I found myself frustrated at every setback Oscar faced, yet still hopeful that somehow, someone would come through for him. It seemed that at every step things were stacked against him. It was a real emotional roller coaster. At the hearing, I started to see the pitfall he was being lured into and I began to holler the the TV, telling him to answer, "no" repeatedly, but it was too late. Oscar was honest, but the system wasn't. This is a system that treats victimized children, who cannot protect themselves against criminals, as though they are adults who have choices and autonomy that they don't have and denies them rights (eg. the right to a lawyer to represent them in a trial and then assumes they have waived that right voluntarily, when it was never offered to them in the first place) that would help them to succeed.
Anthony Gonzalez plays the role of Oscar very well, IMO. He really got me on Oscar's side and wanting him to find an adult ally who would stand in his corner and go to bat for him. At the end, I was so sad for him. It seemed to foreshadow the kind of future he might have, becoming like his uncle, not trusting people, always being wary and afraid of losing everything. America always seems to be the only place to go and yet, when people get there, it's just another place to keep running and hiding in fear rather than a place of comfort and peace.
Anthony Gonzalez plays the role of Oscar very well, IMO. He really got me on Oscar's side and wanting him to find an adult ally who would stand in his corner and go to bat for him. At the end, I was so sad for him. It seemed to foreshadow the kind of future he might have, becoming like his uncle, not trusting people, always being wary and afraid of losing everything. America always seems to be the only place to go and yet, when people get there, it's just another place to keep running and hiding in fear rather than a place of comfort and peace.