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Author: Catbert

Apr 5th 2012 at 5:19:28 PM

The general impression I get from the HalfRobinHood trope that this is attempting to fix is that the idea is that the thief will only rob from those that are seen as "fair game" because they are evil, rich or both.  If they are rich, they will either be faceless corporations that are depicted as being able to afford the losses, or they will be depicted as assholes to some degree, even if only in their arrogance and greed, if not downright corruption and criminality.  Basically what the writer creating the character wants to avoid is having the thief rob from someone that we will feel sorry for.  Someone poor, honest, sympathetic, honorable, etc.  And yes, there is often a bit of class warfare rich = bad vibe inherent in the trope.

I mean, how often have you heard someone say it is okay to pirate music and movies because the rich corporations that produce them can afford it anyway?   If the rich corporations actually go after people stealing their intellectual property somehow it becomes the victim of the piracy that is portrayed as a greedy bastard, not the pirate.

I know some people has said that "steals from the rich" is the same as "just plain steals" but the idea here is that the thief will not go after the poor, the middle class, or anyone else that can't afford the loss and/or has earned their money "fairly", unlike a regular thief who would have no qualms about stealing from anyone.

This is a bit of a hard concepts to balance clearly.  I'd welcome any suggestions.