Jasmine Flanagan, Senior
The Central Park Five case dates all the way back to 1989 and is still relevant to this day. The Central Park Five case involves five teenagers who were wrongly accused and convicted of raping a female jogger in New York City’s famous park. The five ended up serving six to thirteen years in prison until finally a serial rapist confessed to the crime. The teens’ lives were forever affected after being wrongfully convicted, and as a result of this many Americans realized how the court system can really be unfair at times. With the Central Park Five case being a prime example, people agree that even today we see injustice in our country’s criminal justice system. So what did Netflix do? They released a series.
As of May 31st, Netflix has released a four episode series that focuses on the controversies in the United States’ criminal justice system during the time of the Central Park Five case. The series, When They See Us, was written and directed by American Film Director Ava DuVernay, with cast members including Vera Farmiga, Felicity Huffman, Jharrel Jerome, and Joshua Jackson. The drama series, all based on the true story of the Central Park 5, introduces us to the horror stories the five Harlem teens - Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise - were trapped in after being falsely accused of forms of rape and assault. With episodes running from 60 to 90 minutes long, each episode of the series focuses on a different aspect of the story. While the first episode centralizing around the teens’ forced confessions, episode two focuses on the trial of the case, the third episode traces the stories of the boys who had to serve time in the juvenile system, and the fourth episode follows the life of the fifth teen, who was convicted as an adult. The series also gives audience insight as to what these young men’s life was like once their conviction was vacated.
Netflix’s newly released When They See Us not only informs the audience about the injustice of our court system during this time, but also enables the audience to realize how some of these issues are still relevant to our current criminal justice system. The whole narrative teaches the audience about modern day issues we face in our country with race and corruption within our court systems. After viewing the series, viewers will hopefully come to the realization that we could potentially face issues like this again today if we do not educate ourselves about these past situations.
Comments