‘Every Mother’s Son’: Stories of Sons Killed by Police
A new documentary called Every Mother’s Son airs Tuesday night on PBS. The film recounts the stories of three mothers whose sons (Amadou Diallo, Anthony Baez and Gidone ‘Gary’ Busch) were killed by police officers.
wannna bet no time is spent on whether the mothers involved were rotten parents whose parenting led to their kids being in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Hm. I think you’d better see the movie before you say ugly stuff like that.
You think the fact that an unarmed kid was shot FORTY-ONE TIMES is the result of rotten parenting?
Good thinking, dude.
anger, in kerrys words, try to be a little more nuanced here. there are two separate issues, whether the police acted properly; the other (and i stand by my bet w/o having seen the movie, and its not ugly to recognize this problem) is whether kids are being raised properly by their parents. i can understand the pain of a parent who has lost a child; i can also critique a parent for not having given a child the kind of proper parenting that would prevent that child from being in an at risk position. i think the second issue is at least as important as the first, and ill bet its not even discussed in the pbs docu.
and busch was born with a slight mental defect – what the heck are you saying about the moms when you obviously have no clue?
Avi:
Okay. Fine. You’re right. This discussion should be more nuanced, because EVERYTHING IN LIFE is nuanced, and not black-and-white.
But the reason that the documentary doesn’t focus on whether the dead boys’ parents were, in your words, “rotten” is that this is NOT WHAT THE DOCUMENTARY IS ABOUT. Could the lives in these stories have been saved by:
Better street lighting?
Reflective clothing?
Rubber bullets?
Spanish literacy?
Roving emergency vehicles?
Martial arts training?
Police reorganization?
Housing reform?
Cultural sensitivity training?
Immigration policy?
Foreign language training?
Mental health advocacy?
Probably so. But that’s not what the movie is about. The movie’s objective (and you must realize that even documentaries are subjective pieces of art, right?) is to show how three grieving mothers turned their mourning into social activism.
And — just for the record — I personally think that engineering social protest to fix a system that has taken your child’s life is in fact an act of parental devotion that is faithful, loving, and tremendously moving…not at all “rotten”.
i do have to ask, avi. do you have any kids? have you ever actually been involved in raising kids? how did that turn out?
Every Mother’s Son is an excellent film which I had the pleasure of viewing at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival where it won the audience choice award. It is a very compelling documentary that takes a stand against police brutality. I have nothing but good things to say about this film. It’s definitely a tear-jerker. Also winning an award at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival was Shock Act, my brother Seth’s film about capital punishment and obedience to authority. Sorry for the shameless plug, but that’s how it is when you’re an independent film-maker.
gee alec, its amazing that docu producers are able to come up with such original subject matter. just imagine the genius involved in exploring never before dealt with subjects like police brutality and capital punishment! (hey, i bet the captal/punishment docu actually takes the controversial risk- defying position that c/p is bad)! imagine taking your life and liberty in your hands by daring to take such daring position.
Actually Avi, my brother doesn’t really take a stand on capital punishment, and his film isn’t a documentary. It is a narrative short about the fact that when told to do something by an authority figure, even when it goes against a person’s own moral beliefs, people will usually follow along like sheep. Ari, are you FOR police brutality and capital punishment? Personally, I have no problem with capital punishment, as long as there is enough viable evidence to warrant it. I don’t, however, support police brutality in any case. Who would make a film supporting police brutality? Maybe you are just in support of taking a stance that is contrary to prevailing beliefs. I have no problem with this, but it is not really a good way to become a successful film-maker. To get people to see a movie, most of the time you have to show them something that they already believe in. For example, not many Republicans went to see Farenheit 9/11 or Outfoxed. Not many Muslims or Jews went to see The Passion of the Christ. You see how that works? Avi, when your pro-police brutality, pro-death penalty, anti-rotten parenting film comes out I’m sure it will be critically acclaimed and make tons of money. I can’t wait to see it.
dear alec, if i may give you some advice on how you get noticed in this town as a young film maker: do something quirky, offbeat, that shows a good eye for the dramatic (or humorous); show some originality, tackle people/subject/theme that are new and different, and then move the audience. do all that and you will get offers to do your first feature.
I think everyone is missing Avi’s fundamental problem: he hates his mother. And generally, when boys hate their mothers, they’ve spent most of their lives suffering from father hunger. May I recommend Dr. Bruno Bettleheim’s A GOOD ENOUGH PARENT? If you ima and aba make Bettleheim’s list of what makes a parent ‘good enough’, he may relent, realize that his parents did the best the could, and then stop hating women in general because he no longer hates your mother
so the gospel according to miriam is: holding parents responsible for their children = hatred of mother = hatred of women in general. since youve entered the realm of psychobabel, miriam, let me play at the same game: youre unhappily unmarried, cant understand why, and blame the guys youve met for their lack of perception as to what a wonderful woman you really are. just a friendly suggestion, miriam (since i like to see all jews happily married) – look within yourself, see what others see, and then try and fix the problem
Okay, here’s the pitch: it’s a documentary about the most famous and longest running flame wars on the internet. I will have to do some research into the subject, but I think I can make it work. I will just have to find the internet instigators and get them to agree to on-camera interviews. Their identity can be disguised to protect them from possible spam floods and hack attacks. Instead of releasing it into theaters, I will release it onto the internet in a similar manner as porn pay sites. $7.50 gets you a single viewing of the film. What do you think Avi? Is that original enough for you?
hey alex, you have the genesis of a good idea; you cant disguise the participants because their actual persona is part of what makes this an interesting story. did any of these wars lead to physical action; did anyone do anything in real (as opposed to cyber) space; did it effect their lives, did careers get ruined, relationships get established and/or destroyed; did some get so obsessed they could no longer function in real life??? perhaps this was a sarcastic suggestion (based on the silly release idea) but guess what, alec, you have the makings of a fun, comical, enjoyable docu. run with it!
Since I posted my remark to you the other day, Avi, I’ve read Dr. Justin Frank’s “Bush on the Couch”. I highly recommend it; it just might help you understand your wretched hostility.