Mary Bell: The 11-Year-Old Killer
Killer Psyche
Audible | Treefort Media
4.6 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 28 February 2023
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Former FBI agent and criminal profiler Candice DeLong examines the upsetting case of Mary Bell, an 11-year-old who killed two young boys. While Mary's crimes were horrific, it would be too simplistic to say she was purely evil. She had a tragic backstory, and she was not as one dimensional as many others have portrayed her.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, Prime Members! You can listen to Killer Sikie add free on Amazon Music. Download the app today! |
| 0:09.0 | A listener note, this episode contains adult content and is not suitable for everyone. Please be advised. |
| 0:18.0 | Good vs. Evil |
| 0:28.0 | For years, the characters in literature and film were filed into one of those two categories. |
| 0:36.0 | Good guys and bad guys. |
| 0:39.0 | This way of thinking was very black and white. There was no grey area and characters stayed true to their designation. |
| 0:50.0 | Of course, not all art was like this. But in the 70s and 80s, a good number of the popular genres, teen films and action films were scripted with this in mind. |
| 1:05.0 | But today, the majority of audiences no longer accept people as simply good or evil. |
| 1:14.0 | Villains are given backstories and character arcs. Heroes are often shown in their least heroic moments, making them complex, more like us, and well life in general. |
| 1:30.0 | After all, that is why I have a podcast and why you are listening. Right? |
| 1:38.0 | When the TV show Batman aired in the mid to late 60s, there was no question about Batman's morality. |
| 1:47.0 | He would never break a law or act with impropriety. The show was filled with campy villains who wanted to defeat Batman more than they seemed to want to rob a party. |
| 1:59.0 | But Batman's tragic family history was rarely mentioned. And aside from the occasional two-parters, we knew good would defeat evil before the 30-minute episode ended. |
| 2:14.0 | Fast forward to recent Batman movies led by Christian Bale, Robert Pattinson, and Ben Afflack. |
| 2:22.0 | Batman was no longer a hero. He was an anti-hero. He broke the law while doing good. |
| 2:31.0 | The films were dark. The heroes were moody, and the villains were complicated. |
| 2:38.0 | Moral ambiguity was rampant. The concepts of right and wrong, not so clear. |
| 2:46.0 | I bring all this up, because as I researched this story, I was shocked how many times I heard the words wicked and evil. |
| 2:57.0 | Why would I be shocked? Those are fairly common, although not always accurate, descriptions of most killers. |
| 3:07.0 | Well, most killers are not 11 years old, like the subject of this episode, Mary Bell. |
| 3:16.0 | And while Mary's crimes were indeed horrific, it would be too simplistic to say she was purely evil. |
| 3:25.0 | She had a tragic backstory, and she was not one-dimensional, as many others have portrayed her. |
... |
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