this post was submitted on 08 Dec 2024
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[–] [email protected] 110 points 3 months ago (5 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 3 months ago (3 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 months ago (1 children)

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.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 months ago (2 children)

You just started naming criminals.

[–] [email protected] 75 points 3 months ago (3 children)

Gotta be honest, that's literally what outlaw means

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

I'm not arguing but there was a clear delineation where it went from like 20s outlaws to like 1990s pop culture criminals.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 months ago

That would be “time”… you go through history and eventually you get to 1990.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I think it crossed over with Manson which was 60s/70s but I think your point stands.

Some of the criminals after the crossover were cult leaders though…

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 3 months ago

I mean, yeah. The whole outlaw bit sort of implies crimes.

What did you expect?

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[–] [email protected] 48 points 3 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 3 months ago

The guy who shot that CEO, is probably the most recent example...

[–] [email protected] 27 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Its part of the western tradition. Bonnie and Clyde for example.

PS. I'm not american.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

They are believed to have murdered at least nine police officers and four civilians.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago

Yes, and Bonnie and Clyde also robbed banks and destroyed mortgages, freeing people from their debts. I have no idea if that's true, but that's the myth

[–] [email protected] 25 points 3 months ago

Bonnie and Clyde

[–] [email protected] 25 points 3 months ago (16 children)

Is it just america? robin hood. guy fawkes.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago

Ned Kelly is an Australian icon, primarily known for an armoured shoot out with the cops.

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

Pretty Boy Floyd

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'"

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

He was seen positively by the public because, during robberies, he burned mortgage documents freeing many people from their debts.

Shit seems relevant.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

Also, Stagger Lee, an old blues standard about a violent badass that has been interpreted and reinterpreted for over a century

[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I tend to think that Trump is getting idolized, too.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

For being a criminal or by being a grifter?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago

Grifting is often illegal too.

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[–] [email protected] 18 points 3 months ago

You can see it in our media, even comic books. The Punisher is wanted by law enforcement all the time. Just look at the United Health Care shooting. Guy does what the Punisher does and he instantly becomes an American hero.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 months ago

How is Jesse James not at the top of this comment section?

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 months ago

Billy the Kid.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 months ago (3 children)
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[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 months ago

the entire western genre

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I didn't see no crime, the adjustor is a public servant, shitlord.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

the adjustor

That’s what we’re going with? Works for me. I thought “Robin Hoodie” was a bit too generic. I like this one better.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

I think my spelling is off tbh

Quick search here and on reddit showing that most people are using "the adjuster"

Either way has beautiful ring to it

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Julian Assange, Edward Snowden...

I think it comes from America's roots -- America was founded on liberty and freedom, and to some extent, questioning authority, and I think since then it's been somewhat cyclical with socioeconomic changes.

It's also part of the American mythos that is perpetuated in film and music. We have superheroes like Batman, Spider-Man, Green Arrow, western heroes like Zorro and the Lone Ranger, movies like Star Wars, The Hunger Games, Bonnie & Clyde, shows like Mr. Robot...

[–] Cuberoot 11 points 3 months ago (2 children)

The Oklahoma Sooners, settled in the territory sooner than the enactment of the law allowing them to do so, thereby giving them an advantage over the law-abiders in claiming the most valuable acreage.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Was Robin Hood a real dude?

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

He is an established folklore character, but it may never be proven whether he was a real person or no.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

Watched a thing on him recently. Sure he was, cause apparently he was from Doncaster, not Nottingham.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago

Does Jack Sparrow count?

I think Rosa Parks and the Boston Tea Party-goers can be counted.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago

Just look how some people still see the civil war as the "war of northern aggression", and how they still treat so-called "heroes" of the south.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago

Slightly off topic but there was an escaped monkey around and people would never report it until they were sure it was gone, they didn't want it caught.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2012/10/25/163620501/floridas-mystery-monkey-captured-after-three-years-on-the-lam

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago

Who says this and what makes them think this phenomenon is exclusive to the US?

Che Guevara, Julius Ceasar and Galileo are household names globally and martyrdom is--in the words of religious leaders everywhere--"a whole thing, y'know"

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago

Can't remember his name, but the right love to fawn over the guy who built "killdozer"

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

Mickey and Mallory Knox

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

John Dillinger had his fans too. I recall going to a wax museum in Indiana dedicated to him. There was a display with an electric chair in it.

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