Viewers' Sympathy for Derek Bently in the Film Let Him Have It

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Viewers' Sympathy for Derek Bently in

the Film Let Him Have It

Peter Medak gains sympathy for the character Derek Bently by showing

his misfortune throughout the film.

Derek Bently was wrongly executed. The film shows the mistakes of the

decision and the dangers of capital punishment. Derek has epilepsy and

isn't very intelligent. These factors are used to create sympathy for

Derek and create a feeling that he isn't fully in control of himself.

Because of his low intelligence, Derek gets into trouble. He is caught

when his friends vandalise a shed and is sent to Kingswood Approved

School. At nineteen Derek meets Christopher Craig who likes pretending

to be a gangster, He uses Derek and gets them into trouble.

Christopher goes mad when he and Derek are caught by the police and

shoots a police officer, killing him. Derek was controversially hung

for encouraging Christopher Craig to shoot the policeman. People have

very strong views on capital punishment because many people who

survive today to watch this film lived through times when capital

punishment took place in this country so are reminded of something

close to them. The film shows the effects of capital punishment,

developing preconceived views which people have. The hanging of Derek

Bently was particularly controversial because of the circumstances

surrounding the case such as Derek's intelligence and the fact that

Christopher Craig who was the one who shot the policeman was only

given three years imprisonment. Also Derek Bently's murder charge

rested purely on the words "Let him have it Chris", which could be

taken as words of encouragement, as the jury decided but could have

been a cry for Christopher Craig to let the policeman have his gun.

Bias is used on several occasions during the film as a tool to make

the viewers feel sympathetic towards Derek.

The judge of the trial is extremely biased against Derek Bently. I

believe that Peter Medak makes the judge this way so as to generate

more sympathy for Derek from the viewers and to again put forward the

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