Its part of the western tradition. Bonnie and Clyde for example.
PS. I’m not american.
They are believed to have murdered at least nine police officers and four civilians.
He is an established folklore character, but it may never be proven whether he was a real person or no.
Woody Guthrie - Pretty Boy Floyd
Yes, as through this world I’ve wandered I’ve seen lots of funny men Some will rob you with a six-gun And some with a fountain pen
And as through your life you travel Yes, as through your life you roam You won’t never see an outlaw Drive a family from their home
From the Youtube comments: “This is the acoustic version of ‘Fuck the Police’”
Bonnie and Clyde, Killdozer man, Al Capone, Christopher Dorner, Billy the Kid to name a few.
There are a few different common themes amongst them, either functioning as part of a gang or as a lone wolf, Bonnie and Clyde captured attention for the romantic twist attached to it.
There are also greater numbers of outlaws during periods where laws are hard to enforce due to remoteness and isolation (old west) or due to the laws being flaunted by basically everyone due to the laws being considered ridiculous (prohibition).
The key common theme is that they are viewed as fighting against an (what the public view as) unjust system, though often it’s more to do with their goals coincidentally aligning with the publics perception of an unjust system.
Blackbeard, Colonial Revolutionaries, Jesse James, Billy the kid, Butch Cassidy, Wild Bill Hickock, Guy Fawx, Al Capone, John Dillinger, Bonnie & Clyde, Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, Jeffery Dahmer, OJ Simpson, Mike Tyson, Donald Trump.
I’m not arguing but there was a clear delineation where it went from like 20s outlaws to like 1990s pop culture criminals.
I don’t think Manson, Gacy, or Dahmer are idolized.
Simpson and Tyson are idolized for their non-criminal activities, not because they’re criminals. They’re not famous for being criminals, whereas most of the others are.
Trump is definitely an interesting one though…lol
I was thinking about that as I was typing them up. It’s really hard to draw a line on how criminal they are, or fame vs infamy, etc.
Yeah. The serial killers are definitely infamous, but nobody normal is thinking “Boy, we could sure use someone like that again”.
…but someone who goes around stealing from big banks and insurance companies while also destroying people’s mortgages (so they don’t have to make payments on their houses)? I’m sure some people could get behind that.
Especially with the reaction we’re seeing to the murder of the health insurance company CEO. I’m sure people have been coming up with lists of other deserving CEOs.
Dahmer is one of those who had prison groupies. As do the Columbine shooters, Harris and Klebold. Apparently there’s a certain kind of chick that gets lubed up for mass murderers.
That’s a good point. I wouldn’t call that mainstream, though.
I’m not sure if Al Capone gets support the way that Walter White does or if he’s more of a Robin Hood…but a lot of the “heroic criminals” in US folklore (especially the criminals of the “wild West” who robbed banks and supported the poor) are purely the Robin Hood types.
Dahmer’s fans are crazy. As are the Columbine Shooters’ fans. But Robin Hood-types could generally be supported by the general person without raising an eyebrow these days.
