Caitlin Scott

Killing in the Name Of:
When Sacrifice and the Scapegoat
Mechanism Fail in Film

Caitlin argues that in several powerful films the scapegoat mechanism fails
to create social solidarity and end the cycle of violence, as Girard argues.
In the German film M a child murderer (played by Peter Lorre) bears the marks of a scapegoat
and he is surrounded and condemned by a crowd of criminals who are in turn surrounded by police:
a nesting of encircling crowds. Yet the mothers' pathetic confession at the close,
that they should have watched their children more closely,
signals that the sacrifice will not end the violence or the vigilance its threat requires.

Two thumbs up for Caitlin's choice of movies!