One of the things that really bothered me was the categorization of the crime as a misdemeanor.
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Foxbarking — 9 years ago(January 23, 2017 12:28 AM)
Complete nonsense. Yeah they did some incredibly idiotic things but that hardly makes them sociopaths. Though very tasteless and dangerous and criminal, there was nothing sociopathic about their behavior.
There was plenty of indication that at the very least, Sean would be wracked with guilt by what happened. Ethan may not be. However, neither of them seemed to think they were the victims of anything.
You could afford to take out a DSM-V, look up antisocial personality disorder (the diagnostic term for "sociopath") and educate yourself on the things you say before you say them. -
Foxbarking — 9 years ago(January 23, 2017 12:47 AM)
It might make them cruel but it definitely doesn't make them a sociopath.
I think it's dangerous when people throw around terms like that to people they DO NOT apply to so haphazardly. When you label behavior that is clearly not up to the level of a sociopath as such, you can cause people to be more dismissive of actual sociopathic behavior.
What is the Definition of a Sociopath?
The DSM-5 defines antisocial personality disorder as "[a] pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others, occurring since age 15 years, as indicated by three (or more) of the following:- Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors, as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest.
- Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure.
- Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead.
- Irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults.
- Reckless disregard for safety of self or others.
- Consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations.
- Lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another."
It's important to note that sociopathic children do not exist as a person cannot be diagnosed as a socipath until age 18. While the patterns of behavior and personality traits exist prior to adulthood, until then, a child may be diagnosed with conduct disorder, but he can't be defined as a sociopath.
First off, being that they are both minors, they cannot be defined as sociopaths. But even if they were not minors,neither qualifies under the definition. - There is no evidence that other than this one incident that either Ethan or Sean have engaged in REPEATED actions that are grounds for arrest. And no, you can't say they did repeated things to Grainey. That would be one incident.
- They weren't deceitful either. They pretty much told everyone exactly what they were doing.
- They definitely had the ability to plan ahead and it was shown by the very nature of the project itself.
- There was no unusual irritability or aggressiveness from either boy. They argued occasionally but no more than anyone else.
- They did not show reckless disregard for their own safety. If they did, Ethan would not have tried to hide from Grainey. Sean was extremely concerned about his own safety as well. Their project, which was absolutely awful, was not designed to compromise Grainey's safety. In fact, Ethan was very concerned when Grainey was freezing in the house. Their project was cruel, but hardly a deliberate attempt to compromise the man's safety.
6 There was absolutely no indication that their irresponsible in regards to their work or financial obligations. They, in fact, showed extreme dedication to their work, especially Ethan. - Ethan MAY not be remorseful, but Sean definitely was.
So, no, 3 or more of these criteria did NOT apply to either boy. So by definition, they were not sociopaths.
They were two kids who did something incredibly stupid that had consequences that were severe but were not intended. That doesn't make them sociopaths.
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NightFeather — 9 years ago(December 11, 2016 12:12 AM)
He wanted to become famous. Generally every person that uploads to youtube wants to hit a million views on videos, are those people sociopaths too? What these boy's did was wrong, without a doubt, Ethan did have some malicious intent with scaring this guy, they never set out to see him die
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valis1949 — 9 years ago(December 14, 2016 08:30 PM)
I don't think that the judge's sentence was 'utter nonsense' since Ethan and Sean did not set out to harm Harold Grainey. They only wanted to film his reaction to unusual stimuli. I don't even think that this makes them sociopathic- maybe just dupes of reality TV and Youtube culture.
However, there is the fact that the old man died during the escapade, but what would happen if the two boys filmed themselves robbing a store to check out the reactions of the shoppers and a customer decided to commit suicide during the heist?
Could they be charged with murder?
Free to those that can afford it, very expensive to those that can't -
Foxbarking — 9 years ago(January 23, 2017 12:51 AM)
valis never said it was "ok." Valis just said that they didn't set out to harm Grainey and that is the truth. Don't put words in someone's mouth.
And you picked the right screen name for you on here, because everything you have posted is utterly ridiculous. -
TheManInOil — 9 years ago(December 17, 2016 10:56 AM)
You're probably right, but for the purposes of the movie I think they ended it correctly. We're meant to be left feeling disturbed that this kid is undeterred in his pursuit of being a 'filmmaker' on the edge etc.
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JShaft33 — 9 years ago(January 02, 2017 06:05 PM)
It's up to the prosecution to decide what to charge the kids with and the jury decide whether or not they are guilty. In this case the judge merely handed down the sentencing.
Also - suicide does not fit under the 'death occurred during a felony' rule.
The most questioning part of the court case is that both kids were tried together. I thought that was rather odd.