A Historian at the Cinema: West of Memphis

We learn from our history, but we generally suffer from a forgetful memory. The case of the West Memphis Three is a painful lesson in injustice and mass hysteria. The case began with the horrific murder of three young boys in West Memphis. The crime rightfully shocked the community and calls to bring the culprits to justice were immediate. It is important to state that this was a tragic and horrific crime. The victims and their families deserve justice. However, in the process of solving this crime, social fears of outsiders and alleged deviants overruled proper police work and legal proceedings. West of Memphis, a film by Amy Berg, documents the tragedy of both crimes, the homicide and the legal injustice committed upon the West Memphis Three.

Three young men, Damien Echolls, Jason Bradley, and Jessie Misskelley, known for their love of heavy metal, anti-social behavior, and lack of assimilation with the conservative town, where quickly pointed to by the community as the perpetrators. Prosecutors and police conducted a what can now be called biased and flimsy investigation that sought more to appease the towns prejudice than actual justice. The result of the investigation and trial was the conviction of the three boys, now known as the West Memphis Three. The tragedy of the murders were only compounded by the tragedy of unjust conviction.

Amy Berg's film follows the investigation and carefully analyzes the mistakes and missteps made by police and prosecutors. Suspects that were quickly dismissed without due dilligance and the eventual convicted teens who were treated in a manner that borders on criminal manipulation. However, Amy Berg is careful in her analysis. She does not fall into the trap of placing generalized blame on the community, recognizing that the murders were indeed horrific and it is hard to blame parents for passionately searching for their son's killers. The parents are treated with respect and humanity. Her harshest criticism are reserved for the investigators and prosecutors who were more interested in expediency than truth.

However, the heart of the film is the calls for justice after the trial. Amy Berg focuses on the arduous and complex process of asking for repeals and clemency by the West Memphis Three. By this point, the teens were no longer alone in their crusade for justice, celebrities, activists, and regular people had rallied around the West Memphis Three. Concerts, protests, rallies and fund raisers were organized to show solidarity with the teens and bring their cause national attention. Despite the case garnering national media attention, time after time their appeals were denied and rejected. No amount of public support or evidence of police incompetence seemed to sway the court's or the Governor's mind. The cause seemed lost until 2011. Negotiations between the no longer teens and now men's attorney and prosecutors resulted in an Alford Plea Bargain. In non legal speak, this meant they would enter a plea deal that allowed them to assert their innocence but acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict. They were released with suspended sentences.

Is this justice? The film takes a strong position in declaring no.The amount of back and forth, rejection after rejection that Echolls, Bradley, and Misskelley were subjected to can not be called justice in my opinion. From the first day of the investigation they were deemed guilty and never given any defense. This film depicts the scary reality of the U.S justice system gone array, and demonstrates that it is often done without much push back. Berg asks the audience to examine how we as a society react to crimes. There is a sense of balance that needs to preserved. Justice to the victim and to the accused. However, it is often harder to understand justice for the accused than for the victims.

A Historian at the Cinema: The Violent Years

Teens, Drugs, Mischief! Oh My!

A recent injury has left me less mobile than usual so perfect time to crash on the couch and review some films. This time it is a selection from the Cult Classic collection I recently got from Fry's Electronics. The collection includes a variety of drug exploitation films from the 1930's to 1950's that represent the extreme and misinformed ideas about narcotics from the time period. Written by Ed Wood, it proves to be equal parts ridiculous and surprising.

The Violent Years (1956) tells the cautionary tale of Paula Parkins, daughter of the local newspaper editor and a socialite mother. Paula has become violent and reckless with her gang of friends from high school. They have become committing a string of gas station muggings that has the community and the local media in a frenzy. However the girls have ties to a greater mob in the area who asks the girls to do a small job. They are tasked with destroying the local high school and burning the American flag (clearly the Red Scare is in full bloom by the time of this film). The girls take no motivation to destroy the high school and for some reason that is never explained, the girls bring guns to vandalize the school. In a way they make today's school times seem tame. The vandalizing trip ends, unsurprisingly, with a gun fight and two of Paula's gang dead on the ground. Paula and her one left over accomplice quickly flee the scene and make it back to the house of the woman who is their contact with the greater gang. Once again, Paula uses her clearly proven leadership skills to outwit the police and fails. In the hospital, Paula discovers she is pregnant but dies during child birth. The child is left to the courts to decide parental rights.

Paula and her gang of worst decision makers ever!

The film was quite a surprise. I am familiar with the Reefer Madness type films of the 1930's but this one stood out. The idea that these girls are so quick to resort to violence due to drugs and alcohol are typical of these morality tales from the mid-century. However, rarely do these films show women gang raping a male victim. Reread that sentence once or twice. I was shocked. There is very little denying what happens during this scene, but the films avoids using the word rape and instead terms the event a "criminal assault". The Violent Years makes it clear to the audience that these are bad and irredeemable women, a theme that is heavily prevalent during this time period. Gender roles were much more rigid during this era than in our own (not to say we have achieved full equality yet) but this film represent the full extent of what these gender roles meant for women. There is no room for women to express themselves outside of what American society deemed appropriate. Women who demonstrated an ounce of assertiveness or self determination were quickly labeled a deviant and guilty of all that is wrong with society. This is never more apparent in the film than with the case of Paula's mother. She is a socialite and active in a variety of groups that keep her out of the home and away from her motherly duties. Keep in mind, her father is even less present in the home, but clearly that is not the issue. It is all her mother's fault and when it comes time to decide parental rights over Paula's baby, the judge deems the mother, and by default her husband, too irresponsible to handle a child and gives the baby to foster parents.

Do I recommend The Violent Years? Yes, but not because of its filmmaking, acting, message or anything intended by the director. Instead, because it is a great example of the anti-drug and juvenile delinquent hysteria of the 1950's. Also it is incredibly bad and therefore funny to watch. This being an Ed Woods film, what else do you expect? Despite this, I did have fun watching this film and it might work its way into my thesis. And be honest, who doesn't enjoy really bad movies from the 1950's?