# Just another hypothetical moral dilema **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 25, 2018, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-another-hypothetical-moral-dilema/821917 "2018-09-25T23:02:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2018, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-another-hypothetical-moral-dilema/821917/21 "2018-09-26T18:32:45Z")
Setting aside the incomprehensibility of the scenario, was this really the best time to pose a rape hypothetical? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-another-hypothetical-moral-dilema/821917/22 "2018-09-26T19:46:51Z")
I don’t know. Is it ever a good time? ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2018, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-another-hypothetical-moral-dilema/821917/23 "2018-09-26T20:59:06Z")
I interpreted the OP as a thinly veiled argument in support of Kavanaugh being appointed to the supreme court, and responded accordingly. His response seems to be a claim on the order of “I’m researching it for a book!”, though - and who knows, perhaps he really is just flailing about for a topic to write a story about. The job search difficulties of a rapist wouldn’t be _my_ first choice of topic, but then again I may just suffer from a failure of imagination. ---
**Author:** ![yo\_han\_go](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yo_han_go/32/130_2.png) [@yo\_han\_go](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yo_han_go)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2018, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-another-hypothetical-moral-dilema/821917/24 "2018-09-26T22:53:43Z")
Ok, thanks for your attention. I was more afraid of “wait OP, that was already discussed by xy in the yx book, movie, etc.” Looks like it is original enough. Not yet sure if idea has more potential from the employer or employee point of view or might be just some intermezzo chapter. As I see it, is tacky, as I said, highly improbable, but not impossible scenario in its rough creation. Yes, I could use other less stigmatized diseases and crimes, but hey, boooring. Mind you, I could an can stigmatize, ickyize (heh, new word) and controversize (another new word?) topic even more, but even I have some taste. And target audience is still more or less general public not some weird fetish cultists. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2018, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-another-hypothetical-moral-dilema/821917/25 "2018-09-26T23:09:43Z")
> [@yo\_han\_go](#): > > Ok, thanks for your attention. I was more afraid of “wait OP, that was already discussed by xy in the yx book, movie, etc.” Looks like it is original enough. Not yet sure if idea has more potential from the employer or employee point of view or might be just some intermezzo chapter. > > As I see it, is tacky, as I said, highly improbable, but not impossible scenario in its rough creation. Yes, I could use other less stigmatized diseases and crimes, but hey, boooring. Mind you, I could an can stigmatize, ickyize (heh, new word) and controversize (another new word?) topic even more, but even I have some taste. And target audience is still more or less general public not some weird fetish cultists. What’s your goal? Is it to make the applicant’s life rougher, and thus inject drama? Is it to make the employer’s life rougher, and thus inject drama? Who’s the main character, anyway? In my experience, writing an interesting-sounding scene without any idea of a plot just leaves you with an interesting-sounding scene. If you want to write a story, start by designing the story, and let the story tell you if the dude needs to be a past rapist with a deadly disease - and it’ll tell you whether you need an employer who’ll hire him or one who’ll toss him out. I’ll tell you this though - being shocking for the sake of being shocking rather than to serve the story doesn’t catch _my_ interest as a reader. (Or as a writer, for that matter.) ---
**Author:** ![yo\_han\_go](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yo_han_go/32/130_2.png) [@yo\_han\_go](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yo_han_go)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-another-hypothetical-moral-dilema/821917/26 "2018-09-27T00:33:13Z")
As I said had about 6yo block now, so idea is still far from anything right now. But, ok. Let’s go old for some style creative writing. We need idea, plot, protagonist(s), etc. Possible plot (soft version): Barely of age marginal society man joins some gang that opportunistically sexually abused someone and got caught red handed. He discovers his talents while serving justice, gets some edu, maybe good reputation and after let say 5-10 y (good behavior, poor health) he is released and determined to do something something while he still can. Not much and I think is too boring. A lot of hardcore drama opportunities, but still … Thanks for helping. It’s therapeutic. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-another-hypothetical-moral-dilema/821917/27 "2018-09-27T00:46:49Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > How much of a gap is there between the really good Hitlers and the really bad ones? There are some very fine Hitlers on both sides. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-another-hypothetical-moral-dilema/821917/28 "2018-09-27T01:48:39Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > I interpreted the OP as a thinly veiled argument in support of Kavanaugh being appointed to the supreme court, and responded accordingly. The OP isn’t an American so he probably doesn’t care very much who sits on our Supreme Court. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-another-hypothetical-moral-dilema/821917/29 "2018-09-27T02:31:19Z")
I would not employ myself but I would write myself a strong letter of recommendation. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-another-hypothetical-moral-dilema/821917/30 "2018-09-27T18:57:27Z")
> [@yo\_han\_go](#): > > As I said had about 6yo block now, so idea is still far from anything right now. But, ok. Let’s go old for some style creative writing. We need idea, plot, protagonist(s), etc. > > Possible plot (soft version): Barely of age marginal society man joins some gang that opportunistically sexually abused someone and got caught red handed. He discovers his talents while serving justice, gets some edu, maybe good reputation and after let say 5-10 y (good behavior, poor health) he is released and determined to do something something while he still can. > > Not much and I think is too boring. A lot of hardcore drama opportunities, but still … > > Thanks for helping. It’s therapeutic. Do you prefer the drama of him getting hired, or the drama of him getting rejected? (Which is not to say you can’t have both; some rejections, then one hiring after he’s found a tolerant employer/learned to keep his damn mouth shut.) Presuming he keeps his mouth shut at the interview, that opens the door for more drama when the employer finds out that he bears the mark of a criminal, firing him, causing him to become desperate and steal some silver from a priest who forgives him, leading him to swear his life in the service of others and become the mayor of a town under a different name while eluding a police officer who’s looking for him for some reason. Though that might already have been done. In any case it comes down to what serves the story. I believe it’s been shown you can easily achieve whichever of the hiring/not hiring outcomes you prefer by adjusting how much the guy admits during his interview, and how he says what he does admit. ---
**Author:** ![yo\_han\_go](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yo_han_go/32/130_2.png) [@yo\_han\_go](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yo_han_go)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-another-hypothetical-moral-dilema/821917/31 "2018-09-27T23:15:29Z")
Thinking in progress /morning dump … shower … toothbrush … bing! How about both characters are being main protagonists, two parallel stories unrevealing intimate details, converging somewhere in the middle … Possible further development in sense employer being some kind of devil advocate for the employee later in the story … Boring? Needs more Micheal Bay! (or S.M. Stirling) FYI, I mostly published soft core IT themed handbooks, but also two dozen mostly soft sci-fi themed short and not so short stories. Only couple in English as it is not my first language, just to see if I can. This one will probably make it (hope so) into some longish form of short story. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2018, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-another-hypothetical-moral-dilema/821917/32 "2018-09-27T23:41:27Z")
> [@yo\_han\_go](#): > > Thinking in progress /morning dump … shower … toothbrush … bing! > > How about both characters are being main protagonists, two parallel stories unrevealing intimate details, converging somewhere in the middle … Possible further development in sense employer being some kind of devil advocate for the employee later in the story … Boring? Needs more Micheal Bay! (or S.M. Stirling) > > FYI, I mostly published soft core IT themed handbooks, but also two dozen mostly soft sci-fi themed short and not so short stories. Only couple in English as it is not my first language, just to see if I can. This one will probably make it (hope so) into some longish form of short story. We’re starting to wander outside the realm of where I feel I can be useful to you - it really comes down to what story you want to tell and what (if anything) you want that story to say or what thoughts or reactions you wish it to inspire. From one writer to another, good luck! (And seriously, if you’re going to make your protagonist a former rapist, be prepared to have to work _hard_ to make people like him, and for a percentage of your audience to never do so. There are a lot of reasons to dislike a rapist, and many of them are the sort of thing you can never trust them to have reformed from - and that’s not even accounting for the fact some people don’t consider the act forgivable at all.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-another-hypothetical-moral-dilema/821917.md?page=1)