Is there anything scarier than a children's clown?
Added 3/18/2010
Capturing the Friedmans: 5 out of 10: Child Molestation, family dysfunction, mass hysteria, homosexuality, and clowns: Where do I sign up.
Filmmaker Andrew Jarecki was making a documentary on the high priced children's clown Silly Billy (David Friedman). A very angry and irrational clown that will play into every clown stereotype you have ever had (Think serial killer). Well it turns out David is the older brother and son of the two men convicted in a famous child molestation case that took place during the witch hunt style child molestation hysteria, of the late eighties.
Could the Friedmans also be victims of same said hysteria? Innocent men railroaded to prison? Well it turns out no. If you're looking for a documentary on the abuse of the justice system, especially in such cases, keep looking. If you want a voyeuristic look inside a upper middle class Jewish family one southern twang away from Jerry Springer, welcome home.
Without the child molestation charges this would be a hilarious romp. Each family member from the angry clown to the screeching mother is a gift that keeps on giving. Using home footage that manages to capture moments that reality television can only dream of, Capturing the Friedmans gives you a ringside seat next to a family simply imploding upon itself.
Unfortunately much of the movie concentrates on the child molestation case at hand. Trying to create suspense and play with the idea that the two men are innocent, the movie sets itself up for a fall. While some of the charges are clearly trumped up (naked group leapfrog?), the father is clearly guilty (and pleads accordingly). The son Jesse, whose case is on shakier ground, doesn't help his own cause by having zero defense witnesses and eventually pleading guilty as well.
Jarecki clearly was playing with the hand he was dealt. And what a hand. He had an incredible collection of home movies fall into his lap. Simply making a film about this family falling apart very well may have worked. But Jarecki overplays his hand attempting to turn it into a documentary about the American judicial system. This overreach simply falls flat.
But in all fairness, if I were looking at spending six months filming Silly Billy the clown I would have grasped for straws too.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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A true account only in hollywood
Added 7/23/2009
The film is a very biased documentary; there is a ton of information that further reinforces the guilt of the father and son that has been left out to make it seem like maybe they didn't do it. The fact is that for as questionable as the film makes all this seem, almost all of the victims still vehemently claim that (a) they were raped (b) the police did not get them to make up stories (c) they were never hypnotized. If you have any doubt about the guilt of the accused, search around on the internet - it gives a much broader bigger picture of what happened.
4 out of 5 people found this helpful.
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fast and worked great!
Added 6/28/2009
i got this well before the estimated delivery time and it worked perfectly. was a genuine, new DVD for a really cheap price. I will continue to use this seller for sure.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Bias towards the Abuser?? Greaaatttttt.....
Added 1/4/2009
Inasmuch as I appreciate documentaries by-and-large, this one took me on a roller-coaster of fascination, confusion, frustration, and ultimately disgust. "Doc" Filmmakers have a tough job IF they are TRULY attempting to be objective....in this case, I don't think the director was honest with the audience. There are many back-and-forths regarding the "truth" and the "facts" that could make your head pop, BUT in the end the director chooses to use some sentimental music to almost wax nostalgic over this worn-and-torn sick family.....the Friedmans???!!
How about the two boys he did molest on summer vacation...how about the loads of child pornography found in his home...why weren't there any basic counter-interpretations brought in regarding the almost endless interpretations of the details by sons David and Jesse?? Why was the one snippet of a former computer class student/victim used (which showed him to just lounge on the sofa and be so casual/vague about his responses) when the snippet in the Supplemental Materials (Disc 2) showed him to be quick, clear and strong in his recollections? Why weren't some fundamental aspects and EFFECTS of emotional/sexual abuse discussed by experts in psychology so as to give us a better understanding why many children COULD HAVE been molested by Arnold and Jesse?
No documentary is perfect, but that's beside the point....even in the extras clips of premiere showings the final result is that more emphasis is placed on challenging the methods of the detectives along with extending more sympathy towards the father and sons RATHER than INCLUDING an equally robust analysis of the pedophile, Arnold Friedman, and his sons.
Is it so hard to call Arnold Friedman what he was AND scrutinize the Law?? Apparently it was too much for the director to give us...which causes me to wonder if he has a potentially dangerous vulnerable spot in his heart for abusers like Mr. Friedman. Case in Point: since there was no such "hard" challenge to Mr. Friedman displayed in the film, since there was no display of remorse shown in the film by Mr. Friedman for his previous molestations...since there was such defiance shown by David and Jesse...then why the %*#@ would the director offer a link in the DVD-ROM section of Disc 2 to download the Mambo song by Arnold Friedman??!!! That strikes me as sick (if you want me to spell it out...little disgust and/or outrage is shown towards Mr. Friedman by the director, but we can still enjoy his cute Mambo song, right? Friedman can traumatize boys, but that doesn't really matter so much....here's a cool song...download it!!). Andrew Jarecki, check your soul long and hard in the mirror.
I can't recommend this film to anybody.
6 out of 8 people found this helpful.
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leaves you wanting more
Added 11/24/2008
I always think the mark of a brilliant documentary is the lasting questions it leaves you with. I want to know all about the surviving Friedmans --- how they are doing? have they found a measure of peace?
I was walking through Costco today and saw a book that was entitled something like how to survive the toughest times. I started thinking about what the toughest times would be. I suspect we'd all have different definitions. Losing your house and all of your money---- that seems more and more present these days, as a possibility. If you still have your family, your health, your mind, that seems surmountable. But losing one or more of these other things in addition to tough times imposed from the outside world---THAT is the test of character.
The Friedmans lose their family, and the world brands them as society's worst criminals. They lose their identity. They are no longer a nondescript nice little Jewish family from Long Island; they are child molestors. Their family falls apart, their health and lives are affected.... The movie shows us how they suffer in this unfathomable agony. Their characters are not particularly noble and are not up to this challenge..... I suppose no one's would be.
Compounded on all of it is this overarching sense of injustice. That they have been singled out to suffer (and in the case of Jesse at least, the youngest son) so unfairly. While we all feel loss when the economy crashes, there is a certain comfort in knowing we are not alone. The Friedmans were alone and the tragedy of this ordeal defined their lives.
I want to know how things turned out. How are they now?
The Farmer's Wife was like this, Lalee's Kin, Living Dolls, and any number of brilliant documentaries---we're left wanting more, and the families whose stories are told want nothing more than to fade away.... It's pure voyeuristic selfishness I know, to want so much more. If they didn't make me care I wouldn't want to know. So I guess be forewarned. There are lessons to be learned in great documentaries and maybe one of them is knowing when to be satisfied with an unfinished story.....
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Is there anything scarier than a children's clown?
Added 3/18/2010
Capturing the Friedmans: 5 out of 10: Child Molestation, family dysfunction, mass hysteria, homosexuality, and clowns: Where do I sign up.
Filmmaker Andrew Jarecki was making a documentary on the high priced children's clown Silly Billy (David Friedman). A very angry and irrational clown that will play into every clown stereotype you have ever had (Think serial killer). Well it turns out David is the older brother and son of the two men convicted in a famous child molestation case that took place during the witch hunt style child molestation hysteria, of the late eighties.
Could the Friedmans also be victims of same said hysteria? Innocent men railroaded to prison? Well it turns out no. If you're looking for a documentary on the abuse of the justice system, especially in such cases, keep looking. If you want a voyeuristic look inside a upper middle class Jewish family one southern twang away from Jerry Springer, welcome home.
Without the child molestation charges this would be a hilarious romp. Each family member from the angry clown to the screeching mother is a gift that keeps on giving. Using home footage that manages to capture moments that reality television can only dream of, Capturing the Friedmans gives you a ringside seat next to a family simply imploding upon itself.
Unfortunately much of the movie concentrates on the child molestation case at hand. Trying to create suspense and play with the idea that the two men are innocent, the movie sets itself up for a fall. While some of the charges are clearly trumped up (naked group leapfrog?), the father is clearly guilty (and pleads accordingly). The son Jesse, whose case is on shakier ground, doesn't help his own cause by having zero defense witnesses and eventually pleading guilty as well.
Jarecki clearly was playing with the hand he was dealt. And what a hand. He had an incredible collection of home movies fall into his lap. Simply making a film about this family falling apart very well may have worked. But Jarecki overplays his hand attempting to turn it into a documentary about the American judicial system. This overreach simply falls flat.
But in all fairness, if I were looking at spending six months filming Silly Billy the clown I would have grasped for straws too.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
A true account only in hollywood
Added 7/23/2009
The film is a very biased documentary; there is a ton of information that further reinforces the guilt of the father and son that has been left out to make it seem like maybe they didn't do it. The fact is that for as questionable as the film makes all this seem, almost all of the victims still vehemently claim that (a) they were raped (b) the police did not get them to make up stories (c) they were never hypnotized. If you have any doubt about the guilt of the accused, search around on the internet - it gives a much broader bigger picture of what happened.
4 out of 5 people found this helpful.
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fast and worked great!
Added 6/28/2009
i got this well before the estimated delivery time and it worked perfectly. was a genuine, new DVD for a really cheap price. I will continue to use this seller for sure.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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