Happy Valley

A film of questions more than answers, this is the rare documentary about a horrible crime that isn’t really about the criminal, or his trial, or even his direct victims, but is more a study of the effect that crime and it’s reverberations has on a community.There’s no question that Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky did a shockingly horrible, unforgivable thing; molesting and raping a string of little boys, after winning their trust as (among other things) the patron of a free camp for poor kids. But this film is more about what happened when it became clear that legendary head coach, lionized good citizen and well loved great moral influence on young men Joe Paterno helped cover up Sandusky’s crimes – or at minimum didn’t do nearly enough to make them known to the police. That leads to a whole town convulsing on itself as their hero of many years comes crashing to earth.Add to that the twist of the hypocritical and disturbing nature of the punishment of Paterno's memory and Penn State by the NCAA. The same NCAA who have a long history of looking the other way when can get away with it while college sports programs help cover awful and even criminal behavior. But in this case, not wanting the fingers pointed at them, they go to the point of literally erasing much of the program’s history like something from Orwell’s 1984. Between all the various angles on the story, I ended up with intensely mixed feelings about almost all involved.And that’s a good thing. Pat answers would have been meaningless when examining big questions about who we worship and why, or how much can a whole program, or a whole college, or a whole culture be guilty? Or is erasing the past really a punishment or is it ultimately a way for those in power to protect themselves and their own place in history? Bar-Lev (The Tillman Story) once again proves himself a powerful, insightful and sensitive documentary film-maker not afraid to leave his audience in an uneasy, confusing, but important and valuable place.

Excellent documentary about the Sandusky scandal and the effect it and the subsequent trial and media attention had on Penn State and the community. However parts made me VERY angry, but probably not for the reasons you might assume!I was very angry and disgusted by the behavior and attitude of thee Penn State students and fans ...particularly toward the media. On the night Paterno was fired, students and fans physically and verbally attacked the media as if this whole situation was the media's fault....the media DIDN'T molest numerous young boys or fire Paterno or cause this crime to be revealed...I guess its true that when people don't like the message, they attack the messenger!I also was fairly disgusted by the Paterno family who has repeatedly tried to justify Joe Paterno's lack of action when he was made aware of the abuse and continues to attempt to absolve him and themselves of any responsibility. This type of behavior does NOT happen in a vacuum and it is ridiculous to think that Paterno could work so closely with Jerry Sandusky for decades and NOT know that there was something "off" about Sandusky's behavior around young boys. Additionally, the argument that Paterno really didn't have a legal obligation to protect these kids because its a college doesn't pass the smell test either...Any person who works with kids, and college students ARE kids, has a legal responsibility to report ANY SUSPICION of child abuse....PERIOD! I think the real issue was that Paterno didn't WANT to know so he closed his eyes to Sandusky's actions.As a graduate of a SEC university, I know all too well how important sports are on these big campuses ....there truly is a sports culture that gives athletes and coaches a pass, especially if they win. This is NOT what our universities are for. The argument that sports bring millions of dollars into the school doesn't excuse this attitude either because the academic programs do NOT benefit from any of this money but the coaches, athletic directors, board of directors and university leaders DO....A LOT! Ultimately the punishment handed down by the NCAA was fair and hopefully it will cause other sports crazy universities to reevaluate their attitudes and shift the focus back to education, where I belongs.This documentary is not only a review of what happened, buy also how it happened...in essence its a cautionary tale for all of us that putting people up on pedestals is very dangerous and ultimately leads to ruin...whether financial, psychological or moral!