Justin Harris

Citizen Vigilante. Roger Avary loves it

I’m sorry, but if you’ve written 25 to 30 screenplays and you haven’t attracted the attention of Hollywood, you’re probably not a good writer — and no amount of AI is going to change that.

I watched Citizen Vigilante on Amazon Prime (Banned in Germany). The US/Canadian release is today. It is playing at a tiny number of theaters and is available on Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Fandango. Amazon Prime charges $6.99 and you can watch it for 30 days. It was entertaining. There definitely are not any boring parts. It is not a mega-budget movie from one of Hollywood's Big Five. More like an adequately funded indie movie. The character is like the Punisher, but with a wealthy background like Batman. Unlike Batman, there is no personal catalyst like the Joker killing his parents. The main character is obsessed with wanting a high trust society. He is also angry about blind obedience to authority. He believes the people in power don't give a shit about you and law enforcement and the justice system exist more to control the law abiding than to stop, catch, or punish actual criminals. The film was effectively banned in "democratic" Germany by the Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle der Filmwirtschaft [FSK]. This is Germany's version of America's Classification and Rating Administration [CARA]. Both the FSK and CARA are billed as independent, voluntary, private regulatory boards free of government imposed censorship. However, in the case of the FSK, they have been empowered by the German government to completely block a movie from being shown in theaters, sold on DVD, or streamed in Germany. It is a way for a movie to be banned, while the German government says, "we didn't ban anything, we had nothing to do with it." The FSK is allowed to simply refuse issuing any rating and it is illegal to exhibit, sell, or stream the movie. What makes the film unique, and why it is banned in Germany, is twofold. It is inspired by real-life crimes. However, unlike the BBC in Britain or American media companies, the filmmakers do not race-swap all the non-White criminals into White people. The criminals in the movie are a mix of African, Middle Eastern, and White Europeans. Second, unlike traditional vigilante movies, the main character goes after both the criminals and the people in the criminal justice system who coddle and protect them. In one scene, it shows a judge explaining to the media how a group of teenage immigrant gang rapists are just as much victims as the 14-year-old girl they brutally raped. Sending them to jail would supposedly just make things worse. The scene is based on real dialogue from real judges. I believe this is what sparked the meltdown at the FSK.