Film Review Comparison

After Innocence Film Review Comparison

In the film review of After Innocence by Frederik and Mary Ann Brussat there are many similarities and differences to my personal film review of the 2005 documentary After Innocence  directed by Jessica Sanders. Brussats’ film review begins with the Brussats placing the reader in an imaginary scenario. This puts the reader of the review in line with the mood of the film. While the Brussats’ film review does give a summary of the film, it does also include a lot of  personal biases. The review does this by focusing on the scenes from the film that most impacted them when watching the film and by placing a great deal of importance on the Innocence Project. When compared to my film review of After Innocence, both reviews give an overview of the film. However, my review follows the events in the scene chronologically and from a more neutral standpoint. For this reason, I would say that  both reviews accurately summarize the film, the Brussat’s review gives an overview of the film with intent to touch the reader, while my review gives a strict summary of the film with intent to inform the reader.    

After Innocence Guided Reflection 

1. In the movie After Innocence, a specific scene that got to me was the one with Nick Yarris talking while in his car. Yarris was one of the exonerees who was wrongfully imprisoned and placed on death row. When Yarris was imprisoned, he was put into one of the worst prisons in america. In this prison Yarris was not allowed to speak for his first two years there, where he was also tortured and placed in solitary confinement. While Yarris is in his car, he says that without an ounce of ego he can say that he is one of the strongest human beings ever created since he has survived that. This scene really intrigues me because it make me think, if I would even able to survive what Yarris has gone through, and if did survive, would I still be as mentally stable as Yarris is.

2. While many things surprised me in the film, such as the government not compensating wrongfully convicted men and the government refusing to clear the records of those they wrongly convicted of a crime. One thing that stood out more than others is the case of Wilton Dedge. Dedge was wrongfully imprisoned and with DNA evidence he would have been proven guilty and freed from prison. However, Dedge’s prosecutor did not care if Dedge was actually guilty or not, he just wanted Dedge in prison. So Dedge’s prosecutor did everything in his power to prevent the use of DNA evidence in his retrial. After 22 years, the use of DNA evidence was finally allowed in Dedge’s trial and he was freed from prison.

3. Questions I still have after viewing After Innocence are, did the exonerees ever get compensated for their wrongful convictions? Or, did they at least get their records cleared so that they are not labeled as criminals for a crime they did not commit? It is not fair that these men had to give up multiple years of their lives’ due to a justice system that failed them. To make matters worst, the government is not making any corrections on their mistake. This also brings up the question of, how many other men are wrongfully in prison for a crime they did not commit, and how many more men would be out of prison if only they had DNA evidence available to them.              

Hurricane Irma Might Hit My People

http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/05/us/hurricane-irma-puerto-rico-florida/index.html

Most of you might not know this, but I am half Haitian (hence the reason why my whole name sounds french). My father was born to a privileged family near Porta-au-Prince( the capital of Haiti) along with his sibling where he learned to speak french and creole. At the age of nine his family and him came to the United States where they started their new life in Chicago. As of today despite all their hard work to call America their home, they will never forget where they came from.  Which is why they try to visit their home country about once ever four years. Unfortunately, this year my grandparents and uncle have decided to visit now and are planning to be there for next two weeks.  
This sucks because a category five hurricane is suppose to be hitting the island Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Im sure that my family will be alright, it is the island I am worried about. Haiti was a damaged third world country before the earthquake in 2010. This earthquake basically destroyed the country,  and they have barely recovered since. Although they they are not being directly hit by the hurricane they will will most likely suffer winds and rain fall that will destroy their  thin aluminum and brick homes, schools, and businesses. While there is not much we can do now but just wait to evaluate the damage. I still encourage everyone to keep not just Haiti in mind, but all of these Caribbean islands in mind.