IMMORALITY AND DECEIT IN SPORTS, FILM AND LIFE

But first: 

• The U.S. and Iran gave conflicting information about whether the Strait of Hormuz is open, as strikes escalated over the weekend. 
• Could be worse.  The USA has not yet invaded Kharg Island.
• Brent crude oil climbed nearly 10% to $83.30/barrel.
• WTI petroleum jumped slightly more.
• According to the official site, the Strait of Hormuz is CLOSED.
• No FIFA World Cup match today.

• 
  The only really interesting event of this Major League Baseball All-Star week (regular season games return on Thursday) is the Home Run Derby, which will only stream on Netflix from 8PM EDT.

So on to my posting of today.  The FIFA World Cup seemed to be full of players faking injuries, something tolerated in the game.  

• Shouldn't this be morally reprehensible, and deserving of a penalty?
• Well, volleyball players lie all the time.  They almost never voluntarily admit fault, like in touching balls that go out of bounds.

Volleyball players literally have to lie on the court to win. A massive part of the sport revolves around strategic deception. Setters disguise where they are setting the ball, and hitters fake their body movements to pull defenders out of position. This tactic of faking out the opponent is even a widely embraced trend in team "white lie."

• But back to soccer (known as football to the rest of the world), I inquired of Google AI:

Faking injuries—officially known as "simulation"—is a rule violation in soccer and is officially punishable by a yellow card under IFAB (International Football Association Board) Laws. Referees do not penalize it more often due to the difficulty of telling genuine pain apart from theatrical falls in real-time. [1, 2]

The difficulty in penalizing it stems from a few practical realities: [1]

• Referees are not doctors: A referee must decide in a split second whether a player is severely fouled or just exaggerating contact. Since minor contacts at high speeds can cause legitimate, momentary pain, referees generally err on the side of caution to protect player safety. [1, 2]
• Strategic over-acting: Players over-dramatize falls not just to trick the referee into awarding a foul, but to ensure the severity is noticed, which can influence opponents being issued cards and run down the match clock to their team's advantage. [1, 2]
• Rule limitations: While leagues have explored rules requiring players who go down and receive medical attention to briefly leave the pitch, this does not apply to goalkeepers, which sometimes leads teams to use supposed injuries as tactical breaks. [1, 2]

Is immorality and deceit also part of high level politics?  From  Google AI:

• Presidential Approval: President Vladimir Putin's approval rating remains generally high—holding at roughly 74% in recent independent polls—largely driven by a patriotic "rally-around-the-flag" effect and state-controlled media. 
• Polls asking specifically about the word "immoral" are rare, but broader national polling shows widespread public concern regarding President Donald Trump's ethics. A Marist/PBS NewsHour poll found that roughly 76% of Americans believe Trump has done something either illegal (46%) or unethical/unjust (29%). Additionally, in descriptor-based polling, 54% of Americans describe him as "corrupt" and "dishonest". [1, 2, 3, 4]
• Shifting Priorities: Polling trends, such as data analyzed by the Public Religion Research Institute, indicate that the tumult of recent decades has convinced many Americans that political expediency and policy victories can take precedence over a politician's personal integrity. [1]

Especially viewed on World Cup games, I also watched two films where the ending was, well, not exactly morally right.  Murderers got away with murder.

I saw How to Make a Killing on HBO Max, and was somewhat surprised to .....  wait, I'm giving away the ending.... so if you don't want to know what happened, skip this paragraph ... see that the anti-hero essentially succeeded after a couple of murders.  Only 45/76 from Rotten Tomatoes.  So maybe Americans don't tolerate this form of immorality.  Read an analysis from Forbes.

The other film was No Other Choice from South Korea, starring Lee Byung-Hun and Son Ye-Jin.  Rotten Tomatoes scores of 97/93.  Even his wife, initially morally upright, takes a more pragmatic view, and ends up helping Lee.

Director Park Chan-wook has a revenge trilogy:

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) - A raw, tragic story about a desperate kidnapping that goes wrong. [1, 2, 3]

Oldboy (2003) - A violent and stylish tale of a man seeking revenge after 15 years of imprisonment.

Lady Vengeance (2005) - A visually operatic story of a wrongly imprisoned woman finding vengeance.

South Korean cinema is globally renowned for its high-quality, emotionally devastating, and often brutally violent revenge thrillers. This thematic obsession is deeply rooted in Korean cultural concepts of deep-seated societal grievance, unresolved trauma, and the extreme lengths individuals will go to when justice fails them. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Modern Brutal Thrillers

• I Saw the Devil (2010): A horrifyingly bleak and relentless game of cat-and-mouse between a grieving secret agent and a sadistic serial killer. It is known for asking how much of your own humanity you have to sacrifice to catch a monster. [1, 2, 3]
• The Chaser (2008): A former police detective frantically hunts down a serial killer through the gritty streets of Seoul before his final captive is murdered. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
• The Man from Nowhere (2010): Often dubbed the "Korean John Wick," this follows a quiet, lethal pawnshop owner who unleashes absolute chaos to save a young girl. [1, 2]

Recent Hits

• The Glory (2022–2023): A smash-hit Netflix K-drama miniseries about a woman who spends decades meticulously executing a cold, calculated plan to destroy the former classmates who brutally bullied her in high school. [1, 2, 3, 4]
• Ballerina (2023): A neon-soaked, stylish, and action-packed revenge flick about a former bodyguard avenging the suicide of her best friend. [1]

Further from Google AI:

Yes, immoral or "eat-the-rich" narratives are indeed becoming more prominent in modern media. Films like How to Make a Killing and hit shows like Succession or Beef reflect a broader cultural shift where audiences are fascinated by anti-heroes and the ruthless pursuit of wealth. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Why Immorality Sells in Media

• True Crime Obsession: The massive, highly-profitable consumption of true crime has desensitized viewers to violence and even romanticized certain dark behaviors. [1, 2]
• Wealth Inequality: Audiences often root for interlopers and anti-heroes seeking revenge or taking down the ultra-wealthy, as the victims in these films are often portrayed as cartoonishly immoral themselves.[1, 2]
• Reimagining Tropes: Projects frequently revisit the dark, subversive humor of past decades (like the 1949 film Kind Hearts and Coronets) to explore modern ethical decay in a satirical way. [1, 2, 3]
• Charismatic Performances: The casting of highly magnetic actors (like Glen Powell) makes audiences empathize with characters who are engaging in reprehensible acts. [1, 2, 3]

So, of course, Korean dramas and films take this path to glory, usually in justified revenge.  Here are 10 K-dramas where the villain wins in the end.

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