(no subject)

[cinema_babe]

Saw a recent interview William Shatner did with Bernie Goetz (The Subway Vigilante). I had 2 thoughts

1. Although I think this is a vastly overused diagnosis, listening to him talk, I had to wonder if Goetz falls on the highly functional end of the autistic scale. His current obsession with squirrels, general lack of empathy towards humans (not just the men he shot), and odd speech patterns made it seem like is could be a possibility.

2. I thought about what racial politics might look like today if Bernie Goetz had a different type of personality. I remember when this happened, they actually broke into the TV show (Saturday Night Live, maybe) with a special news bulletin. A lot of people, especially people who rode the subways on a regular basis (myself included) felt sympathy for him. There was a good reason the Charles Bronson's Death Wish movies were so popular. This was a far different New York then the one that Giulliani turned over to Bloomberg. Some of it better, some of it much worse. Among people I knew the common attitude was that what he did might have been wrong but that his actions were understandable.

Then he started flapping his gums and we all realized what a fruit loop he was. If he hadn't ever opened his mouth outside the courtroom; If he acted more contrite; I wonder what would have happened? Would things have been different?

Comments

[barking-iguana.livejournal.com]

I think whatever harm Goetz refrained from doing, Ed Koch would have stepped up to fill the niche.

[1cmf.livejournal.com]

It's my understanding that the Geotz shootings happen(ed) all the time, but the shooter sticks around to talk with the cops: The usual result is that the shooter gets their gun confiscated and often nothing more, other times they get a slap on the wrist.

Like you said, it was a different time. But he ran, that meant an armed guy who shoots was on the loose: so everything was kicked up by that. Once the lazy eye of public attention focused in, we got a first row seat to this guys foibles and personality defects.

[barking-iguana.livejournal.com]

I don't think so, John. Goetz felt threatened, but he shot folks who were running away and one of them was only involved in Goetz's imagination. That doesn't happen all the time.

[cinema-babe.livejournal.com]

Well they were running away after and admitted robbery attempt.

But, IIRC, there had been incidents where civilians had shot or otherwise turned the tables on their attackers. It wasn't frequent but it was a regular occurrence, maybe page 5 or 7 in the newspaper.

I'm go to guess with Goetz (a)he shot *so many* people at one time and (b)because he pretty much disappeared into the night and they could not find him for a while.

I've always thought that it was obvious that they were going to rob/mug him and he had gone out specifically looking for trouble.

[barking-iguana.livejournal.com]

I think three of them were going to harass him, including robbery but they were getting kicks by intimidating people more than they were after the money. The fourth, I don't think was part of it, but Goetz was so souped up on his own juices that he just wrongly assumed he was with the rest of them.

[cinema-babe.livejournal.com]

I think there was shitty behavior all around. A bunch to thugs coming up against a (probably) racist wacko. As for the fourth guy, if h truly was not involved, he is, at the very least, proof that one must be careful of the company you keep.

[barking-iguana.livejournal.com]

If I remember correctly from a video I saw just a few months ago, the only way in which he kept bad company was to happen to be on the same subway car as the thugs.

[cinema-babe.livejournal.com]

Obviously I didn't see the documentary so I can't comment on the accuracy or bias.

However, I've never seen anything in all the years that this happened where someone said the fourth guy wasn't with the other three. Could it be a case of "wrong place, wrong time"? Sure, anything is possible.