I don't know if I've ever felt called to write an IMDb review before, but after seeing the absolutely appalled reactions of most viewers, I had to add my voice to the din. I didn't hate the documentary, but I am SHOCKED at the level of award recognition it received after seeing it. This film is indeed created by and filled with the voices of people who not only grew up in a culture devoid of normal empathy, but who more or less maintain that level of callousness to this day. I'll get to that in a moment.
I don't share the complaint that this film is boring--actually, that's the one thing I'll say for it: The shallow dip into PS 194 in 1964 Brooklyn was vivid and disturbing, which kept me watching in a kind of mute horror. It was interesting. Was the exploration worth documenting in a film, even a 35-minute short? Who can say? Maybe the film is interesting not for what it aims to do (which is murky at best and, honestly, the heart of what's WRONG with the film, which I'll get to--as many other reviewers have) but for what it reveals almost by accident: narcissism, callousness, a lack of self-awareness that is, at times, jaw-dropping. (I could not believe Rosenblatt was not being ironic--not a shade--when he lamented that Mrs. Bromberg made him feel ashamed for years when she admonished the schoolchildren, branding them as bullies after they ganged up and beat up (??? I think??? The film is so hazy on the details of the incident's actual, literal violence; it's CONCERNING in its blatant refusal to address this) Dick. By the way, that's apparently the only consequence anyone suffered because THAT WAS THE SIXTIES, I GUESS.
I almost don't need to go into the problematic position of Rosenblatt because other reviewers have already done it so well. Rosenblatt is mostly concerned with his own sense of shame and how he can easily rectify it, not the victim of his actions or what he might see as reasonable amends. His former classmates, too, overwhelmingly share this position, often diverting from the topic of Dick's beating to comment on Rosenblatt's brother's death in elementary school. Why these comments make the final cut of the film is unclear ... unless, of course, the likely event that the reviewers who have already written have mentioned: Rosenblatt is attempting to tie his grief over his brother to the bullying incident and, furthermore, using it to tacitly excuse his part in the violence.
I can't speak for others, but I think it's fair for me to assume that there are other millennials writing reviews about this film here. The vast generational divide between me and the subjects of this film probably exacerbated some of my horror over their contributions, which I mentioned earlier. In addition to enduring the comments of Rosenblatt and his classmates (who, if they weren't changing the subject when asked about the incident with Dick, were making half-baked excuses like "Oh, yeah, but I remember him being REALLY weird, right? We were just kids, anyway!"), viewers are treated to the truly horrific Mrs. Bromberg herself, now aged to a ripe 94.
Mrs. Bromberg does not seem particularly moved by Rosenblatt's story, nor does she seem to have anything meaningful to offer in the way of insights as an educator of the time period. She all but rudely shrugs off Rosenblatt's questions, and even spends a couple of minutes insulting the film's premise, wondering aloud whether it will be "tedious." Again, I have absolutely no idea why this footage made the final cut. It added nothing of value to the story, nor to the viewer's understanding of the climate in which this story took place. Most appalling, when asked (by the increasingly mealy Rosenblatt, who tries and fails to laugh away Bromberg's gruff responses) what her general understanding of bullying is, she remarks that her daughter was bullied. This is horrible in and of itself (especially given what the audience has just learned about the apparent total lack of repercussions or even empathy on the part of adults involved in incidents of youth violence in the mid-sixties in New York City), but Mrs. Bromberg also almost immediately attributes her daughter's death to suicide as a result of bullying. This would be a mendacious claim to make about someone who died as an adult (and was bullied in childhood) to begin with, but what's more, Bromberg tells Rosenblatt that her daughter committed suicide by way of weight gain. By her logic, because her daughter was a respiratory care specialist, she knew the risk of weight gain, and thus killed herself by letting herself go. This is both ridiculous and deeply harmful logic, and because it has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE DOCUMENTARY'S SUBJECT, it goes unaddressed.
I have no idea how this was received critically, and I'm curious to find out ... but until then, I salute my fellow IMDb users on the reviews that told the story on this one.
I don't share the complaint that this film is boring--actually, that's the one thing I'll say for it: The shallow dip into PS 194 in 1964 Brooklyn was vivid and disturbing, which kept me watching in a kind of mute horror. It was interesting. Was the exploration worth documenting in a film, even a 35-minute short? Who can say? Maybe the film is interesting not for what it aims to do (which is murky at best and, honestly, the heart of what's WRONG with the film, which I'll get to--as many other reviewers have) but for what it reveals almost by accident: narcissism, callousness, a lack of self-awareness that is, at times, jaw-dropping. (I could not believe Rosenblatt was not being ironic--not a shade--when he lamented that Mrs. Bromberg made him feel ashamed for years when she admonished the schoolchildren, branding them as bullies after they ganged up and beat up (??? I think??? The film is so hazy on the details of the incident's actual, literal violence; it's CONCERNING in its blatant refusal to address this) Dick. By the way, that's apparently the only consequence anyone suffered because THAT WAS THE SIXTIES, I GUESS.
I almost don't need to go into the problematic position of Rosenblatt because other reviewers have already done it so well. Rosenblatt is mostly concerned with his own sense of shame and how he can easily rectify it, not the victim of his actions or what he might see as reasonable amends. His former classmates, too, overwhelmingly share this position, often diverting from the topic of Dick's beating to comment on Rosenblatt's brother's death in elementary school. Why these comments make the final cut of the film is unclear ... unless, of course, the likely event that the reviewers who have already written have mentioned: Rosenblatt is attempting to tie his grief over his brother to the bullying incident and, furthermore, using it to tacitly excuse his part in the violence.
I can't speak for others, but I think it's fair for me to assume that there are other millennials writing reviews about this film here. The vast generational divide between me and the subjects of this film probably exacerbated some of my horror over their contributions, which I mentioned earlier. In addition to enduring the comments of Rosenblatt and his classmates (who, if they weren't changing the subject when asked about the incident with Dick, were making half-baked excuses like "Oh, yeah, but I remember him being REALLY weird, right? We were just kids, anyway!"), viewers are treated to the truly horrific Mrs. Bromberg herself, now aged to a ripe 94.
Mrs. Bromberg does not seem particularly moved by Rosenblatt's story, nor does she seem to have anything meaningful to offer in the way of insights as an educator of the time period. She all but rudely shrugs off Rosenblatt's questions, and even spends a couple of minutes insulting the film's premise, wondering aloud whether it will be "tedious." Again, I have absolutely no idea why this footage made the final cut. It added nothing of value to the story, nor to the viewer's understanding of the climate in which this story took place. Most appalling, when asked (by the increasingly mealy Rosenblatt, who tries and fails to laugh away Bromberg's gruff responses) what her general understanding of bullying is, she remarks that her daughter was bullied. This is horrible in and of itself (especially given what the audience has just learned about the apparent total lack of repercussions or even empathy on the part of adults involved in incidents of youth violence in the mid-sixties in New York City), but Mrs. Bromberg also almost immediately attributes her daughter's death to suicide as a result of bullying. This would be a mendacious claim to make about someone who died as an adult (and was bullied in childhood) to begin with, but what's more, Bromberg tells Rosenblatt that her daughter committed suicide by way of weight gain. By her logic, because her daughter was a respiratory care specialist, she knew the risk of weight gain, and thus killed herself by letting herself go. This is both ridiculous and deeply harmful logic, and because it has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE DOCUMENTARY'S SUBJECT, it goes unaddressed.
I have no idea how this was received critically, and I'm curious to find out ... but until then, I salute my fellow IMDb users on the reviews that told the story on this one.
