AlliF

Hearing that Chopper Read may only have days (hours?) to live an Aussie friend of mine was on FB yesterday wishing him well and a smooth journey to the other side.
Initially thought she was kidding and being sarcastic- after all this guy has admitted to assault/numerous murders and kidnapped & tortured people (and then wrote books about it).
Was surprised to hear that she was deadly serious and thinks that there should be more like him 'ridding the place of the scum of the earth'
I struggle to get my head around this revered 'celebrity status' of criminals?(and the well he was only murdering scum line - well i'm not sure that'll get him a pass through them pearly gates, it wasn't like he was performing a civic duty)
So has Ned Kelly been truly knocked off his perch as the most notorious outlaw of Australia? Was he really just a goody in disguise all along..

Kim67

Chopper is the one criminal in Australia since Ned Kelly that has been written into Australian folklore with admiration. Chopper no doubt is a murderer and criminal - murder of any kind is wrong, but he never murdered random innocent people, they were all as bad as him with regard to their criminal activity. And the thing with him is that he's very funny, intelligent and charismatic. The movie about his life was another insight into his life that made people take notice. When I first heard Chopper wouldn't make Christmas, I was sitting in the car with my eldest and she didn't know who he was. I showed her a pile of videos of him and of Ronny Johns being Chopper - we were both in fits of laughter. I'll never condone what Chopper has done in his criminal past, but I will be sad to see him lose his battle.

Beoz

Chopper only affected my life in a good way. The movie gave me plenty of giggles. Anyway .... who are we to judge.

Chopper: Why would I shoot a bloke BANG, then drive him to the bloody car and wizz him off to the hospital at a hundred miles an hour? It defeats the purpose of having shot him in the first place

Chopper: I'm just a bloody normal bloke. A normal bloke who likes a bit of torture

Chopper: Aw, look. The bloke's been my best mate since 1975. We've had our fall-outs from time to time. It's no big deal. It's like... if your mum stabbed you.

Chopper: Look, you're not still angry at me about the leg, are you?
Neville Bartos: Nah, forget about it.
Chopper: Because I don't know if you remember, Neville, but I had that bloody shotgun pointed at your head. I reconsidered and dropped it down to your kneecap. Remember?
Neville Bartos: Forget about it. All right?
Chopper: I mean, what the bloody hell were you doing getting lippy at me with a bloody shotgun? I had a bloody loaded shotgun.
Neville Bartos: The leg is okay, all right?

Chopper: Beethoven had his critics too, Keithy, see if you can name three of them.
[Keithy continues walking back and forth, confused]
Chopper: That's right, you can't.

Chopper: [Jimmy has stabbed Chopper seven times] It's all right, Jimmy. I don't hate you. You just broke my heart.

Chopper: I used to be Chopper Read. Now I can't even get arrested in this bloody town

sonlymewalter

he was a criminal and a murderer regardless as to how you dress it up. Scum fighting scum. Would rather focus on remembering good people who have done nothing but good in the world.

Good riddance

Kim67

At least Chopper served his time, admitted his crimes and turned over a new leaf when he got out.

sonlymewalter

He still killed people and did unspeakable crimes mate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chopper_Read

Whilst no one wants to harp on to his old life he certainly isn't worth revering IMO

Kim67

No, as I've said, I don't condone any of his criminal activities, but they guy is very entertaining (though a little scary, wouldn't like to have actually been in his company).

sonlymewalter

Often sociopaths are intelligent, funny and very manipulative - there's always a nasty undercurrent of behaviour

He was known to exaggerate and embellish his stories to make himself sound good. He didn't always just hurt crims

Nothing to like about this fella other than he had the balls to make money from writing about his criminal pastime and people fell for the crap he sprouted. The money he made should have gone to charity.

Naaaa.....nothing good about this guy mate

Beoz

That kind of goes against the grain of serving your sentence and rehabilitation. Both of which Chopper successfully completed. Of course we could always lock 'em up, throw away the key, for every person that's ever committed a crime.

sonlymewalter

Or we could just let him die in peace, say nothing out of respect but not forget what a hateful flucker he was during his lifetime

This was no small criminal and no small crime. And the thread is about revering a hardened criminal.

moneypenny20

No it isn't. The OP queried why he's apparently revered considering his history. Personally I've not heard of anyone revering him. Plenty of people commending him for turning his life around after paying his dues but that's something else imo.

sonlymewalter

I stated that the OP was wondering why her friend on Farcebook was revering a hardened criminal. Nothing confusing about that. I highlighted hardened criminal as Boez indicated "every person that's ever committed a crime" which is not a hardened criminal.

Paedophiles serve their sentence - doesn't mean people forgive or forget - in many peoples views they will always be a paedophile - same applies with people who have committed heinous crimes such as murder e.g. Moors murderers and Yorkshire Ripper.

Amazulu

My understanding is that this guy has done the time that the court/law required of him

If he has not been convicted of something that he has (allegedly) done then that's not his fault but the system's

sonlymewalter

Agree but would you revere the guy as per the OP friend on Farcebook?

Amazulu

No

He's a convicted criminal but not the first to become popular and famous