The Hanging Scene - Disconnect (2013) Discussion

[–] Miscella 11 years ago

The two kids who pulled that prank on him deserve to be locked up for what they did

Getting locked up for pulling a prank seems a bit harsh to me. I don't think they should be held accountable for giving Ben a reason to do what he did. Nobody knows what's going to make someone actually attempt suicide. It could have been anything. After all, Ben wasn't exactly a happy, life-loving kind of guy to begin with.

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[–] SillyGayBoy 11 years ago

They manipulated a lonely kid into giving a naked picture and spread it through the school. I hope they both get the electric chair.

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[–] monstermayhem32 11 years ago

I think that Jason might have secretly had feelings for Ben since he did show remorse leading to bens suicide but what lead him to cyber bullying in the first place.

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[–] RoadSideAssistance 9 years ago

Jesus dude.

They would (today) be charged with distribution of child pornography but that's about it.

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[–] soonerpike697 10 years ago

You can't let something this sever off with probation you just can't. I'm not saying lock them up until they're 18 but they definitely need to spend some time in juvi and rehabilitated because there is something seriously wrong with those two...

"I do what I say and I say what I mean"

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[–] soonerpike697 10 years ago

You can't let something this sever off with probation you just can't. I'm not saying lock them up until they're 18 but they definitely need to spend some time in juvi and rehabilitated because there is something seriously wrong with those two...

"I do what I say and I say what I mean"

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[–] LibbyLuWho 10 years ago

I just watched this recently, but I feel like people saying this was a "prank" is a little over simplified. Ben clearly was a lonely kid. He wasn't close with his father, and even his sister said she knew he had no friends. So he had some emotional issues already, feeling alienated and alone.

The 2 other kids knew that he was lonely, because that is how they manipulated him. They created the "Jessica" persona online to get into Ben's head, and make him feel like he finally had a friend, had made a connection with somebody after having spent his adolescence as a loner. Then used that persona to manipulate him by posting the picture of "Jessica" pulling down the side of her underwear with the writing in lipstick on her bare belly. Then they took it further, by having "Jessica" say sorry about the pic and she thought they felt the same way about each other.

The thought of losing the one friend he had, the one person he felt connected to caused him to feel like he had to take the pic of himself to send to "Jessica" or he would go back to being alone. This goes way beyond a simple prank to me. This is serious mental manipulation and emotional abuse. They manipulated Ben into taking the step of suicide because they were playing with his emotions from the start. That is major premeditation, even if the outcome of the suicide wasn't what they necessarily were after. It clearly shows that they need some psychological help and counseling if not going so far as jail. Everybody knows that people who are bullies become that way for a reason, usually some sort of emotional abuse or neglect, or even physical abuse.

The night is dark, and full of terrors.

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[–] MrBlondee 10 years ago

Great reply!

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[–] MrBlondee 10 years ago

Tss! He wasn't life loving? He was very artistic and had a soul. All the other kids were soulless demons not even living life. You're disconnected man.

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[–] Miscella 10 years ago

The post above in which someone said Ben "had some emotional issues already, feeling alienated and alone" was deemed a "great reply" by you. And now here you are, arguing with my comment that he was wasn't exactly a happy, life-loving guy to begin with.

Ben was all doom and gloom long before he got pranked. There's just not much of an argument against that. So if we are to blame the pranksters for Ben's actions, why not also blame everyone else who made him feel alienated and alone? After all, a happy, life-loving, artistic, soulful boy surely wouldn't attempt suicide over something like that...would he?

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[–] MrBlondee 10 years ago

Enjoy whatever you have.

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[–] Miscella 10 years ago

I'll take that as an acknowledgement. Thanks!

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[–] BeOneOfUs 8 years ago

LOL

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[–] kalelabud 8 years ago

kill yourself, dirty hoe.

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[–] Miscella 8 years ago

You must really hate gardening tools.

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[–] kalelabud 8 years ago

he was a normal kid, he was just lonely. lonely doesn't automatically means sad. i'm sure you never had any hard time in you first-world bitch life, but try to understand it. after he lost his only "friend" (who was the only person he felt he could talk to, and that he trusted) and was humiliated by every person who knows him, knowing his entire school (and eventually his family) would have his nude picture, he tought his only escape was suicide. and he never thought about suicide before. i think the movie makes a pretty clear point in showing he was not depressed. depressed people don't really like or feel entusiasm over anything. ben loves music, is really happy to make a new friend and even plays in a band. that's not a sign of depression. he was just lonely, shy and weird. you're so dumb you have to oversimplificate every character in every movie?
anyway, you saying that if he had depression, people could bully him and if he attempted suicide, that's on him is just dumb, and cruel.
if jason knew (and he knew) that ben was lonely, and would trust a new fake "friend", and even knowing this, he kept going until ben sent the picture, and even knowing people wouldn't take it easy on ben (and he also knew that) after he made the picture public, if he still did it, then he must have considered that ben attempting suicide was a possibility. so, basically what jason did was murder. and you're defending him. MURDER.
you're such a bitch that even when the movie basically tells you that a character commited murder you still think he's right.
hope your kid gets lot of bullying.

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[–] Miscella 8 years ago

Are you trying to kill me?

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[–] kalelabud 8 years ago

i'm not trying to kill you and i'm amazed if you think i am.
i just can't take this disgusting thought of defending criminals. if this "prank" was made to your son or brother, you would have a very different line of thought, and that's when you realise you are just being selfish.
you say that showing everyone in the whole city the naked picture of a shy, lonely 15 years old is "just a prank", and those who did it didn't know the possible consequences of this actions. those bullies were 15, for *beep* sake. you know what can drive people to suicide when you are 15. they were not children, they were intelligent (in jason's case at least) teenagers, and they showed little to no remorse over their actions. a prank is something you can laugh at. this is pure humiliation. it also turned out to be premeditated murder and child porn distribution. it's not a *beep* prank, you *beep* retard.
no, bitch, i'm not trying to kill you, but if people like you were dead, the world would be a better place. people that puts the blame in the victim, when is never the victim's fault.
just to know that a person that thinks this is "just a prank" and this bullies are not to blame for their actions exists disgusts me and proves me that the human race is a rotten piece of *beep*

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[–] Miscella 8 years ago

If you're not trying to kill me, then why are you saying things to me that might cause me to consider suicide? You're not the first one in this thread to say the world would be a better place if "people like me" were dead, so if I were to take that to heart and actually kill myself, should you be charged with premeditated murder?

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[–] kalelabud 8 years ago

no, because that's not an obvious cause of suicide, you dumb bitch. but if i sent pictures of your naked body to everyone you know, and i knew you were lonely and didn't trust anyone but the fake profile i made to humiliate you, and that this would probably harm you in some way... yes, i'll be charged with premeditated murder. if you were a minor, i would also be charged with child pornography and some form of crime involving harassment. does that really sound like a *beep* prank to you?
tell you what. since you are such a horrible person, you'll see yourself involved in some situation like the one in the movie. either you or the people you love.
have you ever heard of macumba? you will.

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[–] Miscella 8 years ago

You seem to be an advocate for personal responsibility, but you don't hold Ben accountable for his actions. No matter how you spin it, those kids did not make Ben attempt suicide. What they did was wrong, but to say it was premeditated murder is to presume that Ben's death was their intention. One may as well presume that my suicide is your intention when you try to convince me that the world would be a better place without me in it. Or perhaps there's another reason you're calling me names and cyber-bullying me? Because surely you don't think the world would be better off if there only people like you in it...do you?

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[–] kalelabud 8 years ago

premeditated murder is when you take the risk to kill someone. you know it's possible that your actions get someone killed, but you don't care. so it was not their intention, but it was what they achieved, and they knew it was possible, and they didn't regret that.
i don't know your weak spot, i don't know your friends to humiliate you in front of them. so you're forcing too much of a comparison.
how can ben be responsible for his actions? are you blaming the victim? so if i rape you that's going to be your *beep* fault?
you don't seem to be thinking in what you are saying for the past 2 years. let me try to explain your own line of thought to you

jason and friends: create a fake profile and intentionally gain the trust of a lonely boy who done nothing to them, intentionally convince him to send a nude picture and intentionally show it to everyone in school, knowing he will obviously be bullied after it, and not caring about the consequences.
your opinion: they did nothing wrong, it was just a prank

ben: was minding his own business, playing in his band and making his music until two dickheads tought it would be fun to humiliate and make everyone see him naked. he couldn't stand eveyone laughing at him and the exposion of his body, along with the tought that the only person he ever trusted brought this suffering to him. tried to kill himself as his only option to escape the suffering and humiliation.
your opinion: he's the one to blame because he was already depressed to begin with.

even if ben was already depressed (which he wasn't), that doesn't make him the one to blame. i know you never had any experience with suicidal people, because you're a first world bitch, but people who try suicide are really on the bottom of the line, and feel that the only way out of the suffering they're feeling is death. is not like "oh, well... i got pranked. gonna hang myself". it is actually a really, really intense feeling of hopeless despair, that will never go away. if you don't want to believe ben was not depressed, the movie makes it very clear that he at least didn't think about suicide before, and if the so called "prank" you insist to defend was the cause of this feeling of hopeless despair in ben... well, he was not to blame. his bullies are.

yes the world would be better without people like you, who blame the victims and defend bullies as just "pranksters". as i said, i hope you will feel it in your skin. then you'll understand.

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[–] Miscella 8 years ago

your opinion: they did nothing wrong

I guess you missed the part where I said, ""What they did was wrong..."

I blame the kids for what they did. You're blaming them for what Ben did. Maybe it's time for you to stop trying to explain anyone's line of thought but your own.

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[–] kalelabud 8 years ago

if you are the only force that drives someone to do something, you're the one to blame.

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[–] Miscella 8 years ago

No one forced Ben to hang himself. He did that all on his own.

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[–] The_Blu_Ray_Penguin 11 years ago

Getting locked up for pulling a prank seems a bit harsh to me. I don't think they should be held accountable for giving Ben a reason to do what he did. Nobody knows what's going to make someone actually attempt suicide. It could have been anything. After all, Ben wasn't exactly a happy, life-loving kind of guy to begin with.

People like you are whats wrong with the world today. Nobody wants to take responsibility for their actions. What they did was wrong on many levels. If I have to explain why to you then you need to seek help for your sociopathic dysfunction. Do they need to go to prison? No, perhaps not. But they need to be heavily disciplined at home and counseled at a minimum. Young punks turn into older punks when they go through life doing as they wish. Prisons are full of them and many could have been helped had someone held them accountable earlier in life as they were growing up.

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[–] Miscella 11 years ago

People like you are whats wrong with the world today. Nobody wants to take responsibility for their actions. What they did was wrong on many levels.

The prank was mean and cruel, but it shouldn't be held responsible for Ben's suicide attempt. They pulled a prank; they didn't make Ben hang himself. You talk about people taking responsibility for their actions, but you blame the pranksters for Ben's actions. Why is Ben not responsible for hanging himself? Was that his only option? What about all the other kids in the world who have been pranked in similar fashions but didn't attempt suicide? No harm, no foul?

could have been helped had someone held them accountable

Accountable for what? The prank or the hanging? A couple of kids pulled a prank on another kid who in turn attempted suicide. Who needs counseling more? The pranksters or the suicidal teen?

Consider the following hypothetical scenario:

I attempted suicide today because I was upset by what you said to me. I'm currently comatose. The first line of your response to me is to blame. Your hurtful remark that people like me are what's wrong with the world today is responsible for my actions, and therefore you are held accountable for my coma/death.

Really?

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[–] rac19141 11 years ago

It was a kid though. They are supposed to be protected under the law more.

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[–] OlyyRio2016 10 years ago

When you get raped and you try to commit suicide, blame yourself for the suicide not the poor rapist.

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[–] BeOneOfUs 8 years ago

Exactly! Well said.

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[–] Miscella 8 years ago

When you get raped and you try to commit suicide, blame yourself for the suicide not the poor rapist.

Remove the word "poor" and see what happens...

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[–] npanou 10 years ago

"They pulled prank; they didn't make Ben hang himself"
The legal system disagrees with you on that one. If you intentionally bully someone to suicide in aus you can get life imprisonment, unintentionally could arguably constitute manslaughter- a reasonable person WOULD expect that spreading a photo like that and manipulating someone in that manner could cause sever harm. Calling this a "prank" is *beep* a prank is burning a bag of *beep* on someone's doorstep- there actions constitute a number of crimes- identity theft (the photo they used), sexual harassment, stalking and distributing under-age pornography.) YAY. As more of these cases start washing in you will see this type of activity become more clearly criminalised. The only thing saving the kids at this point is the fact the suicide attempt failed.

"World needs bad men. We keep the other bad men from the door."

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[–] dxben99 10 years ago

You're right. It was not his only option. He could've went Columbine on their asses.

Seriously: There's a difference between saying something upsetting to a person and making a person the laughingstock of the whole school by spreading embarassing naked pictures amongst all the students, thus alienating the person totally.

I don't know what the correct punishment for the two boys should have been, especially since they were pretty young. But I hated that that Frye kid was not seen again. For a second there at the end after the two dads beat on each other and the kid gets nailed with the hockey stick and then they make peace, I was hoping for the three of them to drive to that Frye kid's house and beat the sh-t out of him, lol.

That's actually one of the things I liked about the movie. The situations didn't have simple solutions. It's complicated and sometimes really f-ed up. Like life. :)

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[–] Miscella 10 years ago

Suicide, Columbine, or whatever...it doesn't matter. Nobody should be held responsible for something they didn't do, and those kids didn't hang Ben.

Re: Seriously: I was talking about accountability. It's a valid analogy.

Great movie. Talking about it makes me want to watch it again...

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[–] dxben99 10 years ago

Of course they didn't hang him, but had they not done what they did, he wouldn't have hung himself, so this works both ways.

I agree I have no idea what the right punishment would be, but a hard punishment it must be! these are the kinds of things that need to be ostracized by society.

Letting the bullies go unpunished is exactly the kind of thinking that will keep creating spree killers...

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[–] Miscella 10 years ago

had they not done what they did, he wouldn't have hung himself

You don't know that any more than you know if Penguin's remark is enough to trigger a similar response in someone other than yourself. Would it be wrong to say that you wouldn't blame Penguin as much as those two boys?

I never said they should go unpunished. I have to admit that I'm riding the fence between "prank" and "bullying", but "attempted murder" simply isn't on my list of possible charges.

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[–] jenx42 8 years ago

Hey Micella, since you're riding the fence maybe I can help you decide. If someone distributed a buck naked pic of you to all of your coworkers and family, would you feel pranked or would you feel violated, embarrassed, humiliated and horrified?

A prank is supposed to be funny. George Cloony does hilarious pranks to all his co-star. It's cool, nobody gets hurt.

I agree that Ben had preexisting mental and emotional issues. His father was totally emotionally checked out and disconnected from the family. These were all factors of course. But what Jason and Frye did was a crime, pure and simple. Cyber bullying that leads to suicide is a crime in many places. Distribution of underage porn is a crime, no matter who distributes it or if they know it's illegal. They placed the last piece of the suicide puzzle. Cause and affect. I don't personally believe that the penal system helps kids that make these kinds of horrible mistakes as they throw first time offenders in with far worse criminals and expect them to come out rehabilitated, but I agree that discipline and counseling would be a must.

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[–] Miscella 8 years ago

If someone distributed a buck naked pic of you to all of your coworkers and family, would you feel pranked or would you feel violated, embarrassed, humiliated and horrified?

I would probably feel betrayed, and stupid for sending the photo to begin with. In any case, my point was that neither of those boys were trying to cause Ben's death, and therefore should not be responsible for his attempted suicide.

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[–] SteverB 8 years ago

You write like you were never 15 years old. You're trying to shoehorn in adult emotions in a child. If Ben had been 40, I'd be in full agreement with you, but he wasn't 40, he was 15. I won't go so far as to say Jason and Frye were 100% responsible, because they were dumb kids too. Responsibility is difficult to identify here. I would imagine, though, that if and when Ben wakes up, Jason and Frye will have learned about their portion of the responsibility. Ben's dad has hopefully learned his portion of responsibility too.

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[–] OlyyRio2016 10 years ago

I totally agree with you

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[–] pikachu500 11 years ago

I think this thread calls to mind the struggle jason bateman's character faces in the movie. The sister's own regret and sadness for 'cutting him down' all the time shows that accountability wasn't so obvious. BUT it is obvious that the cyber prank/bullying was worse than the real-life shame, embarrassment, and put downs.

who really gained closure from being held accountable? definitely not that inbred kid

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[–] pmfg_pan 11 years ago

The two kids who pulled that prank on him deserve to be locked up for what they did, especially that Frye kid. When Ben sent the picture to them and the Frye character was like "Do you feel sorry for him? Are you in love with him?", I felt really pissed off towards his character because it showed how much of a heartless bastard he really was. Kid looked a little inbred too, like he wasn't all there.

The interesting thing about them was that I got the feeling that both kids individually weren't as bad. For me it was more like they pushed each other to do worse things. That's how I interpreted the "Do you feel sorry for him?"-scene.

I think that this is a pretty realistic depiction of real life bullying. Not all bullies are hopeless sociopaths. A lot of them are just insecure kids who secretely maybe even feel a little sorry for the victim. But because of group pressure they think that the best way to impress their friends is to act all tough and to basically be a jerk against outsiders.

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[–] mrs_nussbaum 11 years ago

No one seems to be mentioning that the kid should have been aware of the consequences of sending a photo like that. He was old enough to know better. It is his own fault that the photo got out there in the first place. I'm not saying this makes what the boys did okay (of course it wasn't).

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[–] dominique-robb 10 years ago

Absolutely. It's a federal crime to distribute child pornography.

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[–] rac19141 10 years ago

It's a prank not child porn. The intention was to embarrass not to arouse and it was spread by kids.

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[–] RagtimeRaver 10 years ago

Knowingly sharing a photo of a naked minor is child pornography. Motivation and age of the perpetrator is irrelevant. There are several laws in the US regarding this very issue.

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[–] bartallenii 10 years ago

While he *should have been* old enough to know better, Ben clearly had zero social skills, and was desperate to please the only person in the world who had reached out to talk to him (this includes even his own family). In his mind, if he refused to give her the picture, she'd cut off contact with him and he'd be back to square one. I'm not defending Ben's foolish decision to actually go through with it, I'm just saying look at it from his point of view.

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[–] 10 years ago

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[–] Matt_Layden 10 years ago

The two kids should be held responsible, not for the attempted suicide, but for the distribution of child pornography.

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[–] Augustus_Octavian 9 years ago

Nah. Ben was a dumb *beep* You shouldn't feel sorry for him either. Those two kids might not be nice people, but Ben is a real dumb kid. Unlikeable too.

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[–] BeOneOfUs 8 years ago

How was he a dumb *beep*? Either way, he's only a kid.

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[–] Augustus_Octavian 8 years ago

He showed very poor judgement, even for a kid. Being a kid does not relieve you of all burdens of responsibility or sound judgement.

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[–] BeOneOfUs 8 years ago

Like most kids his age...

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[–] Augustus_Octavian 8 years ago

"even for a kid"...

To clarify, I believe in death as a penalty for everyone regardless of age. The threshold may be different, due to age as a mitigating factor, but the ultimate severity is not.

If a kid decides to slip out and play around in traffic despite being told not to, I do believe death is an entirely suitable penalty.

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[–] BeOneOfUs 8 years ago

So, you are saying he deserved to die for being stupid?

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[–] Augustus_Octavian 8 years ago

He deserves to be mocked for his poor judgement. Whether he chooses to commit suicide is up to him.

But more broadly speaking, certainly death is a suitable penalty for gross stupidity. If you walk off a cliff while texting, you entirely deserve it.

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[–] BeOneOfUs 8 years ago

You're a monster, dude.

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[–] Augustus_Octavian 8 years ago

You are soft, dude.

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[–] BeOneOfUs 8 years ago

Oh yes, what a pussy I am for thinking that DEATH might be a little harsh of a punishment for being a little stupid...

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[–] Augustus_Octavian 8 years ago

Yea, a bit of a pussy.

Depends. If you are referring to the boy, I don't think death is the right punishment. Humiliation as dealt out by life is. If you are referring to walking off a cliff, then yes.

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[–] callum9999 8 years ago

What I find quite interesting is the instant desire several people have for two young teenagers to be executed. Again, they want two CHILDREN, who pose no threat to human life (if you paid any attention to the film at all you'd see they had absolutely no intention of this happening, and it's rather obvious that they'd never do something like that again), to be KILLED and they expect to be listened to in a discussion about morality!?

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[–] MacTownShores 8 years ago

Wow posted this two years ago and it's still going in 2016.

I stick with my original opinion, those kids deserved at least some juvie time and some psychological analysis.

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[–] hovaoc149 8 years ago

hanging scene not powerful at all because it was totally predicatable. as soon as sister walked i to the room somehow i knew what she was going to find. anyone else agree?

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