Is it Good when the Bad Aren't Ugly?

Does good looks help sensationalize criminals, dictators, and cult leaders? Take a look at some of the cult leaders in our history. Jim Jones and David Koresh were very charismatic and to some, physically appealing. Did this help their rise to power? I believe it did. What about dictators and revolutionaries? Che Guevara was a totalitarian who has his picture pasted on book bags, posters, etc... yet is it his good looks that helped his cause? He founded Cuba's labor camp system and presided over the first firing squads, yet he is romanticized. If he had been unattractive would people still sensationalize him like they do today, even after his death in 1967? Perhaps these people have ideas that some find with merit, but would the same people have listened if these leaders would have been hideous to look at? I think not.

Even serial killers and mass murderers in prison have love letters sent to them by women who find them attractive, then suddenly "get" the person and think they deserve better. Never mind that this person killed people and were social deviants. Ted Bundy was a handsome man that women trusted. I believe if he were alive today, he'd still receive hundreds of love letters and offers of marriage.

It's true that if you look like Kim Jong, you're considered crazy, and I'm not saying he isn't. Yet, a handsome dictator gets much more slack in his beliefs and how people perceive him. Don't get me wrong, this happens in most aspects in life. But if you look at this particular theory, it's disturbing. Many women find Scott Petersen attractive. I'm not saying he's not, yet does that cloud their vision when thinking of him as a murderer? Many people may think he did the crime but how would he have fared on a jury of women admirers? If you look at any crime library, you'll see notations of how the killer was "a handsome man" who was a murderer. Physical appearance makes all the difference.

Billy the Kid and Pretty Boy Floyd were also considered nice-looking in their eras. I believe that's why they are immortalized just as much for their looks, as their crimes.

If you read about a kidnapper, murderer, or rapist who isn't known for their good looks, notice how the article will stress that fact. "The 300 lb kidnapper was...." Or "The slight young man...." Looks are everything! People judge you, even as a criminal, by your outward appearance.

In life, looks make the difference in most things. Attractive people do better at job searches, in school, and in many aspects of their existence. "Evidence exists that discrimination based on looks (or physical appearance) occurs in the workplace. An investigation was conducted by ABC's 20/20 news program in 1994 that sent two men and two women into the workplace to secure the same jobs (123HelpMe). The individuals were coached to act in a similar manner during the interviews and took with them resumes with matching education and experience. The only difference was that one of the men and one of the women was superior in physical attraction to their counterpart. The results demonstrate whether intentional or not, looks discrimination does play a role in the employment process "In five cases out of five, the more attractive woman got the job; in three chances out of three, the more attractive man was hired" (123HelpMe).

We've all seen the news articles where female teachers will sleep with male students and be arrested. A lot of guys will say, "I'd consider him lucky, she's hot." We hear this all the time and that takes away from the crime that was committed by deciding that because the perpetrator was pretty, that it's okay and no harm was done.

We all know that this happens but how about when this happens with dictators, killers, rapists, and cult leaders? Would Jim Jones had as many followers had he been ugly? Would David Koresh ever have gotten his cult off the ground had he not been what some consider handsome and charismatic? Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but society turns a blind eye when the criminal is physically appealing.