AlPacinobrings‘ Paterno’ tothe# MeTooera
The film offers a glimpse into the life of the famed football coach, who tried to deal with the fallout when his former assistantwas embroiled in a sex scandal
Moral confusion reigns at the heart of newHBO film Paterno, as viewers get a family living room view of the famed Penn State football coach trying to deal with the fallout as a former longtime assistant coach becomes embroiled in a child sex scandal that rocks education and an insular college town.
The drama debuts on April 9 and stars Al Pacino as the late Joe Paterno. It offers a behind- the- scenes glimpse of the Paterno home during aweekslong media siege as the family grapples with its sudden fall from grace.
“Here’s a man who talked about integrity, and yet this happened,” director Barry Levinson told Reuters. “So, what did he know? What didn’t he know?”
Levinson explores the paradox of a coach who professed and lived by the high moral code he also demanded of his players, yet failed to act on signs assistant Jerry Sandusky had been abusing boys.
Paterno sets forth the questions but gives no answers.
“Human behaviour is always more complicated,” the Oscar- winning Rain Man director said.
“There are things that we may never understand, but that’s the part of what makes it interesting.”
The film tackles several narratives ranging from university administrators who ignored complaints against Sandusky to young reporter Sara Ganim who broke the story and the emotional trauma of a young Sandusky victim who comes forward.
Levinson and screenwriter Debora Cahn save their great conundrums for Paterno, college football’s winningest coach who in the span of a few autumnweeks in 2011 went from celebrated to fired.
They showPaterno detached fromhis job’s details, and confused and struggling to grasp the nature of Sandusky’s decades- long crimes.
“What is sodomy?” Paterno asks his wife while reading the criminal complaint that led to Sandusky’s conviction on 45 counts of sexual abuse.
A RECREATION
The film recreates known and alleged instances when Paterno either ignored signs of Sandusky’s behaviour that he became aware of, or failed to followup after reporting to superiors.
Paterno died fromlung cancer in January 2012 at age 85.
Cahn believes the lessons of Paterno’s story mirror the tsunami of years- old misconduct allegations in the # MeToo movement.
“What kind of responsibility does each of us bear as individuals who are near events thatwe think might be fishy, but we aren’t sure,” Cahn said. “Dowe push further? Dowe investigate more? Or dowe hope somebody else is going to?”— Reuters