Movie "heroes" who are actually low-life scum. Why do we watch them?

[robn1]

How is comparing a real world bounty hunter (i.e. Dog) to one in the movie a straw man? You can't really justify shooting an arresting bounty hunter or enforcement officer because you don't want to brought in. "I didn't want to be arrested so I shot the bounty hunter" is not a valid defense in court.

Because it's an incorrect analogy. Greedo was not operating within the law, and he was not going to take Han to the local authorities. Greedo was a mob hit man, and was working for the local crime "Godfather".

 

[Birdie]

Mos Eisley is pretty much Dodge City or Tombstone. Very 'every man for himself' and the good guy is in the eye of the beholder....

 

[dascoyne]

I think that just about anyone who works for Jabba or does business with Jabba on a regular basis is going to be morally shady in one way or another. That would include Greedo and Han, both.

 

[AJK001]

I have never had a problem with Han shooting first. As has been stated a million times, Greedo had him a gun point and had already stated that he was going to kill him. Even nowadays, I'm talking in the USA, as long as your gun is legal you should be okay shooting first if you feel your life is being threatened even though it doesn't always work out that way.

 

[Psab keel]

I think the Sopranos is a great example of this idea of really low life people who we can't help but be compelled to watch. I mean we know Tony Soprano is a despicable person. A murderer. A thief. An adulterer. Yet the writing is so good and Gandolfini's performance is so incredible that we can't help but watch. Part of it may be a dark sense of wish fulfillment where we secretly wish we could be as powerful or as selfish as Tony, so we live out those fantasies vicariously through him and the story.