This is a very in-depth documentary. The English name of the documentary is Athlete A, the Hong Kong and Taiwan translation seems to be called the Gymnastics Class A scandal, and the domestic translation is called the Whistleblower: Tracking the US Gymnastics Team Sexual Assault Scandal. Although they have summarized the main content, in fact, I don't think the meaning of the name has been translated.
This documentary exposes the decades-long sexual assault scandal of the American gymnastics team. The first scum is team doctor Larry Nassar. Since he served at Michigan State University that year, he has sexually assaulted and molested the female athletes and patients for more than ten or twenty years. The youngest victim is only under 13 years old. The current data is that he has assaulted at least 500 girls. Another major scum, or organization, is USA Gymnastics, which is the American Gymnastics Association. From the chairman to the coaches, they are all aware of the sexual assaults in this system, but in order to beautify the image of USA Gymnastics and continue to use the reputation of these gymnasts to make money, the organization tried every means to cover up the scandal and not only turned a blind eye to it. He closed one eye and forced the athletes to sign a non-disclosure agreement, not allowing them to speak out.
Athlete A, actually a bit of "Anonymous Li Xingxing", referring to gymnast Maggie Nichols. In 15 or 16 years, she became the first person to report sexual assault by team doctor Larry Nassar, but in the communication of the Gymnastics Association, she has been referred to as "Athlete A". Maggie also paid a huge price for this report. She is talented, where she jumped and won. She was always expected to represent the American team in the Olympic Games. Once she reported her, she was not selected for unknown reasons. She didn't even want her as a substitute, and then announced her retirement from the national team.
There is a very moving scene in the movie, Maggie said: "I don't want people to refer to Athlete A. I want to let them know it was me, that he (Larry Nassar) did not do this to Athlete A, he did it to Maggie Nichols. (I don’t want to continue to be anonymized. I want everyone to know that the victim is Maggie, whom you know and have been following." It felt like Guo Jingjing suddenly stood up and said publicly, "I am one of them A victim" is equally shocking.
When this case broke out back then, I gritted my teeth while watching the report, thinking, "This Larry is too bad, and it should be cut." But when I watched this documentary, I suddenly had a different feeling. I still feel that Larry Nassar needs to be severely punished. With one eye closed, the chairperson and employees of the Gymnastics Association who do not report sexual assaults in accordance with state laws also have to pay. Although justice was done in the end, it is suffocating to think carefully about the systemic reasons behind it .
This timeline must first be drawn back to the background of the Cold War. The United States wants to show that it is the number one in the world. The Soviet Union and other socialist countries have to prove that I am not bad. Everyone has to win everything. The athletes in the Olympics are under tremendous national pressure. Since "winning" is the most important thing, why not torture the body and mind with the beautiful name "then the heaven will cast the power to the people"? This pattern of abuse of athletes is the most popular in Romania. After Romania won a big victory, it was later spread to the United States because it could "win". No one cares about the life and death of the athletes, only the number of gold medals won makes the whole gymnastics culture very depressing.
Larry took advantage of this bad gymnastics culture. He looks personable, humorous and good-natured (human beings look like a dog), and he is willing to coax these young athletes (the age of jumping gymnastics seems to be very young), and then molested them under the guise of treatment. But as early as 1996, there was an internal report saying that he was misbehaving, but he was treated coldly. If he was expelled the first time he succeeded, the next 500 girls would not be brutally murdered.
But the American Gymnastics Association in the capital society does not. In the context of the commercialization of professional sports, because its image is too important, sponsors earn hundreds of millions and hundreds of millions of dollars each year, and they are full of friends. Any blemish will affect their image, which is dangerous for them to sponsor and make money from advertising. And when an organization prioritizes its earnings, it will be like Marx said:
When the profit reaches 10%, they will be ready to move; when the profit reaches 50%, they will take the risk; when the profit reaches 100%, they dare to trample all the laws of the world; when the profit reaches 300%, they dare At the risk of hanging. "
Therefore, for the sake of "money", the people of the Gymnastics Association were silent, and instead of reporting the sexual assault to the state prosecutor as required by law, they chose to conceal and silence the victims. If the chairman is dismissed, there will be the next chairman, what if Larry is gone, there will be Herry. The operation of the capital market is so dirty and disgusting. How to design a reasonable system for checks and balances of power can be done once and for all .
In fact, there is another documentary filmed particularly well, called "The Hunting Grounds", which is about the sexual assault scandal in American colleges and universities. The logic of why schools are quiet is described very well. It is also the word of money, and the victim has to be sacrificed. . The little girls inside are also very strong and smart. After being frustrated, I was hitting a snake and hitting Qi Cun (how to beat it by myself~), forcing the school to admit its mistake. I was crying when I watched this documentary.
The most admirable is Rachael Denhollander, the first former athlete to speak publicly against Larry Nassar. After being forced to silence, she realized that it was not the right time to trip Larry Nassar or even the Gymnastics Association, but she did not give up. She went to law school soon and waited for more than ten years. She collected evidence silently. As soon as the news came out, she would disclose her identity and testify with her real name, encouraging more athletes to stand in front of the stage and tell their stories. As the only person who made a real-name report, she was accused by thousands of people, and she was so thin that she was out of shape.
There is a very powerful statement from her in court:
There are two major purposes in our criminal justice system, your Honor: the pursuit of justice and the protection of the innocent. Neither of these purposes can be met if anything less than the maximum available sentence under the plea agreement is imposed upon Larry for his crimes. Not because the federal sentence he will already serve is lacking, but because the sentence rendered today will send a message across this country, a message to every victim and a message to every perpetrator.
I realize you have many factors to consider when you fashion your sentence, but I submit to you that the pre-eminent question in this case as you reach a decision about how best to satisfy the dual aims of this court is the same question that I asked Judge Neff to consider: How much is a little girl worth? How much is a young woman worth?
Larry is a hardened and determined sexual predator. I know this first-hand...Larry's the most dangerous type of abuser. One who is capable of manipulating his victims through coldly calculated grooming methodologies, presenting the most wholesome, caring external persona as a deliberate means to insure a steady stream of children to assault. And while Larry is unlikely to live past his federal sentence, he is not the only predator out there and this sentence will send a message about how seriously abuse will be taken.
So, I ask, how much is a little girl worth? How much priority should be placed on communicating that the fullest weight of the law will be used to protect another innocent child from the soul shattering devastation that sexual assault brings? I submit to you that these children are worth everything. Worth every protection the law can offer. Worth the maximum sentence..."
Finally :
I hope justice will be brought to the sexually abused victims, no matter where they live or who they are.
I hope, naively, that there will be no sexual abuse happen to our little girls in the future. They will be well-protected and live and thrive under their culture.
I hope tomorrow will be a better world.
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