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The International Writers Magazine:DVD Review
Capturing
The Friedmans
Dan Schneider
'Who do you believe?'
This
documentary film by Andrew Jarecki, founder of Moviefone, is simply
one of the best ever made. It does everything a documentary should-
ask questions, provide insights, and allow a viewer to draw their
own, if differing, conclusions. The film started out as a short
film on New York City clowns, following the lifestyle of Silly
Billy- played by David Friedman. During the course of filming
Jarecki found out that Friedmans brother and father, Jesse
and Arnold Friedman, were convicted pedophiles- which makes the
viewer wonder about Davids chosen profession.
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When I picked up this DVD I thought it was on the 1990s spy case involving
the traitor with a Jewish name I forget. Instead, its about the
last big 1980s sex ring pseudo-case- the most famous being the McMartin
Daycare case. Like that this case was way overblown and innocents suffered
many false accusations. The difference is that at the center of the
case was an admitted pedophile- Arnold Friedman, a retired science teacher
who taught computer classes from his basement home with his eighteen
year old son Jesse. They, and three neighbor boys, were not only charged
with sodomy and sexual abuse, but patently ridiculous charges that were
typical of the era before False Memory Syndrome was scoped out. On Thanksgiving
of 1987, the Friedman home in Great Neck, Long Island, was invaded by
a SWAT team, intent on nailing Arnold for buying child pornography through
the mail.
Thus began the end of the family. Wife Elaine, a cold, humorless woman
reviled by David, is shown as a clueless harpy who spent years loathing
her husbands relationships with his sons before any of the scandal
hit, David- who bought a video camera to detail the familys demise-
defends his father to the point of absurdity, middle brother Seth refused
to participate in the film, Jesse- released after serving thirteen years
in jail- seems the most stable member of the family, while Arnold seems
pathetic. An admitted pedophile, his existence, however, argues against
the notion that all pedophiles are aberrational monsters, are totally
evil. That he was sick and confused is beyond doubt, but the viewer
is not sure that his eventual punishment- prison and suicide- fit the
crime. In short, he declaims while innocent of the Satanic and bizarre
sex ring crimes, he admits to molesting two boys over a forty year period,
but having deep feelings for both.
Worse than the collapse of the family is the collapse of American Justice
in the film. The whole case against the Friedmans was based on lies
by coerced children - one smug, anonymous liar who admits to being hypnotized,
and contradicts his own claims, shoddy police work by investigators
desperate for a conviction to advance their careers, terrible legal
counsel on all sides, and a judge that determined their guilt without
ever going to trial. Toss in the media and its no wonder that
the case never went to trial - it was impossible to get a fair trial
in that milieu.
The family seems to have a history of voyeurism, denial, and pedophilia,
going back to Arnolds fathers bizarrely sexualized home
movies of Arnolds sister in a tutu in the 1940s, Arnolds
admission to sexually abusing his younger brother Howard, and possibly
his sons - who deny the claims. The only stumble the film makes is by
waiting to the end to reveal Howard is an out of the closet gay. By
doing so, it plays right into ignorant viewers linkages of straight
homosexuality with pedophilia. Is Howard gay because Arnold raped him,
and he sublimated the fact for the boundless love for his brother? Manifestly,
Arnold was a homosexual whose upbringing and personality did not gibe
with coming out. He seemingly fixated on his teen love for teen boys,
and thwarted in that early on, grew obsessed with it- to the point of
child pornography and molestation. Jesse, on the other hand, seems to
have been innocent, and given terrible legal counsel, which resulted
in him admitting to a crime he wasnt guilty of since his father
admitted to the absurd charges in a purgation of his hidden crimes.
The prosecutors are reprehensible - claiming mounds of porno all over
the house, while photos taken the moment the cops busted in showed one
small hidden stash in Arnolds private room. A female prosecutor
contradicts herself many times, her bias is evident, and - ala the OJ
Simpson case - while Arnolds guilt for that he was accused of
may be wrong, theres little doubt the cops more or less framed
him. Yet, Jarecki lets them all prattle on - David, in his belief that,
contrary to Arnolds admissions, his father was totally innocent,
to Jesses lawyer - who may be the worst attorney in the nation.
All speak with authority - yet those things verifiable undercut almost
every assertion. Many of the original accusers now say they lied, under
pressure from parents and police- one father of a victim
admits that police pressured his son. Many of the 107 counts against
Arnold and 245 counts against Jesse simply could not have occurred in
the time frames claimed, and physical evidence was utterly non-existent.
Add to that the fact that pedophiles almost always act alone, for fear
of being caught, and the whole bizarreness of that time and place shines
through.
The DVD extras- on a second disk- are bountiful and insightful. Jarecki
is as fair and balanced in the extras as he is in the film - showing
multiple confrontations between many of the people featured in the film
at the after film screening, footage following Jesses life after
release from prison, an insightful interview on the PBS Charlie Rose
show, and many other tidbits on the family, including the original short
film on Davids clown life- including a persona where he admits
to loving scaring children with horrible-seeming acts. Watching this
film after the main film will have Freudians masturbating. Finally,
the commentary is one of the best on DVD- you get extras on both the
family and the film that, again, contradict each other, and the film
commented upon.
Capturing The Friedmans is one of those endless Chinese dolls-within-dolls
conundra which begs for repeat viewing. One is left hoping that such
witchhunts are a thing of the past, but knowing they are not. That you,
your child, or a friend, could be the next Jesse Friedman- whether you
feel him guilty or not- is a quease that wont leave, and why the
film is great art.
© Dan Schneider Jan 2005
www.Cosmoetica.com
The Best in Poetica seeks great poems & essays!
See also
I am Legend
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