Check It Out: When They See Us
| revcom.us
From a reader:
I want to urge everyone who can to watch When They See Us, Ava Duvernay’s film of the story of the Central Park 5 on Netflix. The Central Park 5 were five teenagers coerced into confessing to the rape and attempted murder of a female jogger in Central Park, in New York, in 1989. Years later, they were exonerated when the real rapist confessed and DNA matches to him proved conclusive. As a footnote, the Central Park 5 was the case where the fascist Donald Trump first strutted onto the political scene to mouth his racist demagogy—as the movie documents.
I have only seen the first two episodes of four—in part, to be honest, because the film was too intense to watch at a single sitting. You will see how this system functions in every sector and at every level—right down to the way that the oppressed even see what is possible. You will see youth caught up in this situation fight impossible pressure to maintain their humanity and integrity. There is sharpness and clarity, and there is subtlety and nuance; and there is a story that every human being in the U.S. needs to know.
Again, I have only seen the first two episodes. But these two for sure are well worth viewing and thinking about.
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