in this fair city us Melbournians are yet to see the show on our television screens this is despite the fact that the rest of you sods have seen it. Seems a little unfair but hey, whaddya gonna do? (find a copy on a street, probably).

Anyway the discarded DVD from unknown origins held about three episodes of the show and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with it. As a fan of The Sopranos I expected our version to be well not quite right. It's different, and it should be - but it's real and gritty, which is exactly how things are. It's well made, well acted and fucking scary. Not scary in the horror movie sense but scary in that it's all true - or near enough anyway - to be a worry. Killing people because of "business" or just because you didn't like their face is a truth that happens in this world. I can't imagine a world more far removed from my own but it exists right outside my door anyway. I guess I never really had to think about it because it never actually involved the likes of me but thinking about it further I realise that maybe we are all affected, even if we don't realise it.

The mini-series takes a bit of a 'play by play' account of what went on in the hey day of the gangland murders in Melbourne. It starts with the origins and then moves into how things got out of hand and with whom. What interests me aside from the details is the innocent bystanders that get suckered into the vortex of organised crime without actually meaning to. I mean, the people who happen to be standing nearby on a bad day, but more so the people that fall in love with the criminals themselves and then somehow are implicated into all the violence and lawlessness.

Many of the storylines about these mafia men also focus on the women around them. So far there's been the friend of the girl who is sleeping with the gangster who witnesses a cold blooded murder. She decides to testify but immediately it becomes apparent that actually she's not going to testify at all, she's going to go on a long trip to London with her friend and hopefully never be seen again.

Then there's the Stripper - the ex wife of a bikie who washes her hands clean of the bloke but he says he's with her at the time he commits a murder she decides to testify that actually no he wasn't with her at all and so she's gunned down in bed, after the trial has been said and done. A revenge killing.

I'm sure there are many more similar stories of people who have gotten involved on the outskirts of crime but who are affected - simply because they fell in love with the people committing the crimes. Maybe they knew they were criminals before they got involved with them - maybe it became apparent later - but in any case these people are involved without directly being involved (if you know what I mean). I wonder if there are stories of men who marry women who are either in the crime world or who are daughters of crime figures - who then do something wrong (by the girl) but are then killed ...you know just because they can be.

I wonder about these people who fall in love with criminals or people associated with criminals. I think that if I came across a bloke who had dubious connections I would run a country mile - at least I hope I would. But who knows how the heart will react?

I guess you could say that if you get involved with crime then you suffer the implications but I wonder if the heart really has a stronger say in the matter.

What if you fell in love, I mean real love, with a man/woman who was involved in crime somehow? Would you ignore your heart and walk away or would you take your chances and stay with them? Can your heart ever really be ignored? And if your heart CAN be ignored, then is anyone who ever gets involved with a no hoper of some kind ever really a victim?

Also, what I'm dying to ask but not sure if I should is; would you ever testify against your ex/current if they did something unlawful? What if they threatened your kid or you if you testified? Would you testify anyway? Is this too explosive a question to ask?

Labels: Crazy Nutters, law, loony loony loony, love, news, pop culture, relationships, TV

posted by M at 8:13 pm 11 comments

Last year I wrote a post about how disgusted I was by the rape and subsequent posting of that FILMED ASSAULT of that young girl on YouTube and then the selling of that DVD to the local High Schools.

For those of you who didn't click on the link above let me outline this for you.

A young girl, with developmental delay was lured into a clearing by a group of boys where she was filmed being penetrated, urinated upon, SET ALIGHT, spat at and laughed at (ie: tortured).

The movie given a title Cunt: The Movie was then distributed and sold by those boys to students in local high schools for around $5 in the community where that girl lived.

That film was then posted on YouTube where it was viewed thousands of times.

This didn't happen in Iraq or Afghanistan by the way, it happened in Melbourne's western suburbs.

The boys were apprehended, after a search - some even dobbed in by their parents. The boys pleaded guilty.

Well, this week the verdict is in.

What do you think they deserve? They pleaded guilty. They are guilty. They are disgusting.

Hm?

Nothing. They get off. Well the ones who have already faced court have anyway.

Oh right, yes they need to attend a course which deals with how to treat women with respect but apart from that little is done by way of punishment. I'm sure handing them a shiny present like escaping punishment will really teach them a lesson.

I'm just at a loss for any real way to convey how horrified I am by the light hand being dealt these boys. PARIS HILTON WENT TO JAIL FOR DRIVING WHILE HIGH, these boys RAPED A GIRL, FILMED HER TORTURE and then SOLD IT. They PLEADED GUILTY and they are let off.

Should they be rotting in jail? Yes.

But why aren't they?

How can guilty men NOT be convicted justly in a court of law? A court of law which is set up supposedly to protect men as well as women. Not just men.

And I have to ask the real question - how can women EVER trust in our system of law (and law enforcement) to keep us safe from crimes such as rape and aggravated assault when it's evident that even the guilty don't get a conviction?

Already we are too scared to report these crimes in the first place. Statistics show that the number of rapes that are reported only indicate a VERY SMALL fraction of those rapes that actually DO OCCUR. Furthermore even when the crime is reported not many convictions seem to happen or if they do, they aren't ever long enough or harsh enough. After they get out, many rape again, and again. Indeed according to recent article in The Age

CONVICTION rates for rape in Victoria may have fallen below 1 per cent of all rapes committed, based on an examination of police records combined with government surveys and courts data.

Why is this happening?

Do women matter so little in this world that crimes committed TOWARDS us (as yes, I am personally affronted by this, and you should be too) are swept so carelessly under the carpet? This is something we need to address.

Is the case for women so hopeless that we've stopped fighting? No one says anything - are we scared or scarred? Furthermore, why aren't our fathers, brothers, husbands and people who love us, publicly up in arms about it? Why is it that of the few voices that speak out - almost all of them are those of women? Sorry to be overly cynical but if we're not being heard in the court room then certainly we're not being heard in the public arena. Obviously these are not just a women's issues anyway. These are issues that people should TALK about, both men and women - but sadly no one ever wants to.

This shit has gone on long enough - this is not a girl being overly emotional and hysterical here. We are being wronged.

Labels: dirty femmo, disgust, law, no musical monday today, questions, rape, why

posted by M at 9:23 pm 23 comments