MovieChat Forums > In the Custody of Strangers (1982) Discussion > Anyone else feel no pity at all for emil...

Anyone else feel no pity at all for emilio?


He risked dozens of lives driving down the sidewalk drunk, and hit a police car. He was also a thief. He clearly deserved a night in the pokey.

He then allowed a guy to paw him in jail, and hit him more than necessary to defend himself. And he then attacks another inmate for no reason whatsoever.

In reality, he would've been released on bail pretty quickly. Or placed in juvi. But it's hard to feel his six week stay was somehow excessive.

And given that his parents clearly failed in raising him, they have no business complaining about the system.

Finally, it appears he did learn something from his experience, and is unlikely to repeat his behavior. So the apparent point of the film is lost.

reply

I had sympathy for the fact that he was kept in isolation (for the most part), and spent 6 weeks before even being arraigned. I also had sympathy for the constant paperwork snafus that kept him incarcerated.

However, him attacking that inmate in the food line was absolutely ridiculous - that would be a separate charge. It's battery. I didn't find Emilio's character to be particularly likable, but I think we're so desensitized to seeing kids in the prison system now, that it doesn't seem to be as outlandish as it was during the time that this movie was made. But I think it is a good reminder that teenagers are still kids, and that the focus of jail is supposed to be "correction," not giving teen inmates mental health issues.

That said, no judge would listen to a couple of parents b*tch about the system, and no prison psychologist or warden would give any inmate so much personal attention. Please.

They're coming to get you, Barbara!

reply

None. He could have killed others while drunk driving and was lucky that he didn't.

reply

[deleted]