If it weren't for the repeated emphasis on "this film is a description of real events" and "all testimonies are from court records", you would probably take it as a poor story made by a third-rate screenwriter. But if you regard it as a case reduction of realism, you will definitely come to the following conclusions when you are crying:
These abusers are really bad, a bunch of unreasonable monsters, each of which deserves a thousand cuts.
Another thing is: if I were there, I would never join forces with the TAs to do this to a weak girl who is lovely and kind like an angel.
Besides, if I ask you what you think, you may be at a loss. If you know anything about sociological psychology, you might think of Germany during World War II, and think that the film somewhat reveals the group unconsciousness of the "rabble."
This is where the film fails the most. It wears a real coat, but it gives people a sense of itchiness.
Small towns in America in the 1960s, even if they were a little poorer and backward than other big cities, lived a little harder, and had less education, they didn't have a particularly different human nature. How could such a shocking months-long child abuse happen? What about the tragedy?
Of course, there are many factors that caused this tragic outcome, but apart from the unreasonable evil of human nature, the indifference of the townspeople, and the vague theory of the group's unconsciousness, it is absolutely possible to have a deeper insight into the human nature of this real case.
In fact, the most terrifying part of human nature is that the evil thoughts in people's hearts are not a monster with green face and fangs, but a wolf in sheep's clothing. It is disguised to deceive ourselves, often making us not feel like we are doing something bad when we do cruel things, but instead, it deceives us into believing that we are hurting someone because of this People are to blame, and even deserve it.
Therefore, when Li Kui killed innocent people with an axe, he would think that he was doing justice for heaven;
So, when Muslim fanatics kill infidels, they think they are doing the will of God;
Therefore, when the revolutionary masses criticize and beat bad elements, they will think that they should be as ruthless as autumn when dealing with the enemy.
The most fundamental reason why evil cannot be driven away in our hearts is that we do not realize that we are doing evil.
Perhaps in pursuit of a more shocking tragic effect, the film portrays the victim Sylvia as perfect as an angel. Not only is Pan Liang smooth, kind and caring (she was whipped on behalf of her sister), tolerant and indifferent (never publicly said bad things about the Gertrude family), but also decent and unsmiling. It seems that only in this way can her murder be more able to poke the tears of the audience. It is a pity that it is precisely because of this that the authenticity of the incident is greatly weakened, and it is also impossible for people to truly understand (but not equal to) the reason why these perpetrators are human from the perspective of human nature.
But the real Sylvia is not as perfect as in the film. She likes to flirt with boys occasionally, and admits that she let a boy sleep in her bed, but there is no relationship. This led to Gertrude kicking her directly in the crotch and saying it would be pregnant (and kept her thinking she was pregnant).
In revenge, she also said outside that the Gertrudes' two older sisters were sluts (and caused a beating from one of her boyfriends). And admit to Gertrude that he stole something at least once before coming here. It never happened in the movie that he took the initiative to accept whipping for his sister.
In this continuous and gradual process of abuse, the victim Sylvia was stigmatized and demonized by the Gertrude family step by step, including the branding of "I am a prostitute and I am proud" on her body. The words are not only corporal punishment, but also the most direct splash of sewage, so that the perpetrators can completely let go of their psychological burden.
It can be said that among the people involved in the violence, except for the younger children of Gertrude's family who may have fallen into a state of group unconsciousness due to their mother's authority, the older children almost actively beat and abused the West. Sylvia, and thinks she deserves a fight.
In court afterwards, each of the perpetrators unanimously claimed that they did not know why they were violent to Sylvia. "Blind obedience" has become a common excuse for TAs to escape guilt, as well as a placebo (relieving guilt) for continuing to deceive themselves in their hearts. Therefore, the theme of the film also deliberately emphasizes this self-deception trick, which is especially unconvincing.
The film's over-beautification of victims, although it provides a footnote for "blind obedience" (a no-fault angelic girl was abused to death, can there be any other explanation besides cold blood and conformity?), but also lost A deeper insight into the possibility of human evil. Let the audience sigh with grief, only to come to the conclusion that "I will never be in the same boat" instead of realizing that if we are in it, facing a faulty and imperfect victim, there is also a problem. may be involved in evil. From this, I realize that the real kindness is not the love of angels, but the kindness of mortals and sinners.
This is also the greatness of Jesus. When faced with a woman caught in adultery, when the scribes and Pharisees said, "Moses commanded us in the law to stone such women to death," he, who knew human nature, said, "Which one of you is Whoever has no sin can stone her first.
If we are not perfect and saints ourselves, and if each of us comes into this world with sins, why can't we sympathize and forgive others' small faults and so-called sins? What's more, when we are dealing with an underage girl, even if she is imperfect and at fault.
If only saints and angels deserve to be treated kindly, then each of us deserves to be abused.
The most terrifying thing about not seeing human nature is being able to overcome guilt to do evil unscrupulously, which makes this film ultimately superficial. In fact, Paula later gave birth to a daughter in the hospital while serving her sentence, and to show her love for her mother, she named the child Gertrude. That is to say, neither the death of the girl nor the imprisonment of the girl made her realize her mother's and her own sins, and she was still deeply immersed in Gertrude's intolerant and selfish motherly love.
It is not that the wicked do not understand love, but that they do not know how to transcend bigotry, narrow-mindedness and ego to love more broadly. So religion can't stop the evil thoughts in people's hearts. (The residents of this town, including the perpetrators, are Christians who go to church every week.)
Isn’t it easy for us to get involved in the ranks of alternative elements in isolated and ostracized groups in our lives? It is also often random to lash out at strangers who have been ravaged by cyberbullying. What is even more frightening is that we can always find high-sounding reasons for these actions: why is everyone bullying him? There must be something to hate about poor people!
How many people think the other way around: Even hateful people must be pitiful?
Even as early as children, we were instilled with too much hatred in the name of justice. There is a video of interviewing two Chinese children. One of them was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, and his answer was "the kind of scientist who studies tanks". When asked why, he said, "Study weapons to beat the Japanese are Japanese devils." Because he hated the Japanese so much that his nose bleeds.
The other kid, too, has an infinite hatred of the Japanese, and I hate both the good and the bad, because I hate whoever hits us.
Therefore, when film and television distinguish between good and bad in the name of good and evil, we as audiences are all kind and compassionate. However, once we return to the reality of life, when we cannot even distinguish between good and evil, how can we ensure that we do not do evil?
You know, even after doing evil, we firmly believe:
The world is really bad enough, but I'm really not bad.
This film review was first published on the public account [Wudubzf] (wudubzf), which makes reading more addictive than drug addiction.
View more about An American Crime reviews
