People are complex beings. Rare is the case where someone, or the situation they may find themselves to be in, cut and dry. In the case of the star player for the New England Patriots, Aaron Hernandez, I think that's particularly true. Had the director and producers of this kept it there however, I would have given this a higher rating.
Where this loses me though is in how the producers and director seem to want to pin his behavior on the loss of his dad, or his sexuality in a very macho sport, or the CTE found on his brain. I'm not going to say that any one, or perhaps some combination of all those things, contributed to Aaron's behavior and his spiral into violence, but that to me seems to be a cop-out. I think it should be pointed out more explicitly in the documentary that people deal with the loss of parents on a daily basis, it doesn't turn every one of them violent. People deal with the complexity of sexuality every day, doesn't mean they'll all become killers. People, athletes in particular, deal with all manner of trauma, it doesn't mean the majority of them end up in jail.
The producers and director gave several minutes worth of these being contributing factors to what Aaron Hernandez did, despite questions over his character existing at the tail end of high school and into college. And it may be true to an extent that those things did. Yet, only a couple of minutes toward the end were dedicated to people saying that, ultimately, Aaron Hernandez was responsible for the choices he made. Maybe those who were involved in the making of this documentary threw that in to provide something resembling balance, but it certainly didn't seem like they were saying he was ultimately responsible for the choices he made.
Where this loses me though is in how the producers and director seem to want to pin his behavior on the loss of his dad, or his sexuality in a very macho sport, or the CTE found on his brain. I'm not going to say that any one, or perhaps some combination of all those things, contributed to Aaron's behavior and his spiral into violence, but that to me seems to be a cop-out. I think it should be pointed out more explicitly in the documentary that people deal with the loss of parents on a daily basis, it doesn't turn every one of them violent. People deal with the complexity of sexuality every day, doesn't mean they'll all become killers. People, athletes in particular, deal with all manner of trauma, it doesn't mean the majority of them end up in jail.
The producers and director gave several minutes worth of these being contributing factors to what Aaron Hernandez did, despite questions over his character existing at the tail end of high school and into college. And it may be true to an extent that those things did. Yet, only a couple of minutes toward the end were dedicated to people saying that, ultimately, Aaron Hernandez was responsible for the choices he made. Maybe those who were involved in the making of this documentary threw that in to provide something resembling balance, but it certainly didn't seem like they were saying he was ultimately responsible for the choices he made.