"Bullseye"

Late last night, my roommate introduced me to the greatest invention ever: a free (probably illegal site) where every episode of Law & Order: SVU can be watched. My heart was filled with joy. As I randomly picked a season to start watching (Season 12), two episodes in I came across the episode Bullseye. Interestingly, the episode revolved around child predators and two cases of rape of two young girls. In an interrogation scene, Detective Benson or Stabler (I can't remember) sarcastically referenced a suspect's reading choice to that of Lolita due to the fact of the suspect violating his status as a registered sex offender. Oh, how my heart lit up with excitement and awe (crazy, right?!) just at the fact the book was referenced.

Spoiler Alert: In the last scene of the episode, the real predator who has committed the rapes is none other than the leader of the anti-sex offender lynch mob.

The dialogue between the guy and The Detectives is an award filling moment. He proceeds to explain how he tried to fight his urges for young girls but he couldn't help it. "I'm SICK," he proclaims. In this moment I am reminded of Humbert Humbert's plea for sympathy and understanding as he tells the reader why he prefers the flesh of young girls. Both Humbert and the character from SVU's pleas for understanding and acceptance creates an overlapping parallel for me as a reader. Humbert and the SVU character attempt to subdue their urges by living a normal life but they both fall. Their facades as respectable men is foiled and revealed to be nothing more than a shameful lie. If you have time, I suggest watching the episode. The idea of the SVU character viewing pedophilia as a sickness and Humbert viewing it as a "natural form of love" is what separates the two.