Myth and Reality

While we all cheered and felt a profound sense of relief when the second escapee from the Clinton Correctional Facility was captured on Sunday, I think in a small, dark corner of our minds, there was disappointment.  The myth of the convicted felon with the heart of gold, represented in movies notably by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid holds a strange appeal for many in the baby boom generation.  The spectacle of literally thousands of law enforcement officials scouring the North Country for 2 convicted killers fired up the meme of the plucky convicts on the lam against overwhelming odds.  The fact no civilians were harmed or even threatened by Matt and Sweat also shifted sentiment.  Of course, we know that Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger and the aforementioned Cassidy and the Kid went down in a hail of police bullets, but it doesn't make their stories any less compelling.  There are probably dozens of word processors whirring as I write these words as screenwriters begin the process of turning the events of the past three weeks into a movie.