Judging Jewell

30 for 30 Shorts: Judging Jewell (2014)

Terrific episode in the ESPN series takes a look at the 1996 bombing in Centennial Olympic Park, which killed two people during the Atlanta Olympics. At first it appeared that security guard Richard Jewell was a hero but the media, needing to a suspect, soon turned him into an evil monster and for 88 days his name and reputation was ruined before the FBI finally cleared him.

I'm old enough to remember all of the events in this film and it's just a real shame that Jewell was never made out to be the hero he was. It's clear through this film and others that the media will twist, turn and report anything in order to be the first and it doesn't matter who gets hurt. Especially in today's times we see this happening all the time; the media trying to make a story no matter what the truth is. This documentary does a fantastic job at telling Jewell's story and how it effected and ruined his life. His mother, widow, lawyer and various others are interviewed here and talk about what these 88 days did to the man. This is certainly one of the best episodes in the series and there's no doubt that it warrants a feature length documentary.

Episode: A+

This episode of "30 for 30" is about the horrible way that a hero, Richard Jewell, was treated for his part in the Atlanta Olympics bombing. Jewell worked as a security guard during this time and discovered a pipe bomb. His quick efforts led to his getting many people away from the bomb--so when it went off, the death count was very low. However, the FBI came up with the crazy notion that Jewell himself had planted the bomb and the media soon heard about it. And, for the next 88 days, he and his family was hounded by the press and was a great example of the expression 'guilty until proved innocent'. He was called dufus and other names and he was made fun of by jerky celebrities for his weight--all for a guy who did not choose to be in the spotlight and who was just trying to do the right thing! In the end, it turned out that another man, Eric Rudolph, was entirely responsible but by then the damage was already done. Overall, a very well constructed but infuriating installment in the series--since the conclusion to the story was quite sad.

Well worth seeing and a great example of a media and justice system run amok.