When They See Us!

Korey Wise. Antron McCray. Kevin Richardson. Yusef Salaam. Raymond Santana Jr. Thats their names. The Central Park 5.

Donald Trump deserves to rot in hell for a lot of things. Oh so many things. But he deserves to rot in hell alone for his demagoguery displayed in 1989-1990 against 5 innocent teens in the Central Park jogger case. Filmmaker Ana DuVernay uses Trump in the only way to use him. Let him hang himself with his actual words and his actual video. And it works to see the 40 something cheat and deadbeat openly state he wants them killed, he hates them and that "the blacks" have all the advantages. The exact blueprint he used to win over his racist dumb base in 2016. It was there.

Ana DuVernay's film about the Central Park 5 will make your emotions swing like a 10 year old trying to wrap the swing around the set. Buoyed by young actors who express the fear of being railroaded in their faces alone, this 4 part series is basically 4 different films.

Episode 1 concentrates on the crime. In 1989 a young white female jogger was found in Central Park, raped and beaten, barely clinging to life. The NY press goes wild. The NYPD goes crazy. The DA's office goes crazy. Get somebody, anybody to pay for the crime. Oh it was days of "wilding" and "predators" and fear. It was tabloids and racism and Koch. 5 young black men are taken in for questioning, including one who simply went to support his friend. Deprived of lawyers, deprived of sleep, deprived of parents presence, berated and threatened, these young teens all eventually did what they were told. Rat out their friends, confess, tell stories given to them by the cops. All so they could go home. They didnt get to go home, they got to go to prison to satisfy the soulless blood lust of one Linda Fairstein (played with a dryness only Felicity Huffman can pull off) and prosecutor Elizabeth Lederer. It will make you angry.

Episode 2 features life inside. The teens grow into men. The families cope. The lawyers fail. The hatred of the public continues. It will make you sigh.

Episode 3 walks with then teens as they are released. Exceot one. But thats for later. They cant get jobs. They cant leave their houses. They cant be free. Their parents are fired for being their parents. One of them cannot forgive his dying father. One has to cope with a new family who fails to accept him. Two others keep mostly quiet and attempt to survive. It will make you shake your damn head.

Episode 4. Oh my. Episode 4. Episode 4 is the story of Korey Wise. Korey Wise is the oldest of the teens and was the one who simply agreed to accompany his buddy, Yusef Salaam. Korey goes to real prison. He is beaten, humiliated, marked for death, forced into solitary. His mother goes nuts with Jesus. His brother is murdered. Korey is a mess. This episode will make you tear up. The way in which this horrible miscarriage of justice is solved. Its all so unbelievable yet so true. This episode will also make you go whaaaaaa

Now to the acting. Jharrel Jerome.This actor plays Korey Wise from teen to adult and it is a marvel to watch. This guy acts with a sense of wonderment and confusion on his face at the same time. It really is impossible to not admire the performance for the award winning act it is. He is a gift we better enjoy. Whether it be in Moonlight or this. This kid is fantastic.

Kevin Richardson is played as a teen by a doe eyed youngster named Asante Blackk. He is the kid you most worry about at first. He looks 12, he is scared to death. This kid plays it for all its worth.

Michael Kenneth Williams plays the father who berated young Anton McCray to confess and then abandons the family. Williams is one of the best actors of our time and he goes from confident to pathetic over the course of 4 episodes. He is a wonder also.

Hey look. Theres nothing about this 4 part series that drags. Despite the criticism from the ones who perpetrated this tragedy and still refuse to accept responsibility, theres a helluva lot of truth here. Yeah the film does have its nobody is that sweet moments, nonetheless if youve seen the Ken Burns doc or k now of the story you know its 90% true. 90% true is about 90% more than you get from the current occupants of the White House.

Certain events make me wish there was a hell. This event is one of them.

Please watch it