I saw that 23 million people have watched it worldwide, which is pretty good, though not as good as some series, certainly.
It is grueling. I feel emotionally wrung out watching the first two episodes, even knowing how things will go.
https://deadline.com/2019/06/when-t...illion-netflix-accounts-worldwide-1202638036/
This case was something I was vaguely aware of at the time (1989), but I wasn't as focused on it as I should have been, both because I lived in CA then (so crime rates in New York weren't a big deal to me), and because I was focused on other elements of my life at that time as a fairly self-absorbed young person with strong liberal leanings but not a lot of deep empathy for those far removed from me in time and space and personal experience.
I suppose I assumed that justice had been done at the time. I had no idea at the time how young the guys accused of the rape actually were. I think I assumed the "teenagers" were in the 17-19 age range and wondered why their race would even be an issue. Color blindness was "cool" for white liberal types back then.
Years later, when the truth came out, I was outraged, but still in that distant way. I remember hearing how DNA played a role in the exoneration, finally identifying the real rapist (who had confessed but never charged, because of the NY statute of limitations for rape and aggravated assault), and found that interesting, since DNA forensics were something we cover in biology classes.
I really recommend this series, because it is well done and because it makes the victims of our extremely biased criminal justice system (and out of control policing) into real people in a way news stories rarely do. These youngsters' lives were shattered and years were stolen from them they can never get back. What is never clear to me is why these guys in particular, of all the male human beings in the park that night, were selected to be made into an example of beyond being simply in the wrong place at the wrong time while being very young men (all
well under 18) of color.
Clearly, that's all it takes, but there were other people of color in the park that night, and some were surely older than these teens.
I can totally understand wanting justice for the victim of the attack that happened, which was brutal. But assuming five random teenagers from Harlem can be made into disposable culprits for
political reasons? That's beyond sickening. If they had been five fraternity boys, or five white boys, accused of raping and beating someone in a sleepy little town, I have little doubt they'd have been acquitted with the evidence presented.
The real tragedy is how often this kind of thing happens when it isn't in the national spotlight, and how often the falsely accused never get a chance at even delayed justice.
Empathy is a trait that defines us as humans, but it doesn't always come easily. It seems to be harder for people to gather equal concern for people whose lives and circumstances are removed from ours. Movies and television (and books, of course) at their best can help rectify this.
Then there was the guy who took out $85,000 in full-page ads demanding the death penalty for the five youths. All he did was go on to fuck up the country and to this day still insists the Central Park Five were guilty of the crimes they were accused and convicted for.
Understand this means more to me than it does to most of you.
That this monster is in the White House now never apologized (and in fact has double down) speaks volumes about how far we have to go as a society.
There was a really sad moment when Salaam's mother commented negatively on some of Trump's racist comments, and her friend replied, "Don't worry, his fifteen minutes are almost up."
