When They See Us on Netflix

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I just got through the second episode and hav a question about the assaults committed against the two other people in the park that night. Clearly the 5 teens were coerced into false confession about the rape but wasn't the trial also about two other assaults. I believe they were pretty serious and folks were beaten into unconsciousness. Were those also vacated? Or is this clarified in later episodes. I believe these guys were framed but I also believe they did participate in the other assaults that went down that night in central park. Is that ever addressed? The prosecutor was nuts but we need to talk about more than just the rape that happened.

Why? Bc they were there? There is no proof they assaulted anyone. There were 30 kids in the park. No one know who assaulted the other victims. You’re doing exactly what the NY police department wanted the world to do. Believe these 5 boys were guilty of at least something without any actual proof.

In the park with the intent to cause harm.

So they shoudl go to jail for rape?

No. Not at all. I believe there was a miscarriage of justice. Absolutely.
But the Netflix series has an agenda, and I don’t agree with it.
I really find it troubling that everyone wants to go back and rewrite history. Most of my earlier posts were deleted and that’s fine. They had taken the thread off topic. I believe the portrayal in the show overly softens the teens.
I didn’t grow up in that neighborhood during the 80’s but I did live there later as a young adult.
I had a friend murdered on the LES by a pack of teens. They were out pulling the same sh#t these guys were.
And when I say “same sh#t” I mean they were out just running around, looking to rough some people up and steal some stuff. They didn’t intend to commit rape/murder. In the case of the CP5, they are not guilty of the rape/beating. Fine, but let’s not pretend these were sweet children railroaded by police. They were out looking for trouble. They just found more than they could handle.

It is very clear that you are allowing your own personal issues to cloud your judgment.

Exactly.

What is the agenda? To portray how young black boys are perceived by the media, society and police? If you’re black this isn’t news nor an agenda. It’s life. If you think it’s pretending then that shows the world you grew up in. I will accept that at the end of the day they were children thrust into the media by racism. They weren’t treated fairly or like your white child would’ve been. They were absolutely railroaded by police. They didn’t deserve what happened to them.

Maybe not, but my kid wouldn’t have been in the park at night looking to hurt people.

You have no idea what your kid would be doing. You aren’t with your kid 24/7. Kids skip school. Kids lie about where they are. Parents sit here and think they can actually control a child. It’s laughable. I coached in high school and the stories these kids came back with....I always asked, where were your parents. And the response was always the same, “they thought I was somewhere else.”

I’m sure the parents of the kids drinking alcohol at a house party near Whitman, where a student died, didn’t think their kids would be involved. I’m sure the parents of the assault over in Damascus didn’t think their children would be capable. That fall from your high horse will hurt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our criminal justice system demands actual evidence to send people to jail, not just beliefs. So the 2 other serious assaults, what evidence is there that ties these 5 individuals to that crime? Were those crimes charges? I’m confident that if the NYPD and DAs office had any basis to charge the 5 with those crime, they would have.

They charged them with the rape and assault without any evidence or basis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just got through the second episode and hav a question about the assaults committed against the two other people in the park that night. Clearly the 5 teens were coerced into false confession about the rape but wasn't the trial also about two other assaults. I believe they were pretty serious and folks were beaten into unconsciousness. Were those also vacated? Or is this clarified in later episodes. I believe these guys were framed but I also believe they did participate in the other assaults that went down that night in central park. Is that ever addressed? The prosecutor was nuts but we need to talk about more than just the rape that happened.

The prosecutor is being portrayed as nuts.
This is a movie. It someone’s vision and interpretation.

Go actually research and come back. There are tapes and articles.

NP. I bet you believe Making a Murderer is accurate too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just got through the second episode and hav a question about the assaults committed against the two other people in the park that night. Clearly the 5 teens were coerced into false confession about the rape but wasn't the trial also about two other assaults. I believe they were pretty serious and folks were beaten into unconsciousness. Were those also vacated? Or is this clarified in later episodes. I believe these guys were framed but I also believe they did participate in the other assaults that went down that night in central park. Is that ever addressed? The prosecutor was nuts but we need to talk about more than just the rape that happened.

The prosecutor is being portrayed as nuts.
This is a movie. It someone’s vision and interpretation.

Go actually research and come back. There are tapes and articles.

NP. I bet you believe Making a Murderer is accurate too!

I bet you believe the world is perfect and there is no racism. There is world peace too right!

[Anonymous]

I'm still pretty mad at Ava DuVernay for doing what I thought was a poor job with Meg Murray (I love Meg Murray) and for the first few minutes I was thinking this was going to be too heavy handed and not compelling.

I'm only halfway through the interrogations in episode 1 and I had to turn it off because I'm so physically uncomfortable and I know I have to get SOME sleep tonight. Watching it is absolutely excruciating.

I don't want to read the whole thread because I know people will be in here about bias as if there is not an endless debt to these men and their families. They deserve this film and I'm so glad it's as good as it is but I don't know how I'm going to finish watching it. I guess I need to focus on what's changed and not what hasn't.

[Anonymous]

Holy shit. I’m 30
Min into the last episode and this is the most brutal thing I have ever watched. How is solitary still allowed? Why aren’t there unbiased prison monitors? We send people around the world to monitor elections but don’t give a shit about the men in prison in this country being raped daily? Wtf?

[Anonymous]

I don’t think I can watch it. I’m a criminal defense lawyer and it’s just too gut wrenching on top of the daily gut wrenching of my work.

To the PPs who keep saying “yeah but they were probably doing SOMETHING bad in the park” - it scares me that you could sit on a jury someday.

[Anonymous]

I barely made it to the end of the first episode. It was hard to watch. Going to finish watching the next one tonight.

[Anonymous]

I've only made it through the first episode, and I hate to say it, but the film just isn't well done. Of course they were able to convey how the cops persuaded the kids to confess, but it feels more like a dramatic after school special. The movie is kind of scary when you think about how much power the police have in these situations. Kids just dont have the tools to deal with these bully detectives. I wonder if interrogation techniques for juveniles has changed in the last 30 years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've only made it through the first episode, and I hate to say it, but the film just isn't well done. Of course they were able to convey how the cops persuaded the kids to confess, but it feels more like a dramatic after school special. The movie is kind of scary when you think about how much power the police have in these situations. Kids just dont have the tools to deal with these bully detectives. I wonder if interrogation techniques for juveniles has changed in the last 30 years?

Probably hasn't changed much.

[Anonymous]

I thought it was ok. I liked the Ken Burns documentary on the same issue better.

[Anonymous]

I’ll pass. Sounds like a bunch of agit prop from the left to counter racism from the right. Unlikely to be either entertaining or educational.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can understand how this might be traumatizing to watch for Black/POC but it should be mandatory viewing for white people. I am a teacher and this plays out on a smaller scale in schools all the time- Black students are disciplined more often and more severely than their white peers. There is data backing this up. As teachers, it is so important we buck systems that criminalize black youth, address our own biases, and know how to help keep these kids safe. They face down a system designed to do this to them. It’s real.

It is absolutely heartbreaking to watch, but beautifully told and rendered. If you refuse to watch because it’s hard/not your problem/boring, you are part of the problem. Choosing to be ignorant harms people.

+1 Also I was living in Central New York when this happened. It was publicized widely and the message was that it was a thing now for teenaged boys to go “wilding” and find women to attack. It was pretty scary. It wasn’t until years later when the young men were vindicated that I started realizing what bullshit that was. Over the years, I’ve learned how distorted my view of the world was and sorry, fellow white people, but I think it’s our civic responsibility to watch this - or if you prefer, Ken Burns’s documentary, “The Central Park Five.”

[Anonymous]

The Ken Burns documentary is on Amazon Prime, FYI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ll pass. Sounds like a bunch of agit prop from the left to counter racism from the right. Unlikely to be either entertaining or educational.

Then why are you here? Go back to your bubble.