Berlinger& Sinofsky's 1996 documentary, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood, is often riveting as it tells the story of three teenage boys accused of mutilating and murdering three children.
The film exposes the ways in which emotions can dominate the judicial process, the ways in which the media can intrude on people and amplify aspects of events, and the ways in which people who may be considered socially deviant are vulnerable to demonization and injustice.
However, in many ways I found this film lacking in analysis and I was left wondering about the filmmakers' intent. What did they want the viewer to come away with?
The film also had a weird perspective in that it made everybody in the Arkansas town seem crazy. Specifically, the parents of the victim's came off as horrid, ignorant and vengeful, and the filmmakers did not seem to sympathize with their tragic and horrific loss. They were blinded by rage which made them unable to see the innocence of the accused, but I think the filmmakers still could have shown at least a little empathy for that rage.
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