Movies, especially the ones about superheroes, are always fun to watch. Everybody enjoys a good film like The Dark Knight in theatres this weekend. And while the movie will provide a lot of entertainment, it might also raise legitimate moral and philosophical issues. One theme that these superhero movies (and especially the upcoming superhero movie, Watchmen, whose trailer was featured before The Dark Knight) bring up is the necessity of vigilante justice in the absence of government action.
In the movies and comic books, rarely is this considered a bad thing. In the few cases where it is brought up, the implicit moral backing is behind the superhero. This makes sense: superheroes are the “good guys”, so to say that their general premise is morally wrong is almost unacceptable. The few books that do bring up this topic at the very worst leave it morally ambiguous, as is the case of Watchmen. As a result, no clear answer emerges, at least in the superhero world.
We are not superheroes. Our judgements are far more flawed than even the weakest of comic book characters. We do not have their extraordinary gifts as citizens, and thus our vigilante powers must be more limited to prevent morally reprehensible situations. Citizens are justified in vigilante actions only to directly protect their lives or the lives of other individuals. Otherwise, the justification is opened up to horrendous justifications for actions such as lynchings or mob riots.
While state control might seem bad, a total lack of state control would undermine any protection of life possible. Unless a state is actively attempting to undermine life, or is failing in its duty to prevent such loss, then vigilantism is not justified.
