Within the first five minutes of the series, 5 boys lives are showcased to the audience. Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Korey Wise, Raymond Santana and Yusef Salaam in those first five minutes are carefree and young. The only things plaguing their minds they are their looks, girls and school. Yet, the next five minutes is quite horrific. The next five minutes show the beginning of these young boys ultimate tragic demise due to the criminal justice system.
To be completely honest I didn’t want to watch this series at first. It’s not because I thought it was going to be bad. If you are familiar with my blog you know how much I LOVE Ava DuVernay and her work. I just didn’t want to feel that pain and anger towards the world I always end up feeling when watching films that depict how we treat minorities when it comes to the law. Have you seen the movie Detroit? Exactly. However, I knew had to do it. After a week of mentally preparing myself, I decided to man up and watch the freaking miniseries.
A little bit about the Central Park 5
Some of ya’ll probably didn’t know this series is based on true events. If you didn’t that’s fine. The whole point of the project was for Ava Duvernay to bring awareness to a case, not a lot of people remembered or even knew about. This is a reminder that the criminal system only caters to one America and that is white America.
A little insight on the case
On April 19, 1989, 28-year-old, Trisha Meili was found raped and beaten in a park. 5 teen boys ages 14-16 were somehow concluded as the prime suspects. What convicted these boys was not DNA evidence or eyewitnesses but freaking confession tapes. Coerced tapes the cops were able to receive because of the pretense that if the boys would willingly cooperate they could go home to their families. Of course, this was a lie and the boys were trialed and convicted for the rape and attempted murder of Trisha Meili. Years past and these little boys are grown men now. Men that will never experience their prom, graduation, and all the little things that we sometimes don’t think about. A lot of people are saying oh well they got a huge settlement…money won’t bring back 12 years of your life.
Disturbing yet mesmerizing moments
I was already a little familiar with the case before I watched the series. Still watching Ava Duvernay’s depiction of the case there were so many times I had to pause and walk out of the room. Moments such as Korey volunteering to walk with Yusef, Antron listening to his father to tell the police what they wanted to hear, Ray striking a deal. Even though I knew the outcome of every single event, that filling of shock and disgust never wavered. Let’s say things did go a little different. Would that have really mattered? Instead, it would be 5 different boys the system let down. To them, their minds had already convinced them of being these evil beasts that could do something this horrible. It was these people’s own fear and prejudice against black men that convicted them. Not justice or truth.
The last episode of the mini-series focuses on Korey Wise. This had to be the hardest episode for me to get through. They were all deemed guilty for the same crime, yet it was Korey who ended up getting the worst end of the bargain. While the other boys got sent to a juvenile detention center, Korey went to Rikers. Remember Son of Sam, the guy responsible for the huge killing spree in NYC in the late 70s? Yes, he was a member of the Rikers club.
Imagine an innocent 16-year-old being thrust in an atmosphere where murders and kidnappers belong. They tortured, beat and almost killed Korey in the many prisons he occupied during his 12-year stint. Jharrel Jerome, actor from Moonlight, did an amazing job playing Korey. I honestly couldn’t take my eyes off of him. His excellent transition from a reserved 16-year-old to a more hardened 21-year-old all within the span of 4 episodes was amazing.
Ava DuVernay a Queen
You know if there is one thing I like about Mrs. DuVernay is the unapologetic way she captures certain moments of history. When she wants to tell you something she will tell you ALL of it; the good and the bad. This mini-series didn’t have any bluff and she wasn’t afraid to throw some of the people who were responsible for these boys conviction under the bus. She portrayed Linda Fairstein in the bad light she deserved and even gave Trump a cozy shout out. Trump paid over $80 million dollars to advertise to the public to bring back the death penalty. Though he never stated the 5 teens names, we all knew his efforts were in the hope to bring them down! Well, 2020 elections are coming up so yall better make sense this time around.