'Celebrity' Criminals

[tony_yeboah]

regarding gansters becoming famous rather than serial murderers, you have al capone and henry hill, these people have become famous, especially henry hill with the film Goodfellas

[tony_yeboah]

celebrity criminal = snoop dogg

[tony_yeboah]

WOW - THAT WAS MY 1000TH POST BY THE WAY! :d

[Hazell B]

tony, I think you're confusing the criminal who's well known, with the criminal who's seeking to be a well known TV personality. Courtney, for example, appears on TV as Mr Cheeky Chappie who's 'done a bit here and there' while the Jack the Ripper style fame isn't glamourising crime at all.

[BDunnell]

In the reception area of a nearby B&B, I was rather staggered the other day to see a leaflet advertising Jack the Ripper-themed tours of London. This got me thinking about why it should be OK to look on the period of Jack the Ripper with some degree of, I suppose, ghoulish affection (for want of a better phrase) rather than the horror those crimes would induce nowadays.

[tony_yeboah]

right, i thought you meant criminals who have in a way become celebrities because of their horrific acts

[Hazell B]

This got me thinking about why it should be OK to look on the period of Jack the Ripper with some degree of, I suppose, ghoulish affection (for want of a better phrase) rather than the horror those crimes would induce nowadays.

You mean like being into planes that were invented as instruments of war to kill thousands of people?
Or watching a war film, reading a book by a soldier or politician who had part in planning a conflict?

For pitty's sake, it's a tour that covers a long past series of incidents that we've all read books about, seen dramatised on TV and film and wondered about ourselves. What's so wrong with it? A Fred West tour would be wrong, but nothing from 1900 can be in the same league. Jack the Ripper gave birth to the twentieth century (or so he's claimed to have said) not 1999!

[BDunnell]

You mean like being into planes that were invented as instruments of war to kill thousands of people?
Or watching a war film, reading a book by a soldier or politician who had part in planning a conflict?

For pitty's sake, it's a tour that covers a long past series of incidents that we've all read books about, seen dramatised on TV and film and wondered about ourselves. What's so wrong with it? A Fred West tour would be wrong, but nothing from 1900 can be in the same league. Jack the Ripper gave birth to the twentieth century (or so he's claimed to have said) not 1999!

I suppose what I am trying to ask is when the cut-off point between the crimes still being seen as awful and them being viewed as historical curiosities is. Will a Fred West tour, or a Yorkshire Ripper tour, be acceptable after the same interval? Somehow, I doubt it.

What this has got to do with my interest in aviation, I have no idea. My interest in aircraft is in no way connected to their military capabilities.

[tony_yeboah]

You mean like being into planes that were invented as instruments of war to kill thousands of people?
Or watching a war film, reading a book by a soldier or politician who had part in planning a conflict?

i think its a bit different than that. Those planes were designed to protect our country. Its not in the same context. Some people admire the beauty and craftmanship that goes in to building those planes.

I doubt anyone in there right mind would admire the actions of jack the ripper and feel his killing techniques were beautifully crafted

[LotusElise]

You mean like being into planes that were invented as instruments of war to kill thousands of people?
Or watching a war film, reading a book by a soldier or politician who had part in planning a conflict?

For pitty's sake, it's a tour that covers a long past series of incidents that we've all read books about, seen dramatised on TV and film and wondered about ourselves. What's so wrong with it? A Fred West tour would be wrong, but nothing from 1900 can be in the same league. Jack the Ripper gave birth to the twentieth century (or so he's claimed to have said) not 1999!

I've got a photo of myself somewhere, standing next to where one of the Ripper murders took place. I don't know why, it just seemed like a good idea at the time.

Has anyone mentioned Howard Marks yet?