On the night of April 19, 1989, a 28-year-old investment banker was raped in New York’s Central Park and left for dead. She was dubbed “the Central Park jogger,” and the case became a sensation. Five youths, ranging in age from 14 to 16, were arrested and charged. Four were African-American, one was Hispanic. Largely on the basis of videotaped confessions, they were convicted and sent to prison for terms ranging from seven to 13 years.
In 2002, their convictions were vacated when another man confessed to the crime and a DNA match proved he had committed it.
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Two things. My wife and I had a brief encounter with Ken Burns last year and found him to be as "nice" as his "nice guy" persona. Second, on the basis of our going to see Lincoln a couple of afternoons ago in Revere, the "sacred communion of strangers in dark rooms" seems to be between loud teenagers who have no sense of the sacredness Burns refers to. Noisy, chatty, giggling...it's one of the reasons we rarely go to the movies anymore. I did have a feeling of sacredness sitting at home watching "The Civil War" though. Thank you Mr. Burns.