Comments on: "You're great as a 12-year-old."

"You're great as a 12-year-old."

beaucoupkevin — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:17:19 -0800

NBC's most controversial "news" program finally hits an all-new low. ThisJustIn.com presents To Catch A Predator: The Reunion Special. Bloopers are included free! [2-video blog link]

By: TheOnlyCoolTim

TheOnlyCoolTim — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:23:38 -0800

I remember when I took TV news seriously. I was about 10 years old.

By: misha

misha — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:37:00 -0800

Sweet baby Jesus on a scooter!

By: agropyron

agropyron — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:37:34 -0800

Note the 'parody' tag. This is a spoof.

By: ericb

ericb — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:40:52 -0800

Yes -- spoof -- and that is not Chris Hansen, but someone "playing him." This is the real Chris Hansen.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:42:15 -0800

Counterintuitively, the non-spoof version is funnier.

By: DU

DU — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:46:16 -0800

I remember when I *watched* TV news. No wait...I don't.

By: clevershark

clevershark — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:49:32 -0800

I remember when I used to watch TV that wasn't drawn or computer-animated. I was more unhappy back then.

By: quin

quin — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:18:03 -0800

That shows like To Catch a Predator find an audience is emblematic of so much of what is wrong in our country. It panders to fearful people who are hoping to seeing someone's life destroyed. (Don't get me wrong, I have no love for child predators, I just don't see value in baiting them either.) I fully expect that before long there will be some kind of weekly spin-off where they go after guys trying to hook up with prostitutes. Disclosure: I've never watched the show, but I've heard fairly specific descriptions.

By: washburn

washburn — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:37:19 -0800

In point of fact however a TCAP reunion show is a pretty good idea. It would be much more interesting to learn how the justice and social service systems dealt with these men, and how their families dealt with the situation, and to see how these men coped with their own behavior that to see the usual Chris Hansen gotcha-game.

By: andywolf

andywolf — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:41:17 -0800

quin, talk like that is exactly what the terrorists want to hear. shows like to catch a predator do a public service in heightening our fear. by constantly stoking the fire, our citizens become ever more alert of the work of evildoers everywhere. where would we be if we didn't have mccarthy? we'd have stinkin' reds around every corner! without to catch a predator we'd have child brothel's in every town and al qaeda sleeper cell's next door. damn freedomhater.

By: M.C. Lo-Carb!

M.C. Lo-Carb! — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:52:41 -0800

No sir. I didn't like it. Not at all.

By: IronLizard

IronLizard — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:02:08 -0800

I fully expect that before long there will be some kind of weekly spin-off where they go after guys trying to hook up with prostitutes. Been done.

By: smackfu

smackfu — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:16:29 -0800

That shows like To Catch a Predator find an audience is emblematic of so much of what is wrong in our country. But is it a new problem or an old problem? It used to be that people could just be racists and no one cared. Now everyone cares, and the only people you can look down upon are the true social outcasts.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:45:07 -0800

Sometimes I think society needs a group to hate, but as more and more sets of people become "us" the pickin's for "them" get smaller and smaller. They're really scraping the bottom of the barrel now.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:51:29 -0800

My favorite part of TCAP is when the guy walks outside thinking he's totally going to go home scot-free... but then the bushes start moving and he's attacked & put into a headlock by plants. I love that. Think about it... for the rest of their lives, those guys are replaying being beaten up by suburban landscaping.

By: AaronRaphael

AaronRaphael — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:52:59 -0800

Why doesn't Pedophile Gladiators exist for real yet?

By: Senator

Senator — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 19:18:44 -0800

I hate you because you are different.

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:35:03 -0800

Man, the seizuring preacher from Deadwood must be hard up for work. I mean seriously, playing a Catholic? Throw the man a bone, Hollywood!

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 00:29:20 -0800

It used to be that people could just be racists and no one cared. Yah. No one at all. Except, of course, the minorities. But, hell, they don't count!

By: zzazazz

zzazazz — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:45:26 -0800

I still gots a problem with the while entrapment thing...

By: AgentRocket

AgentRocket — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 07:04:03 -0800

This month's Esquire has a great article about the scummy tactics To Catch a Predator (and its partner Perverted Justice) uses, and about the local police forces who are willing to do the show's bidding. The article is about the suicide of Bill Conradt, a local prosecutor who Dateline set up for a SWAT raid when he stopped returning calls and instant messages from the "kid" who was trying to lure him to the NBC house. The article - free online - is here.

By: sluglicker

sluglicker — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 07:43:02 -0800

Why doesn't Pedophile Gladiators exist for real yet? A guest appearance by Drew Carey? And I'm positive that's Andy Kaufman as the pedo (especially starting at 1:26).
I knew he wasn't dead.

By: Uther Bentrazor

Uther Bentrazor — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 09:46:19 -0800

I have a few problems with the Predator show: 1. Parents talk about how great this show is, because it makes them feel good to see dangerous people drawn in and arrested. The unspoken concept that seems to drive the shows popularity is that they're in some way reducing the total number of predators in the world. The war on Drugs was/is being fought the same way, and we all saw how well that one worked (SPOILER: It doesn't) Shows like this aren't going to keep your child safe. Pedophilia, like addiction is a mental disease, and should be dealt with the way all diseases are; with medical and psychological care, not prison. 2. They're going after the wrong people. Not to say that these people aren't potentially dangerous, but Dateline is running a roach motel. These guys aren't very bright, and ultimately, the average MySpace savvy 13 year old is hip to jerks like this. Chris Hansen and pals are missing the truly dangerous predators, the savvy sociopath who indoctrinates him/herself into the community, who gets a job as a soccer coach, a priest, a babysitter, but only after grooming everyone around him/her to ultimately trust them. In one of the seminars I attended concerning this (disclosure: I work in a high school), one man asked "How does anyone let their kid get into these situations? I would NEVER let my son go camping with a stranger!" and the instructor responded "What if it was your best friend?" The man paused, and furrowed his brow. 3. The popularity of this show also ignores and helps the people who watch and are reassured by it ignore the pretty basic fact that a high majority of all child molestation is done by a family member. Unless Chris Hansen is coming to your house for dinner, he's not protecting your children the way you think he is. 4. As gross as I find pedophiles, I find shows like this and the Sex Offender registry to be a touch excessive. Sure, rape and molestation is a heinous crime. Murder's pretty nasty too, but you don't have to introduce yourself to the neighbors after you do it. Plus, if it were truly for dangerous offenders, instead of 'letter of the law' things (i.e. 18 year old boy with a 16 year old girlfriend) stuff that shouldn't even be there (sodomy) or just plain silly bullshit (public urination). If I got caught getting a blowjob from my OF AGE girlfriend in my car, I'd like to not have the same scarlet letter that the guy who raped his daughters has. Thanks to the culture that created Chris Hansen, the moment you say Sex Offender, people aren't trying to listen. 5. Finally, there is a BIG difference between pedophile and ephebophile. Pedophiles are attracted to the androgyny of children who have not yet gone through puberty, what Spider from Transmetropolitan called "Pre-sexual humans". That is gross. Finding 15 year old Mandy Moore attractive is latent biology from when we didn't live past 30 (and record company marketing). It's still a bad idea to chase underage girls, given the laws in place (that, and highschool girls tend to be insufferable), but is it really on par with molesting a toddler?

By: Atom Eyes

Atom Eyes — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 10:44:55 -0800

Wow, the Esquire article that AgentRocket linked to has only bolstered my low opinion of Chris Hansen and the vigilante wannabes at Perverted Justice -- these people are scum.

By: Pronoiac

Pronoiac — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 10:59:09 -0800

Think about it... for the rest of their lives, those guys are replaying being beaten up by suburban landscaping. Sure - after furries, why not shrubberies?

By: misha

misha — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 12:50:43 -0800

The worst part of the show, to me, is that after the men in question have talked openly to scummy Chris Hansen, the SWAT agents then jump all over them and wrestle them to the ground, despite their passivity. It's completely over the top brutality, yet people love it because they feel that these guys are after their daughters. What if the show aimed its tactics elsewhere? What if an adolescent girl, openly sharing personal info in sexually-charged chat rooms and inviting men to meet her at her home, opened the door after school one day to find Chris Hansen and his team, who then questioned her completely uninvolved parents about what their daughter was up to and why they had no friggin' clue. No one would watch that show, because it would hit way too close to home for a lot of parents these days. The upside would be, of course, that we could use the same entrapment to get Chris Hansen behind bars.

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:05:13 -0800

Rolling Stone had a really good article about Dateline - Entrapment also.