Capturing the Friedmans Essay -- Film Movies

Capturing the Friedmans In 2003, Andrew Jarecki released his documentary "Capturing the Friedmans", which explores a seemingly normal middle-class families struggle when the father and son are charged with sexual abuse and molestation in 1987. The Friedman's from the outside seem like a healthy family, abiding in a fairly exclusive Great Neck, Long Island community; the father Arnold is a Columbia Graduate and a school teacher, while the mother Elaine, a housewife. They have three sons David, Seth, and Jessie whom appear to be a happy, intelligent, and good-humored group of brothers. The power and prestige of this film comes not from its controversial and serious subject matter, but from the unbiased way in which the story is presented. Jarecki gives the audience an equal amount of facts that could be used to argue both sides of the equation, which leaves one realizing that perhaps what really transpired isn't the point he's aiming for in this film. The audience is left not knowing whether or not Arnold and his son Jesse committed the crimes, but instead they are left realizing truth is irrelevant, because we will never really know exact details, just the disintegration and tragic destruction of the Friedman Family. Regardless of the validity of the claims, there definitely seems to have been something unusual and tragic about the collapsing Friendman Family. The patriarchal/ matriarchal relationship was brok en, Arnold and Elaine didn't seem very much in love anymore, and the boundaries between the parents and the children became less pyramid like and more horizont... ...at because of the size of the children there would have been physical symptoms, no documented evidence of this sort was presented during the case. Out of 100 students no physical symptoms were ever recorded, and not one student said anything about abuse until four years later when the investigator was pursued (Silvergate, 2004) No parents ever filed complaints prior to police investigation. Because memories are malleable and children are even more vulnerable to authority, it is very probable that some children just complied to the leading questions due to fear, but is it possible that they all could? The influence of the investigators parallels to the influence of therapists in cases of sexually abused children's recovered memories. Works Cited 1)Silverglate, Harvey A; Takei, Carl:Mistrial- The Capturing The Friedman's DVD sheds new light on the case. Newsday