The cruelty of the law is that if you are a gang member, even if you did not participate in a crime, you are responsible for it; the cruelty of society is that if you are a priest, even if another priest sexually assaults a boy, then you are Rapist; the cruelty of people is that if the police can't solve the case, it means that every policeman has not fulfilled his duties, so he can put up billboards to curse mothers.
That's where the story begins, but if it ends, or if Mildred and Dixon drive to Iowa with guns behind their backs to kill the bragging, the audience will be very entertained in that moment. But after enjoying it, just like the Korean movie "Earthworm", when the pleasure of revenge fades away, the pain of life will come back. Therefore, revenge is just a painkiller, but it cannot make you forget the pain.
A society must be full of contradictions, good people and bad people, civilians and criminals, police and civilians, and within the family, every kind of contradiction will inevitably produce a hostility. When hostility gathers, an outlet is needed, and one of the functions of the film is to take responsibility for this outlet. Through the big screen, it can meet the ways and needs of people of different classes to release their anger and appease the vulnerable people. The movie can also tell us what to do after venting, whether to go home and continue to accumulate anger and wait for the next release, or to think about whether there are other ways to solve our problems.
At the end of the film, Mildred and Dixon are in the car asking each other if they are sure the bragging person is the murderer, but neither of them are sure. It is not so much that they are discussing the murderer here, but that they are testing the possibility of reconciliation on the other side. This reconciliation is not only between Mildred and Dixon, but also between the victims and sheriffs they represent, and between the public and private powers of society. This reconciliation is uncertain, and the outcome is unknown, but failure to move towards it will only further destabilize society.
A divided society urgently needs to find a way to bridge it, but what way is a difficult question to answer.
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