For two decades, NBC's Dateline show, To Catch a Predator, was the most engrossing hour of television. Focusing on the capture and public humiliation of pedophiles (potential and current) caught in mid-act, it put America's sensation starved public in a living room with Chris Hansen. He almost always resorted to a simple question, "What were you planning to do here today?" None dared to place ourselves in the perpetrator's shoes, yet many did anyway.
David Osit's insightful documentary asks the difficult question: other than humiliating these men, who certainly had the worst of intentions when willfully arriving at the home of the "minor" they met online, is anyone anywhere, at all, working on ra ehabilitative program to help these people face the demons that own them? The final sequence is certainly unique in its audacity, and had me on the edge, waiting for the unexpected. I held my breath, worried that Hansen would get jumped by men in SWAT gear, they way those he had no problem shaming in front of running cameras were.
Predators will, unfortunately, get buried under an avalanche of late-year award winning cinema, and will not nearly get the audience it deserves. It's a shame, because for those familiar with Dateline's (in)famous reality series, it's as riveting as it gets.
☆☆☆1/2
No comments:
Post a Comment