The "Central Park Five" documentary by Ken and Sarah Burns, and David McMahon invite viewers to see the side of five once young black men that were falsely accused of a rape that caused them to do thirteen to fifteen years of time in jail. We hear from lawyers, journalist, the men themselves, and more through interviews about their take on this life- changing situation.This documentary was so eye opening and most likely one of my favorites, directors did a great job with the visuals. They didn't lack a thing when it came to helping the viewers get a better image of the time period and event. There were visuals of headlines and old news recordings even visuals of the young men being questioned by detectives. This documentary touched me and I'm sure it touched others especially those of minorities. This gave the five men a chance to finally speak up and be heard. For many years the media and society due to the system giving them an image of who they weren't bashed these men. This documentary holds so much emotion from sadness to anger, as you listen to their experience of how much they lost. One thing I noticed, you will not sense any type of anger from the men themselves but more of sadness. I'd recommend that everyone should take the time to watch this, not just people of color. I will say that I did think this documentary was toward the people of minority. Being a person of color, especially during the past few years, it's been an issue that people of color feel mistreated by the system. But, I feel everyone should see this and take it in that this issue of the system did exist and should know it's still current.

The Central Park Five is a documentary that talks about a controversial New York City case back in the late 80's. Five minorities were convicted of a crime that they didn't commit, but with the corrupt justice system they were found guilty based on false confession tapes. It took place during a time where New York City was segregated, whites were downgrading the blacks in every way that they could. It wasn't a coincidence that the five minorities were accused of raping and brutally beating a white female jogger in Central Park, they were used as scapegoats and threw each other under the bus. Detectives encouraged them to make up stories about one another so that they could go home to eat and sleep, two things that they couldn't do at the precinct. The boys were all found guilty and spent many years of their lives behind bars for doing absolutely nothing. They lost their childhood innocence while being imprisoned, they were forced to mature at a much younger age than other kids. Not only was I truly disappointed in the boys for not telling the truth and allowing the police officers to get into their heads, but I was also disappointed in the justice system for wrongfully convicted these boys of a crime they didn't commit. The media also took part in this case by saying the boys committed the crime before the trial was even over. Therefore the media manipulated the minds of New Yorkers into making them truly believe that the boys were guilty of the crime. I would definitely recommend watching this documentary as it is an emotionally touching film that takes you back in time when the judicial system wasn't fair to people of all races. This documentary allows you to realize that racism will always be present whether it seems like it or not.

Central Park Five is very interesting documentary that is about a 1989 rape case and trial that occurred in Central park where five teenage African-American and Latino boys were convicted for sexually assaulting a white woman. Having spent 6-13 years each behind bars. A serial rapist confessed to the crime. Nevertheless, these boys were falsely convicted of a crime they did not participate in, and were stripped of their lives due to the corruption of police interrogations, and racism. As I watched this film I was compelled with the amount of pathos that Ken and Sarah Burns used in the film. From all of the stories of how the kids felt when they were going through the trial and the interrogations to all the images of and footages of them in these interrogations. Watching the videos and seeing the expressions on their faces really made me feel for them. But on top of all of this, the film made me really upset with the way that the police system was at the time. Having no real evidence that the five guys were connected to this case, they were able to persuade the kids to say what the police wanted to hear. The police did the wrong thing and everybody knows it. While listening to the interviews you can tell that the stories did not line up and some of the kids were nervous enough that they were unsure of what they were saying and second-guessing themselves. On top of that the police assumed they were the guilty party when they found them. Now as the film says there were other people in and around the park at the time, but they got a party of five African American teenage guys, that were walking around. Now how does that not fit profiling? Or how about racism? That is racism mostly at its finest, they found a group of "sketchy" African Americans and arrested them, and eventually convicted them with no real proof that they all did it. This made me upset, no I'm not African American but I feel like most people that it was unjust for them to do this and racism is not right in anyway, and it would get under anybody's nerves. Luckily the right guy did come out but only 13 years after the fact. But they did give the guys money for the time spent in jail so isn't that fair for them? not at all they took away the main part of a persons life. They took away there late teens and most of the there young adult years where most people learn the most of who they are and how to live in the world. These are times that will never be able to get back and nobody will ever be able to repay them with that experience.

In the great Ken Burns tradition, The Central Park Five is a documentary full of detail and a story seamless in drama and heart. With little voice-over narration and smoothly edited testimonies from talking heads, Burns powerfully tells of the five African-American and Latino young men convicted of raping and beating a white female jogger in Central Park on April 20, 1989.Just like endings last year of another compelling documentary, The Imposter, and the docudramas Argo and Zero Dark Thirty, we know the outcome (their convictions will be vacated by a convict's confession in 2002). Yet, the dramatic tension is constant as we witness prosecutors and police push for convictions in a racially-charged and violent New York desperately needing closure of an infamous crime that exacerbated that tension.The coercion of underage suspects and rush to judgment stand just behind the actual crime for horrible injustice. Director Burns gets it right by letting the principals, from the accused to attorneys, tell the story. The ending commentary is the only way to exit, with a lament for the years of young lives stolen and the difficulty of the adults becoming part of the mainstream.Reality is The Central Park Five's reason for being and one of the best documentaries in recent years.