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Post by slickvic on Mar 25, 2006 18:34:29 GMT -5
Right now, I have to write an Essay on "Crime and Punishment" and an essay on a morally ambiguious character. Here is a part of the prompt that made me make direct ties to "The Shield", specifically within the 'Strike Team', even more specifically to Vic Mackey: "Morally ambiguous characters--characters whose behavior discourages readers from identifying them as purely evil or purely good--are at the hear of many works of literature..."
Doesn't that sound how us viewers relate to Vic Mackey?
You may wonder why I posted this here, but I was going to mention another thing.
Have you guys noticed the character development of Vic over the years? I think he is becoming more morally "in-tune" because his decisions of the past have haunted him.
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Post by chemikalman on Mar 25, 2006 18:44:39 GMT -5
I loved Crime and Punishment, slickvic In fact, it's on my top 10 list of all books.
Yeah, moral ambiguity is at the core of The Shield, if anything is. But even Vic Mackey has some lines he won't cross. He'll cheat on his wife, he'll facilitate drug dealers and even profit by them, he'll even kill another cop. But he will never do anything to compromise the safety of his kids and is totally devoted to his other "family", the real Strike Team. What other issues are black/white for Vic? Are there any others?
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Post by slickvic on Mar 25, 2006 19:30:51 GMT -5
What other issues are black/white for Vic? Are there any others? I think you nailed all of them. Besides that, I think Vic Mackey bases most of his decisions on how they will benefit him personally. The Shield is definitley entertaining; in fact, it is so entertaining that I have had no desire to watch anything on t.v. other than shield because of how it surpasses all other shows in depth and intensity imo. However, I am still struggling to find out on whether Shawn Ryan is trying to teach a lesson to viewers or merely trying to entertain them. The latter not being a negative at all.
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Post by jray on Mar 27, 2006 15:05:25 GMT -5
Vic looks out for Kids in general. Think back to S1 when he was controlling the sale of drugs, making sure "his dealers" weren't peddling to kids. Or Jenny Reborg, the girl who was trapped in that creepy doctor's closet. Then there was the kiddy smut ring as well.
I don't know that Shawn Ryan is trying to teach a lesson, so much as develop something we all have in the back of our minds: the notion that police sometimes float "above the law."
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