A few words about When they see us and why it deserves your watch
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As I watched the first episode I couldn't even begin to imagine the ways this series was affecting me. Over the course of four hours it had me heartbreakingly sobbing and had my pulse and blood pressure going to god as I cursed everyone on screen. The proceedings had an increasing tension as at first, seeing the system's behavior on the five boys, I felt myself being teased and enraged by what I was seeing, leading up to the climactic 4th episode where I simply couldn't see the screen through the tears.
So after watching the series, reading about the case and seeing the 2 interviews you can find with the real people, I started thinking about the reasons why the series touched me so deeply and on a personal level. In the end I came up with a scene that I think captures all the essence
There is a scene in the second episode where although four of the guardians agreed to sign the children's false statements, it was to Anton's father that the prosecutor asked:
Did you really think he was going home?
The father did not know his rights, he was afraid of the police, he believed them. He and the rest seem naive to us. Really, how could they believe that if someone admitted to rape they would let him go??
This fear of authority, of the system, of the cop's boot on your neck is what has transcended the boundaries of the Atlantic, the African-American experience, and is becoming a universal truth.
Their feeling was weakness and a dependency. The feeling that they can do whatever they wanted to them, play with their life, step on their neck and humiliate them.
The story of the five and When they see us is a shocking awakening, a call to action. It shows you what class oppression means. At the same time, it is excellently filmed and with performances that are engraved in your mind (Jharrel Jerome mvp).