Netflix's When They See Us

[NothinButAttitude]

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Is anyone else watching? 

 

Just a sad part of American history. I am powering through it, but it is draining me. I am crying because I know that this could easily be me...

[DramatistDreamer]

I just finished watching. 

 

I think I am more familiar with this case than most people who watch the Netflix limited series because I grew up in the NYC metro area and have memories of seeing the case in the news, yet there were aspects that this series brought up that I had never thought about, like the fact that the guys, men, had to register as sex offenders and the dehumanizing aspect to their lives once they got out of prison.

When the news broke of the sentences, charges being vacated after the real perpetrator came forward, I remember reading an update of the five men and their lives, so I already knew the basic facts of what happened to them once they got out of prison.

Having lived in those areas that were being pictured in the series, it wasn't so much about the basic story (again, I had kept up with the facts, since I was a child watching those "confession tapes" on the news, seeing the kids being 'perp-walked' from the police station and to the court, looking like they expected a ton of bricks to land on their heads at any minute) but the feelings associated with some of the sights and sounds of NYC. 

Having been on dates to Coney Island,  I was taken aback by that scene where Khorey Wise was imagining being on a date at Coney Island and how it affected me.  Although I've never eaten at Kennedy Fried Chicken, I have memories of walking or riding past that iconic red awning on a regular basis.  Even the mention of Amy Ruth's , because I've been there for brunch and of course, the north side of Central Park, which I have my own memories of, which are fortunately quite different than the memories that the five men had.

 

In some ways it was like an odd time capsule of NYC during a certain period and in other ways, it was a time that I feel very connected to as I remember my father talking to me and my brother about becoming critical thinkers in how we read the news and thinking about perspective of the journalists and biases and framing and how some people are made to look in the news, etc.  I took it for granted but these days, I truly appreciate how important my father's advice was to us.

 

It's just so strange to reflect on the fact that I was a kid when this happened but these men were kids too.  I knew that they were teenagers at the time it happened but watching this series as an adult, it really seared into my mind just how young a teenager still is. 

 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

[DramatistDreamer]

[ChitHappens]

 

[DramatistDreamer]

Good.  Not only did her prosecution damage the lives of those kids who are now men (and still dealing with damage, fractured relationships and trauma) but her failure to prosecute the actual criminal allowed the perpetrator to rape more women and even kill one of his victims! I think it's disgusting that there was no admission of wrongdoing or apologies.

Back then, they referred to these kids as animals but honestly, they would've treated stray dogs better.

[ChitHappens]

Good job Ava!!!!!

 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

[DramatistDreamer]

Interesting that, in this article, Miyares states that the real-life Raymond Santana told him that it was the Black community that helped him after he came out of jail, while he felt that the Latino community turned their collective backs on him.

 

[DramatistDreamer]