美国国家公共电台 NPR Ava DuVernay Hopes You Hear 'The Heartbeat Of The Boys' In Central Park 5

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

How does someone become an adult after being robbed of a childhood? A new Netflix miniseries examines this question. It's based on the case of a group of black and Latino teenagers known as the Central Park Five. In April 1989, a woman was brutally¹ beaten and raped² in New York's Central Park. Five boys were pressured into false confessions³ and convicted. All served time.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "WHEN THEY SEE US")

FREDDY MIYARES: (As Raymond Santana) And everything was going on. I couldn't really follow what was happening. I didn't get it. Inside, I started reading the articles - how they wrote them against us from the first days, all the transcripts⁴, the straight-up lies they told. I watched my tape. I don't even know who that [expletive] kid is. I don't even recognize myself.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) I know, Ray.

MARTIN: That's Freddy Miyares, the actor who plays Raymond Santana, one of the five. The real Raymond Santana reached out on Twitter to the director and screenwriter Ava DuVernay, and he asked if she would tell the story of what he, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam⁵ and Korey Wise went through. DuVernay said yes. She talked with our co-host Noel King about how this project got started.

AVA DUVERNAY: I get a lot of tweets. It happened on Twitter. It was shortly after Selma, and I got a tweet from Raymond Santana asking, what would be my next film after Selma? - Central Park Five.

And this story is one that I knew. I was a teenager on the West Coast when they were teenagers on the East Coast, so I remember it being in the news. I'd recently seen the documentary by Sarah Burns, so I paid attention to the tweet this time. And it meant a lot to be asked by them.

NOEL KING, BYLINE⁶: When you sat down to talk to these men for the first time, what were some of the things they told you that made you think, oh, there's so much more here than we know?

DUVERNAY: Well, the personal stories for Antron McCray, for example, whose family dynamic completely broke apart. He was a part of a gorgeous small family unit - his mother, his father and himself living in Harlem. And on this particular night when he's brought in, his father is in the room with him. And his father is kind of blackmailed⁷ and pushed and coerced⁸ into forcing his son to confess...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "WHEN THEY SEE US")

MICHAEL KENNETH WILLIAMS: (As Bobby McCray) Listen to me, 'Tron. I need you to do what the police want you to do. You got to say what they want you to say.

CALEEL HARRIS: (As Young Antron McCray) They want me to lie.

WILLIAMS: (As Bobby McCray) No, don't think of it like that. Just say what they want you to say.

DUVERNAY: ...Which the son does after much protest. And from there, their relationship was never the same. The story is so poignant⁹, but it's also so telling in terms of the fracturing of family that happens when, you know, one person is incarcerated¹⁰.

KING: Well, that part really comes through. I kept thinking as I was watching the movie, the whole family might as well be behind bars.

DUVERNAY: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I think the best thing to liken it to for people that don't have anyone who's incarcerated is grief. You know, most of us have lost someone in our life, and we know what that feels like. So it's this idea of separation but a presence that never allows the grief to change into anything else except a deep absence that is inescapable.

KING: Your series is very blunt in its portrayal¹¹ of police and prosecutors¹³. These teenage boys - at this point, they're boys. They're brought into interrogation. They are told, you'll get out of trouble if you confess. You show their faces very close up. And I wonder, was getting in that close - was that a choice to show us, to remind us that these were kids?

DUVERNAY: Well, yeah. I mean, every decision in the film was a choice as a director. But I think the proximity¹⁴ of the camera to the subject was less about showing that they were kids and mostly about showing that they were terrified.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "WHEN THEY SEE US")

ASANTE BLACKK: (As Kevin Richardson) Please just sign it, please.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Angie, just because you waive¹⁵ an attorney right now, it doesn't mean it's forever. Right?

KYLIE BUNBURY: (As Angie Richardson) I don't even...

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) You get your brother home, you and your mother. Figure things out with a lawyer. We'll clear this...

BLACKK: (As Kevin Richardson) I don't want to stay.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) ...All up.

BLACKK: (As Kevin Richardson) Angie, I don't want to stay here anymore. I'm tired of being here. I don't want to be here anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) I don't think...

BLACKK: (As Kevin Richardson) Please sign it.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) We don't want to be here doing this, OK?

BLACKK: (As Kevin Richardson) I don't want to be here. I want to go home.

DUVERNAY: OK. I'm a black or brown kid in a closed room with white men who are authority figures, who have guns on their belts and badges. And so, yeah, the proximity to the camera and the choices in camera movement and framing and composition - all of that - was to bring you into the heartbeat of the boys as they - their adrenaline starts to rush from the terror of where they were.

KING: As recently as late November 2018, Linda Fairstein, who was the sex crimes prosecutor¹² - in the film, she's played by Felicity Huffman. She was insisting that her office did nothing wrong. And I wonder, while you were researching this film, while you were doing interviews, did you have an opportunity to talk to anyone involved in the investigation¹⁶ or the prosecution¹⁷?

DUVERNAY: We made the opportunity available to them to speak with me, and many refused. Some did speak to me and asked that it not be revealed that they did. But the character that you're speaking of - her real-life counterpart refused to speak to me, yeah.

KING: I know that you saw the film with some of the men. What did they think? How did they react when they saw this dramatization of their lives on screen?

DUVERNAY: A lot of tears, a lot of relief on their part, I think, feeling that their story was finally going to be told and seen and heard and just a very intimate, personal, emotional moment that, I think, outweighs¹⁸ anything that I've experienced as a filmmaker up until this point. My goal was to tell their stories. And to, you know, get the well done from them with tears in their eyes was everything I need.

KING: Do you think that these men are at peace with what happened?

DUVERNAY: No. No, they're not at peace. No amount of money can bring back your childhood. Everything's been affected¹⁹ by this. Many people in this - that I've come across across the country over the past four years don't know how the story ends. Just think Central Park Five - actually think they're just still incarcerated or that they got out but they did it. Not everyone knows about the exoneration²⁰. There's so much you can't get back. So...

KING: Yeah.

DUVERNAY: No, I think they're far from peace. But I do hope there's satisfaction for them in at least being able to finally have their side of the story heard and seen.

(SOUNDBITE OF CLEVER AUSTIN'S "SPECKLE, PT.2")

MARTIN: That's filmmaker Ava DuVernay speaking with Noel King about her new Netflix series "When They See Us." We should say Netflix is one of NPR's sponsors.

We also reached out to former prosecutor Linda Fairstein for comment. She told us her attorney sent documents and videos related to the investigation to the series' producers and that she would only agree to speak with them after they had reviewed the materials. Fairstein said she never heard back from producers after that. She also called the depiction²¹ of her in the series grossly inaccurate²² and said the film is a, quote, "fictional²³ dramatization of events."

1 brutally   

adv.残忍地，野蛮地，冷酷无情地

参考例句：

• The uprising was brutally put down.起义被残酷地镇压下去了。
• A pro-democracy uprising was brutally suppressed.一场争取民主的起义被残酷镇压了。

2 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

3 confessions   

n.承认( confession的名词复数 )；自首；声明；（向神父的）忏悔

参考例句：

• It is strictly forbidden to obtain confessions and to give them credence. 严禁逼供信。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Neither trickery nor coercion is used to secure confessions. 既不诱供也不逼供。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句

5 salaam   

n.额手之礼，问安，敬礼；v.行额手礼

参考例句：

• And the people were so very friendly:full of huge beaming smiles,calling out "hello" and "salaam".这里的人民都很友好，灿然微笑着和我打招呼，说“哈罗”和“萨拉姆”。
• Salaam is a Muslim form of salutation.额手礼是穆斯林的问候方式。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 blackmailed   

胁迫，尤指以透露他人不体面行为相威胁以勒索钱财( blackmail的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He was blackmailed by an enemy agent (into passing on state secrets). 敌特威胁他（要他交出国家机密）。
• The strikers refused to be blackmailed into returning to work. 罢工者拒绝了要挟复工的条件。

8 coerced   

v.迫使做( coerce的过去式和过去分词 )；强迫；（以武力、惩罚、威胁等手段）控制；支配

参考例句：

• They were coerced into negotiating a settlement. 他们被迫通过谈判解决。
• He was coerced into making a confession. 他被迫招供。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 poignant   

adj.令人痛苦的，辛酸的，惨痛的

参考例句：

• His lyrics are as acerbic and poignant as they ever have been.他的歌词一如既往的犀利辛辣。
• It is especially poignant that he died on the day before his wedding.他在婚礼前一天去世了，这尤其令人悲恸。

10 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白

11 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

12 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

13 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

14 proximity   

n.接近，邻近

参考例句：

• Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。
• Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。

15 waive   

vt.放弃，不坚持(规定、要求、权力等)

参考例句：

• I'll record to our habitat office waive our claim immediately.我立即写信给咱们的总公司提出放弃索赔。
• In view of the unusual circumstances,they agree to waive their requirement.鉴于特殊情况，他们同意放弃他们的要求。

16 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

17 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

18 outweighs   

v.在重量上超过( outweigh的第三人称单数 )；在重要性或价值方面超过

参考例句：

• Her need to save money outweighs her desire to spend it on fun. 她省钱的需要比她花钱娱乐的愿望更重要。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Its clarity in algebraic and analytical operations far outweighs any drawbacks. 文化代数和解析运算中的清晰性远远胜过任何缺点。 来自辞典例句

19 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

20 exoneration   

n.免罪，免除

参考例句：

• Empathy for the criminal's childhood misery does not imply exoneration of the crimes he committed as an adult. 对罪犯悲惨的童年表示怜悯不等于可以免除他长大成人后所犯的罪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Exoneration or rehabilitation should be made known as widely as were the original wrong decisions. 原来在什么范围内弄错的，也应该在什么范围内宣布平反。 来自互联网

21 depiction   

n.描述

参考例句：

• Double rhythms, resounding through the lyric depiction and connecting with each other, indicate the thespian place of mankind and the cognition of the writer to this thespian place. 这双重旋律互为表里，表明了人类的某种悲剧性处境以及作家对这种悲剧性处境的感受和认识。
• A realistic depiction of scenes from everyday domestic life. 日常家居生活的写实画。

22 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

23 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。