Objectifying the Accused
The New York Times
What happens when violent crimes are overshadowed by appearances?
From the moment the world saw the smiling, unmasked face of the young man in the New York City hostel, memes began spreading about his looks. In the days since, after Luigi Mangione was identified and charged in the murder of the UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson, it has been impossible to escape his photo. Or photos. They are proliferating.
They are on television, in the newspaper and all over social media. Not just pictures of Mr. Mangione from his booking at a police station in Altoona, Pa., or his mug shots in prison orange, but photos of him in earlier times, in a navy blazer, crisp white shirt and tie. Images of him hiking shirtless in the hills. In all of them, he is clean-shaven, curly-haired, often flashing a bright, white grin. Even his Tinder profile has made it into the public, with more pics featuring his six-pack. One commentator compared the stream of pictures to “an endless photo shoot.”
And with them have come the comments. The swooning. The fan cams.
“If the guy is fit, you must acquit,” went one post on X.
“He’s even hotter with his mask and shirt off,” went another.
Indeed, it didn’t take long for Mr. Mangione to be popularly christened “the hot assassin.”
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