Castillo, Jessa Mae B.

January 23, 2020

BS Mktg 4A Theo 131- Assignment

“John Doe: Vigilante”

John Doe was a very interesting man to criticize and observe his character evolution.

You could see that he showed deontological acts before he went rogue. He was a faithful and

loving husband and father towards his family. He was also diligent at his job, connecting with his

patients, understanding them. When he began the killing, it was because his victims were

pedophiles and with presented evidence, he decided to act against it, bringing justice unto his

own hands, thus the killing of these men. Upon knowing what these men did, it was his desire to

do something about it through killing since he didn’t believe on their justice and legal system,

this is hard determinism. Later, he became utilitarian, believing that his actions of killing these

pedophiles would bring a desirable or good end saying that he was giving the punishment they

deserve and justice towards the victims and community. As the whole story of his killing videos

were published, people began to support his cause, creating an organization that believes in

what he does. Although John Doe was never part of the organization Speak for the Dead, it was

visible that what he was doing produced happiness for a large number of people, which allowed

him to continue doing it, not thinking of the other effects it did to the community as a whole. At

the end of his killing, during the last victim before he was caught by authorities, his act was

ethical for his self-interest or ego. It was because his last victim was the one whom he believed

took away his daughter from him which shattered their family. It wasn’t any more for the people,

but for himself, giving justice for his wife and daughter, believing that killing him would satisfy his

rage against pedophiles. But it didn’t, as observed on the last part, he strike once more by killing

the journalist that interviewed him.

Although John Doe and some people were justifying his crimes, thinking that what he did

was better for the community and he should be praised for it, I don’t support his cause.
But not supporting him doesn’t necessarily mean that I cannot forgive him for what he had done.

I would forgive him for his crimes simply because we are taught to forgive people of their

wrongdoings and I believe that the effects of what happened to his family led him to these

killings, he was also a victim of evil actions and pain. If he had known better, he wouldn’t have

done it otherwise, but it is not for me to judge him for what he’s done since I wasn’t able to be in

his shoes but only sympathize him with his pain. I believe that when we show him hope that he

will be able to change for the better, to move on past these actions, he would then decide to

make better decisions and better actions. His actions sparked different perspectives among the

community, some disgusted and stoned him for it, but some were amazed and supportive, of

which in this case, the growing number of people joining Speak for the Dead movement. What

they understood was John Doe killed the bad guys for the reason that they were weeds of the

community, but they weren’t able to fully grasp its purpose and limitations. For John Doe, it was

better alone, taking full control and responsibility of his actions, but for the movement, they were

out of control and making things worse.

According to Dr. Sarah Vinson, a psychiatrist, media continues to consume an ever-

growing part of people’s lives, saying “With 24-hour news channels, phones, the Internet, and

television, young people are trying to figure out how they fit into this world, and they look to

media for the answer.” This is true even on the case of the movie John Doe: Vigilante, the

media has a big role in influencing people’s decisions and thinking. Both the traditional and

Internet media has been successful in bringing out the story and updates of John Doe’s serial

killing, these showed both sides of the story behind the reason of his killing. With reporting this

story that went on for months, it reached millions of people which greatly influenced their

lifestyle through being more secure, some created and joined the Speak for the Dead

movement, some condemned John Doe’s actions as evil and not right. People were able to

voice out their opinions through these media, they were heard by the community, they were also
able to affect others’ reaction towards the story, thus it is clear that the media really showed the

best and the worst of their audience. Even when he was already captured, the media through

journalism found its way on pursuing John Doe’s campaign for others, where he was able to tell

the people how their justice system isn’t giving justice at all, and how they should stand up and

take actions against these murderers, rapist, pedophiles, and such. “I am not John Doe, we all

are.” This statement by John Doe is what I believe made him a lost cause. I still had hope for

him thinking that he’d be able to redeem himself but when he made that statement and attacked

the journalist, it was his end, the end of his good character. Because for me, it was better that

he did the actions, stopped, and paid for what he did, but then he influenced others by releasing

this statement, of which he believed that all people are John Doe even without doing the killing,

even with just uttering negative words, even with just sitting idly and watching the news, they

are portraying John Doe characteristics. But then, they could have stayed that way, they could

have just sit idly, not putting up a fight against these cruelties, but John Doe wasn’t satisfied with

what he did, he was just the one who started it. He does not want the people to keep a blind

eye, but to open it and fight, oppose the oppression, speak and fight for the oppressed, even

without fully knowing what they will be capable of doing, even if it meant chaos. John Doe really

caught everyone’s attention as he made that last kill, it was the awakening of people’s screams

against their justice system, he knew then of how he made impact towards the society, he knew

how it would create future negative actions, but he did it anyway because for him he is not the

only John Doe, they all were. The movie showed me how powerful a man’s words and actions

may be in influencing other’s decisions, one statement could change a man into something

great or to worse. Thus, it is important to really discern on the decisions that we should make

before fully committing upon it since we are the only ones solely responsible for our actions, and

our actions could not only affect ourselves, but also others’.