Firstly, I will address the TV series itself and then the story behind it.
As far as actual cinema goes...A riveting spectacle. Sometimes, a bit slow and probably could have been done in 3 parts instead of 4, but nevertheless excellent! The cast is superb! Especially, Jharrel Jerome as Kevin Wise.
Now to the actual story: I've been reading some negative reviews here by people screaming that it is "Lies, propaganda", "how rapists get millions of dollars". What is wrong with you people? Of course, no one truly knows if they were 100% innocent or not, but look at THE FACTS of the case.
A known felon, with a history of Rape and Murder confessed to the crime. His DNA matched the DNA found on the victim. He confirmed details and characteristics of the crime that only he could have known. Next to that, you have 5 teenagers. NONE of their DNA matched the DNA found on the victim. None of them had a drop of the victim's blood on their cloths. Read that last sentences again. None of them had a history of violence against women and most probably didn't even know what the word "rape" means. 5 Children were brought into an interrogation room, aggressively questioned (including physical violence) for almost 2 days without sleep, without food and without the presence of their parents, who were only present during the "confessions" later on. So you have 5 black (PC doesn't matter at this point) children from unprivileged socio economic and educational backgrounds who are questioned by predominately white police inspectors who use a variety of intimidation and manipulation techniques (both mental and physical) to get a confession out of them. Put most children in their place and they would say they freakin' killed the president, just so that they could go home....and without ANY physical evidence connecting them to the crime scene, with greatly conflicting versions in the confessions, with confused time lines and location descriptions, these people STILL get convicted in a trial that today, would have been thrown out the window after 5 min considering how many violations were made...and you STILL have the nerve to scream they were guilty and deserved to rot in prison? You are asking to look at the facts...did YOU go through them? Let me repeat that for you. NO physical evidence was found to tie the suspects to the crime scene. NO DNA matches, NO plausible motive. On the other hand, you have an individual that has all 3 and who has no connection to the 5 teenagers whatsoever, and you STILL want to make them guilty? Un-freakin'-belivable.
Now to the actual story: I've been reading some negative reviews here by people screaming that it is "Lies, propaganda", "how rapists get millions of dollars". What is wrong with you people? Of course, no one truly knows if they were 100% innocent or not, but look at THE FACTS of the case.
A known felon, with a history of Rape and Murder confessed to the crime. His DNA matched the DNA found on the victim. He confirmed details and characteristics of the crime that only he could have known. Next to that, you have 5 teenagers. NONE of their DNA matched the DNA found on the victim. None of them had a drop of the victim's blood on their cloths. Read that last sentences again. None of them had a history of violence against women and most probably didn't even know what the word "rape" means. 5 Children were brought into an interrogation room, aggressively questioned (including physical violence) for almost 2 days without sleep, without food and without the presence of their parents, who were only present during the "confessions" later on. So you have 5 black (PC doesn't matter at this point) children from unprivileged socio economic and educational backgrounds who are questioned by predominately white police inspectors who use a variety of intimidation and manipulation techniques (both mental and physical) to get a confession out of them. Put most children in their place and they would say they freakin' killed the president, just so that they could go home....and without ANY physical evidence connecting them to the crime scene, with greatly conflicting versions in the confessions, with confused time lines and location descriptions, these people STILL get convicted in a trial that today, would have been thrown out the window after 5 min considering how many violations were made...and you STILL have the nerve to scream they were guilty and deserved to rot in prison? You are asking to look at the facts...did YOU go through them? Let me repeat that for you. NO physical evidence was found to tie the suspects to the crime scene. NO DNA matches, NO plausible motive. On the other hand, you have an individual that has all 3 and who has no connection to the 5 teenagers whatsoever, and you STILL want to make them guilty? Un-freakin'-belivable.