I remember all the national headlines from a few years ago concerning Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky's arrest on child sex abuse charges, and of course whether or not legendary beloved head coach Joe Paterno did enough to stop it- and how much he knew or didn't know about the whole thing.
This documentary observes the year after Sandusky's arrest in the surrounding community known as "Happy Valley". This is a community that for decades had been a place of pride on Paterno's winning streak, his commitment to the school/team, and his record number of players who actually graduated with degrees. The film contains dozens of interviews with those who knew both coaches, some who were actually molested by Sandusky (including his own adopted son), as well as folks in the community debating about Paterno's actions/inactions involving the abuse.
It's just heart-wrenching at times. The scene involving Paterno's statue, as tourists attempt to get photos next to it while this guy holds a sign up (making some not-so-good remarks about the coach) I think is one of the most powerful scenes I've ever seen filmed for a documentary. There was also a lot of debate about whether the NCAA 's punishment of the school was fair. I have some issues with that myself- like should the students have been penalized for it? The school was forbidden from playing in games for FOUR years! WTF?? That's pretty much these athletes' entire college career-??
Well, anyway, this film is one of the best docs I've seen in some time. Definitely worth checking out sometime for sports and non-sports fans alike...
This documentary observes the year after Sandusky's arrest in the surrounding community known as "Happy Valley". This is a community that for decades had been a place of pride on Paterno's winning streak, his commitment to the school/team, and his record number of players who actually graduated with degrees. The film contains dozens of interviews with those who knew both coaches, some who were actually molested by Sandusky (including his own adopted son), as well as folks in the community debating about Paterno's actions/inactions involving the abuse.
It's just heart-wrenching at times. The scene involving Paterno's statue, as tourists attempt to get photos next to it while this guy holds a sign up (making some not-so-good remarks about the coach) I think is one of the most powerful scenes I've ever seen filmed for a documentary. There was also a lot of debate about whether the NCAA 's punishment of the school was fair. I have some issues with that myself- like should the students have been penalized for it? The school was forbidden from playing in games for FOUR years! WTF?? That's pretty much these athletes' entire college career-??
Well, anyway, this film is one of the best docs I've seen in some time. Definitely worth checking out sometime for sports and non-sports fans alike...