Paedo Hunt: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Nothing better to whip up some outrage in your story than making the badguy a paedophile. More cynical works about this trope will often note that getting people whipped up into a mob-frenzy—over any subject, but particularly one as emotive and genuinely shocking as this—can be a very good way to distract and manipulate them.

 

{{examples}}

== Comic Books ==

* Though it was only revealed retroactively, the seduction of [[Spider-Man|Gwen Stacy by Norman Osborn]] may qualify. While there was no hunt on him for that reason, it did stir up the hate for him.

* Used as a part of the setting in ''[[The Filth]]''; Feely is claimed to be a pedophile, which has him almost torn apart in the streets.

* One story arc of ''[[The Outsiders]]'' has Arsenal and Co. teaming up with [[Special Guest|John Walsh]] to hunt down a massive organized paedophile/child prostitution/slavery operation. The arc began with one of the [[Women in Refrigerators|female]] team members admitting to have been a captive of this gang during her teenage years.

 

== Film ==

* ''[[Little Children]]'' involves a convicted sex offender being released from prison and moving into a neighbourhood. This is soon followed by one of the other locals spreading warning posters, vandalizing his house and directly assaulting him.

* O-Ren Ishii in ''[[Kill Bill]]'' kills the man responsible for the death of her parents at age eleven. Because he was a paedophile, she managed to get into his bedroom alone with him for the killing.

 

== Literature ==

* In ''[[Batman]]: The Ultimate Evil'', Bruce Wayne discovers that his mother had investigated child molesters and child pornography as a social worker. The book revolves around him going after the same group his mother had found out about, who are now organizing sex tourism to a thinly veiled Thailand stand-in.

 

* Occasionally discussed on ''[[This Is Wonderland]]''.

* In ''[[Desperate Housewives]]'', Lynette causes the neighborhood to riot over a suspected pedophile, causing his invalid sister to die of a heart attack. At the end, he informs her that he had never acted on his tendencies because of his sister, and he was now "free" to do that.

* In ''[[Dexter]]'' the titular [[Serial Killer Killer]] makes an exception to his "only kill killers" rule in order to kill a paedophile who is targeting his step-daughter, Astor.

* A more literal application of the trope happens in one episode of ''[[Without a Trace]]''. A young looking woman poses as underage bait, a fledging, wheelchair bound unofficial cop (an accident prevented him from getting a badge), and a cameraman (who was later revealed to [[Rape as Backstory|have been raped during a home invasion when he was 12]]) set up a sting operation to catch paedophiles, a la ''[[To Catch a Predator]]''. Unlike the Chris Hanson manned operation, this version is more vigilante based and not exactly full proof to prevent people from escaping, which one guy managed to do. The cop goes after him, and gives him a [[Reason You Suck Speech]], which [[Driven to Suicide|drove the pedophile to shoot himself with the cop's gun]]. To [[It Got Worse|make things even better]], when the cameraman realized the cop was about to tell the police about what happened, he tried to kill him to shut up, though was unsuccessful. By episode's end, the cop survived the assault but by killing the cameraman.

 

== Music ==

{{quote|Thou shalt not think that any male over the age of 30 that plays with a child that is not their own is a paedophile. Some people are just nice.}}

* The [[Music/Peter Paul And Mary|Peter Paul And Mary]] song "Talkin' Candy Bar Blues" is about a man caught up in a hunt after innocently offering a child a candy bar.

 

== Video Games ==

* The in-game internet in ''[[Grand Theft Auto IV]]'' includes a [[Schmuck Bait]] website titled "Lil' Lacey's Birthday Surprise." Visiting it immediately grants the player a 4-star wanted level.

 

* ''[[The Perry Bible Fellowship]]'' lampshades this trope with [http://pbfcomics.com/?cid=PBF215-Kitty_Photographer.jpg Kitty Photographer].

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Obviously Evil]]

[[Category:Truth in Television]]

[[Category:Depressing Tropes]]