News Article | daredevil

Cullen McIntyre

Ms. Barbara Barklow

11 December 2017

Final Project News Article

Daredevil:

Hero or Vigilante?

Written by: Karen Page

Known as the “The Man in the Mask” or “The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen”, Daredevil has been protecting the streets of New York City during late hours of the night. He has brought down gangs and groups of criminals that the police hasn’t been able to handle for years. Daredevil has given a light to the people of New York City who have been stuck in the dark. In a corrupt city, he is our one hope. But to many, they still don’t believe in him, and see him as a vigilante who needs to be stopped.

Vigilantism is defined as “Taking the law into one's own hands and attempting to effect justice according to one's own understanding of right and wrong; action taken by a voluntary association of persons who organize themselves for the purpose of protecting a common interest, such as liberty, property, or personal security; action taken by an individual or group to protest existing law; action taken by an individual or group to enforce a higher law than that enacted by society's designated lawmaking institutions; private enforcement of legal norms in the absence of an established, reliable, and effective law enforcement body” (JRank).

Known for bringing down the powerful criminal businessman, Wilson Fisk, who ran a large portion of the crime in Hell’s Kitchen, and corrupted most of the New York City police department, Daredevil took down a man who was unknown to the public as a crime lord. Daredevil has been involved in saving a group of young girls from getting kidnapped and taken into the sick world of sex trafficking. Daredevil is said to be involved in many cases the public doesn’t know about. Personally, he saved my life after I was falsely accused of killing my date, and there was an attempt on my life.

Even after all that he has done for this city, people still see Daredevil as a vigilante who needs to be stopped. There is no real law on vigilantism, but there is law involving obstruction of justice, and there is law involving assault. Daredevil can technically be found accountable for many assaults, but they were on criminals who some would say deserved what they got. There are many accounts of Daredevil saving people’s lives from people all over Hell’s Kitchen. The people of Hell’s Kitchen see him as a guardian angel over them.

Personal Note(karen page)

If you believe Daredevil is bad for this city, then listen to the stories of people’s lives he’s saved, or look into what he has done for this city. He has ripped apart the corruption of New York City and brought down gangs the police didn’t even know of. Wilson Fisk was a powerful crime-lord that controlled the city, and he was unstoppable, until Daredevil came into this city. Whoever the man behind the mask is, from the citizens of New York City, and the people of Hell’s Kitchen, we thank you.

Endnotes:

In the show, Karen Page is a main character in Daredevil who ends up becoming a writer for a newspaper, so that really inspired this piece. She is one of Matt Murdock’s (the Daredevil) best friends, and they eventually have a relationship together until she finds him in bed with his ex girlfriend who’s also an assassin and trained by the same person Matt was trained by. Karen’s big part in Daredevil is her ability to become involved through the newspaper and exposing the secrets of crime in NYC. I used mostly context from the show itself for inspiration for this piece, for things like Wilson Fisk, the saving of Karen’s life, and where he saved the girls from being stuck into sex trafficking (they’re all scenes/a part of the show). I also use context from ““Vigilantism.” Law, Private, Vigilantes, and Justice - JRank Articles” and from the paper by Henderson concerning the “laws” surrounding vigilantism.