PacMan2006

Anyone see this? If so, what did you think, and what do you believe happened?

OldBoy

I saw it and I believe the son and father are guilty as sin and absolute monster's in our society. Nothing about that family is/was normal. Nothing about the other son (the #1 entertainer in NY) is normal, though it would seem he didn't do anything. That movie was very scary in what could happen to children unbeknownest to their parents.

They trust Friedman to teach their children computers and the atrocities done to them will most likely scar them for the rest of their lives.

Anyway, very sobering movie on the horrors outside our doors, but I don't want to go into it any further.

Corvin

I saw it. to the filmmaker for tackling a real beast of an issue.

What do I believe went on? Arnold (the father) admits to being a pedophile, and he also admitted to acting on his urges at least twice. Jesse claims that nothing happened. The police claim an obscene amount of abuse happened in the Friedman basement. I believe the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. I wouldn't be surrprised if Arnold made passes (and took the next steps. . .) with children during the computer classes. But I really don't see how the abuse could have been to the level that the police were claiming. I mean, no physical evidence at all? Please.

joefrog91

It's been awhile since I saw the movie. I believe the father was guilty, but not the son. At least not at the level the police and families were claiming.

MrX

same here

HistoryProf

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...ight=friedmans
http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...ight=friedmans

It was a witch hunt...plain and simple. at scott1598 - such gullibility is exactly why shit like this happened over and over in the 80s and early 90s.....

kninestile

Same here as well.

conscience

What was up with the one and only witness to talk against the Friedmans sitting like he was.

He kept talkin about the sexual situations (which I think are completely off the wall c'mon "Leap Frog" -- with all those kids all while the mother/wife could come down and see them not to mention a kid to go screaming upstairs...Lord knows I would be kicking and screaming to get outta that house) all while laying across a couch and shifting his leg(s) in and out (a la Serial Mom)...

HistoryProf

here is an excellent summary of a number of different mass molestation hysteria trials from the same period....unfortunately it's not one of the episodes of Frontline available on-line at pbs.....an interesting read nonetheless...

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...etc/other.html

Verbal Gorilla

I advise everyone to watch all of the extras on the DVD. After viewing these, there is no way a rational person can come to the conclusion that anything happened except that they were railroaded.

The prosecuter and judge were made to look like fools at the premiere where they were shown to be lying (or more liking, lying to themselves and actually being convinced). The only evidence that still stands is the one boy who continued to make accusations, and in a scene you see him start to talk about his own abusive, abondining father. NOT proof that he is lying, but combined with everything else, pretty conclusive.

The interesting thinkg about this film is that the father was a sick f*** and there is no sympathy for him., but that doesn't mean anything about what actually happened in this case. And like the clown brother says, "My father is whatever, this is really about my brother" or something to that effect.

Senor Javi

What I gleaned from the movie was that the abuses of the children in the computer class never happened, but that the father did abuse at least one child at least one time (if my memory serves me it had something to do with his vacation house). Extraordinary movie though, it really deconstructed the nature of memory and showed what happens when police and prosecutors chase the conclusion they want rather than the truth. It should be require viewing for anyone that is interested in crime/law enforcement or another looking for a fascinating movie.

Groucho

A much better documentary on a similar case is Witch Hunt (2008).

printerati

I also found the "leapfrog" stuff to be pure fantasy, and I am also inclined to agree that the father was guilty of something, and the son likely wasn't. I did find it interesting that someone for the prosecution mentioned at the premiere that there was a third defendant in the trial (unrelated to the father and son) who was never shown or even mentioned in the film.

Heat

I saw it many years ago. As I remember, my conclusion was that the father was guilty and the son was innocent.

Abob Teff

Like Heat, it has been quite some time since I watched it ... I would have to apply today's DVD Talk standard: "If they aren't hot female teachers, they are guilty."

SterlingBen

Very interesting flick. Was the guy a pedo? Yes. Did he have crazy child sex parties instead of teaching a computer class? No.