Just examine what you think about when you hear about human shields.

At least for me, I think about scenes in dozens of movies (probably thousands at this point), in which a bad guy doesn't want to get caught by the good guy; so, the bad guy places a person who means something to the good guy, or simply a random innocent person, between him and the good guy so the good guy can't get a clean shot.

Immediately, this is an evil and cowardly act. It's not just that the bad guy is already enough of a bad guy that the good guy has to chase him. It's that he's also such a bitch that he is willing to put more innocent people at risk in order to save his own hide.

I don't think that I've ever seen this depicted in cinema; but, imagine a scene in which a bad guy grabbed his own son or daughter, put a gun to his or her head, and held him or her in front of him to deter the good guy from firing. How would that change how you view the good guy and the bad guy?

To people of basic conscience, the typical human shield scene is evil, but it makes logical sense. In the case of a bad guy using his own child as a human shield, it seems to fall out of the realm of the creative minds of decent people when it comes to fictional depictions of evil. It shows that the bad guy not only doesn't care about his offspring, but that he's counting on the good guy caring.

This second scenario, that's so evil that Hollywood hasn't put it on screen yet (to my knowledge) is Hamas's entire strategy. Punch Israel, and then run and hide behind their children so Israel can never get a clean shot.

If you're passionately pro-Palestine right now, you're passionately in support of evil cowards.