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Capturing the Friedmans
Capturing the Friedmans is a documentary directed by the first time filmmaker Andrew Jarecki. The documentary is a disturbing but mesmerizing account of child molesters Arnold and Jesse Friedman.
Andrew Jarecki’s film raises as many questions as answers and one cannot decide whether the two are guilty or not.
Capturing the Friedmans is about the middle-class Long Island family which was torn apart in 1987 when child-molestation charges were filed against their two family members Arnold and Jesse Friedman . The charges followed a police raid which showed kiddie porn belonging to dad Arnold, a respected high school science teacher. On account of the recovery of the porn he and his 18-year-old son, Jesse, were subsequently accused of molesting dozens of young boys.
The trouble and their travails are painstakingly documented in this film. Theses videotaped compilation includes family footage recorded by another Friedman son, David. The feature shows sessions between Arnold and his attorneys. There are instances of conflicting testimony from alleged victims, posturing by police investigators and legal teams. Lastly there are heartrending family farewells which are documented in this film.
Capturing the Friedmans ,
That second sentence should have read “Then you say there were NO medical exams done…”
Is there such a thing as non-violent rape? For someone who’s called me a “pedo lover,” “pedo,” and “perv,” you’ve got a lot of nerve accusing me of using hyperbole!
listen pedo, I saw the half-truth film over 8 years ago. I remember his childish pedo clown brother, the ZANY one. go back to chasing boys and get of YT. No one in the comments believes the pedo pappa or the pedo prodigy is innocent. P.S. Jesse admitted to the crimes in detail on live TV with Geraldo Riviera… go and watch it.
anyway, who ever said it was VIOLENT raping? now you’re really desperate and are mincing words. Quit using hyperbole to win a debate. You’re a fool. I’m done with you; it’s friday night and I’m OUT!
The Norfolk 4 described their “crimes” in vivid detail, too.
Jesse’s brother is named David. His other brother is named Seth. These are all names from the O.T.; it’s pretty unusual for someone Jewish to be named Pete or Peter. Perhaps you have him confused with his attorney, Peter Panaro (I actually paid attention while watching the film). For someone so unfamiliar with this story as to not even have the names right, you sure seem sure of yourself. I also notice you’ve made no attempt to rebut any claims I made in my critique of “what Was Left Out.”
“What Was Left Out” deserves a critique of its own. It claims Goldstein was never mentioned in the film. He is, in fact, disussed in the Bonus Material that comes with the DVD (which has been out for over 8 yrs). “WWLO” appears to have been posted 3 years ago, so whoever posted it had ample time to view the DVD. Jarecki was not doing anything unethical; time in a film is limited, so Jarecki included Goldstein in the Bonus Material, which “WWLO” fails to mention. And why are the comments closed?
watch: What Was Left Out? A Critique of “Capturing the Friedmans”now THAT is a youtube clip you must watch to see all the evidence that the producer of the “capturing the friendmans” FAILED to put in…. just to stir up controversy. How unethical to leave out so many facts.
Just like in every other sex abuse witch hunt, the supposed victims were bullied by overzealous cops into reporting abuse. Everyone has their breaking point The only thing clear cut here is that Jesse is totally innocent. This bleeding thing you mention sounds like something you either made up or remembered from a different case.Where’s the proof?
The third person absolutely was mentioned, if not in the film itself, then at least in the “Bonus Material” you get with the DVD. What to make of a series of alleged sexual assaults that left no physical evidence? The only conclusion is that Jesse was innocent; this case had all the red flags associated with the witch hunts of the 1980′s.
This trailer is not very helpful. I know nothing about the story, what happened, who is accused of what, what the crime was… The creator assumes a body of knowledge about the case that the observer may not have. It’s very confusing. I’m going to read the wiki page, which will probably wreck the story for me. Not impressed.
the child porn, his gay sons and the gay brother of the father!!! who he had sex with when was a young boy!! as someone pointed out, he admitted to having molested a boy at the beach and he had sex with his own brother, so how can people still have doubts about his guilt???
@PlatoJaspers All Im saying is, I watched and read a lot of other things about this case, and this film was incredibly biased and did not show you all the details of the case, like there was a third person , a friend of jesse’s who was also tried and sentenced, why wasnt that mentioned in the film? The whole thing is messed up and crazy and from that documentary i really couldnt tell who was lying and who was tellin the truth by the end of it.
@8008111 the media got out of control yes but the guy was a pedofile – he admitted to molesting 2 children anyway and that was after swearing to his wife it was only one, and that was after swearing he hadnt done anything – the leap frog thing was obviously a load of rubbish and that particular witness had undergone hypnosis and remembered nothing until after the hypnosis, the fact that his testimony lead to 35 counts of sodomy just wouldnt happen now – the lawyers were terrible.
I am a diehard child advocate with a strong tendency to believe the victim. As the film goes on, it becomes clear that Arnold, this somewhat meek, nebbish figure, probably isn’t the monster he’s made out to be. Like the idea he lined the children up naked in a leap frog position, and then proceeded to penetrate them one by one. The police claimed that Arnold had stacks upon stacks of child pornography; and the photos of the house taken during the investigation show nothing. Sad film, must-see
I found this doc very scary. It’s as though every single character is dishonest, secretive, and deceptive.The mother hates the father and her sons, the oldest son treats his mother like dirt, the cops are mean-spirited, the lawyers are dishonest, and the father is clearly not being honest with his family.
Hmm…this movie is so damn hard to come up with a final decision…things we know for sure…arnold friedman was a pedophile (on what scale is undetermined) and he collected magazines of child porn….as far as sodomizing and abusing children…how for years would these children not have shown any signs (emotional or physical) of such abuse? They would clearly display signs of abuse that their parents would have recognized..I believe he is guilty but not to the extent of which the law said
I will endeavour to watch this documentary/film. Responding to some of the comments seen here. If you view things by the superficial, you will be doomed. The trouble is judging a book by its cover, what does that actually mean! If society puts forward an ideal (cover) and you fall below that; you are bad? Or if you are what society says you should be; educated, wealthy etc.. then you are good? But what of your actions, how do these speak? No one should be above the law.
This movie is like something that Atom Egoyan would’ve made, because the truth is so unclear.1. The lawyers are dishonest2. The police are hateful and vindictive3. The mother is very angry and unhappy4. The oldest son is very rude to his mother5. The youngest son seems bewildered by what’s going onBut the bottom line is the father, who is clearly not being honest with his family. It’s obvious that he’s keeping something from them.
no, he didnt do! he didnt have the child colection. he hada a video from his sister dancing balet. if you read more about you will see THEY DIDNT DO. After 13 year was prove the police was wrong! This is old information. Read something about now, not from the past. Ater 13 year some investigation found out they never did that. they interview more the 30 ex student from the time he had the computer class and just 2 said they did..the rest can prove he was a good teacher!!