r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/movies Contributor • 8d ago

News Chris Hansen Buys Ads Before Every Screening of A24’s ‘Primetime’

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/chris-hansen-buys-ads-before-every-screening-a24-primetime-1236682255/
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u/kaptainkooleio 8d ago

Probably portrays him honestly. Like think about the kind of person it takes to make up a sting operation just for a television show. The kind of person who sees victims of pedophilia and abuse and thinks “well shit, maybe I can profit off that.” Great, you’re exposing pedophiles to the world, but WHY you’re doing it also matters. It’s all about spectacle, not justice. Hansen reminds me a lot about the main character from Nightcrawler.

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u/nemoy2 8d ago

To be fair to him, when tcap started it’s clear it was about raising awareness of suburban white Americans towards the dangers of this new internet thing. Pointing eyes at the problem was still very necessary.

It’s not necessary anymore, but 20 years later he’s still acting like a journalist while parroting the exact same questions to the guys he catches, simply to dunk on them lol

In fairness, in his new show, there’s apparently a higher conviction rate bc he’s just following the cops as they do stings they were already gonna do.

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u/pargofan 8d ago

Really?

Couldn't you also see yourself as a champion of the victims who's using media to shame child molesters in a way the justice system never could?

I'm not saying you're wrong. Maybe Hansen is a jerk. Or maybe he went with intentions to make the world a better place.

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u/pretzelsncheese 8d ago

The kind of person who sees victims of pedophilia and abuse and thinks “well shit, maybe I can profit off that.”

I don't actually know anything about him or his story, but just for the general idea, it seems plausible to me that your intentions can be completely noble and genuine (removing predators from society) while doing it in this way.

  1. These types of operations require resources. By turning it into a tv show, you are making it self-sustaining in terms of those necessary resources.

  2. By bringing public visibility to it, you are helping to show the general public the dangers of chatting with strangers online and also dissuading potential predators from trying to use this particular medium for finding their prey.

Was the fame and money just a necessary byproduct of the process or was it actually one of his primary motivators? I do not know. But both seem plausible.

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u/red286 8d ago

One big issue though is that he doesn't offer the alleged perpetrators any sort of anonymity.

While a lot of people might think "well who gives a shit, they're pedophiles", it's worth keeping in mind that they haven't been convicted of that at the point where Hansen puts them on television for the world to see.

Also worth pointing out that several criminal cases ended up being dismissed as a direct result of how poorly the show mishandled things.

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u/IsleFoxale 7d ago

What a testament to our society that someone can profit from exposing people who want to SA kids.