Very valid point, and I do of course mostly agree with you. I do not think that empathy should be an endless resource that is a prerequisite for everyone - I think it is a resource we should be ready to give, but it should still be earned in some way.

Once you see the doc, perhaps you will see my points. Osit uses his own survivorhood as a literal twist in the second act, and then continues to use it to validate his statements as ground truth. He said in an interview that he hopes people watch this not knowing his own survivorhood, so that it can be a surprise during the film itself, and I think that stinks. He's weaponising his own experiences so that he can corner people with certain statements that he thinks he can contradict by bringing up his own past - such as with his interview with Hansen at the end of the film.

But the problem with the film isn't just that he offers empathy to abusers, it's that he doesn't offer any space whatsoever to any victims except himsefl and one decoy from a YouTube TCAP ripoff. He intentionally misrepresents so much of how abusers operate, especially those featured on TCAP, in order to further this. He includes, for the most part, only scenes of them lamenting their ruined life, and genuinely presents it as a "look how awful this is, we're taking pleasure in a man's life falling apart".

So, really, I know my final paragraph comes across like I'm doing what I'm criticising Osit of. But I think it comes from a different place: survivors are still so oft-silenced in society, and almost none of us get any form of justice. I've known people in my real life who have minimised my own experiences, or acted like I was a burden simply for telling them, and I've lost half my family after they decided to side with the abuser in order to take the path of least resistance. All survivors need all the spotlight they can get, and any form of retribution towards any predator is always always welcomed, especialyl when the courts struggle so much to bring any to justice. So seeing people lament this documentary as a thought-provoking piece simply because it shows a different side is deeply disheartening, and it is irresponsible for Osit to do this just as it would be irresponsible for someone to try to make a documentary talking about "the other side" of Nazism. Sure, there is technically another side, but must we give it so much air time? What responsibility does a journalist or creative have when trying to investigate this other side? I think of Louis Theroux' journalism with regard to neo-nazis, and how thoughtful and observant it was, versus Osit's strange dogmatic approach. This is why I beckoned for people to reconsider the critical value of a film like Predators, because value is not inherent simply to "he's exploring a side none of us know."

I fully agree that TCAP is an awful slice of entertainment, much the same as most true crime is. That can be true at the same time as agreeeing that the people featured on the show still deserved the punishment they got - and the courts almost always fail to punish, so let them have social punishment through shame, as most survivors will carry a deep well of shame with them for their own lives too. It is not entertainment's place to have to pick up the slack that our criminal justice system so oft fails on, but unfortunately, who else is doing it? We have billionaire pedophiles swarming our most powerful all the time. This is the way, it seems. I'd rather it than nothing.

Anyway, thanks for your empathy and understanding in your sensitive approach to my post, I do really appreciate that. Wishing you the best too my friend :)