“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” – Edmund Burke
With "Happy Valley," director Amir Bar-Lev ("The Tillman Story," "My Kid Could Paint That") examines the Jerry Sandusky scandal, and Americans’ tendency to worship their heroes to the point where they turn a blind eye to atrocities they committed, as long as those idols provide their fans with whatever escapist pleasures they crave.
Would Sandusky, the former assistant coach for the Penn State football team, who was given 60 years in prison for sexually molesting at least ten boys, one of them his own adopted son, be allowed to continue his heinous acts for almost another decade after being caught by the administration if he was the university’s jolly janitor instead? Would Joe Paterno, the legendary head coach, still beloved by many Penn State football fans, hesitate to go directly to the police for even a second after catching Sandusky in the act of molestation if Sandusky was a liberal arts professor? Would the thousands of fans who pulled down streetlights and turned over a TV van while threatening to burn it in “protest” of Paterno being fired from his position because he turned a blind eye to Sandusky’s actions be so energized about this “injustice” if Paterno was the team’s bus driver instead of the man who brought so many victories to his team?
For those of us who are not fans of the Penn State football team, or football in general, our thoughts regarding the case are usually clear cut: Sandusky easily deserved the sentence he received, and Paterno should have been held accountable, perhaps even demonized, for ignoring Sandusky’s heinous acts and letting at least five more children get sexually assaulted during the years following his cover-up. We’re fully removed from the intense passion that surrounds big time football fandom, so we can make a more objective and clear-minded judgment call. And yet, how many cinephiles continue to admire and anticipate the work of Roman Polanski given his controversial background?
For the citizens of Happy Valley, the now ironic affectionate nickname residents of the Penn State campus and the surrounding area gave their neighborhood, the case surrounding Sandusky’s actions are clear-cut: He destroyed those boys’ lives, therefore he deserves to burn in hell for all they care. To these fans, Paterno’s case represents the other extreme: He was a blameless hero who became the scapegoat of the university administration. Even when the infamous Freeh Report proved that Paterno directly covered up the abuses, fans still rallied behind him.
Bar-Lev focuses a considerable amount of his film’s running time on the “protests” that followed Paterno’s firing as head coach. Thousands of his supporters flooded the streets with a pathetically black-and-white slogan: “Fuck Jerry Sandusky, we want Joe Paterno!” In their minds, the one bad apple was removed from the basket, and now it was time to enjoy football again. During one of the most eye-opening moments in “Happy Valley," one of Paterno’s sons addresses the crowd, stating that even though he appreciates the support, everyone should pray for and think about the sexual abuse victims first. It’s a sequence that highlights the disordered priorities of many in Happy Valley.
Bar-Lev admirably paints as objective a portrait as possible around the many painful ways the Sandusky case impacted the residents of Happy Valley. The mainstream media had already sensationalized the scandal, offering familiarly narrow views full of empty labels, but thankfully, Bar-Lev avoids being similarly shortsighted and salacious.
His at times enraging, at times heartbreaking, yet always fascinating and engaging documentary manages to give the defenders of all sides of the argument a fair chance to express themselves. Bar-Lev adopts a low-key and under-stylized visual approach, which works perfectly with the delicate subject at hand.
The most painful story belongs to Matt Sandusky, Jerry’s adopted son. After initially denying any allegations of abuse, Matt finally testified that he was sexually assaulted by his adopted father, and was ostracized by his family as a reward for his honesty. “Ninety percent of my time with him was amazing”, he confesses with tearful eyes, “It was that ten percent that was incredibly hurtful.”
Amir Bar-Lev is one of the most talented and underrated documentary filmmakers of his generation. His previous doc, if we don’t count his concert film "12-12-12," was the excellent “The Tillman Story,” which also examined Americans’ willingness to cover up the ugly truth in order to serve a more pleasing narrative. "Happy Valley" seals his reputation as one of the best names in his field.
As it did with the actual case, "Happy Valley" will divide audiences and create heated discussions over the many contradicting reactions given by its subjects. However, there’s one point that won’t be controversial: It’s one of the best documentaries of the year. [A-]
Hack.
Is this article a joke? You don\’t speak for everyone outside of PSU/college football fandom. The attorney general at the time has even said that Paterno followed the law, so I\’m not sure where you get this nonsense about how he "turned a blind eye" to anything. Your holier than thou garbage would be amusing if it wasn\’t so pathetic. The Freeh Report didn\’t prove that Paterno covered it up. Freeh\’s report was riddled with leaps based on guesses he was making. That\’s setting aside the fact that the whole thing was supposed to be independent, which we now know to not have been the case. We know he worked with the NCAA on the investigation, which emails from the NCAA have shown. This article is just mindless drivel from some know-nothing, which is probably what got him to writing for "indiewire" in the first place.
In the three years since the Grand Jury presentment and then the Freeh Report were released, this article tops the list for the most uninformed, inaccurate, and assinine story I have read on the topic. The author needs to find a new career path as journalism as his/her future does not belong there. The inaccuracies are too many to list. But, anyone that writes that Joe Paterno witnessed Sandusky doing anything like molesting someone is living in the land of Whisper down the Alley. There has never been any intimation of such an occurrence by anyone but this non-journalist, Oktay Ege Kozak.
Anybody who takes the Freeh report as the truth is NOT using objectivity.
Mr Kozak, as a former journalist, whenever I see someone write inaccuracies such as " Would Joe Paterno, the legendary head coach, still beloved by many Penn State football fans, hesitate to go directly to the police for even a second after catching Sandusky in the act of molestation if Sandusky was a liberal arts professor?," it makes me cringe. Joe Paterno did not catch anyone in the act of molestation. (As witnesed by the other comments and the grand jury testimony, no one actually "caught" someone in the act of molestation. It\’s articles like these that give the media the reputation it has earned recently. When so-called journalist inject their own subjective feelings into their writing, unless it\’s an obvious opinion piece, they are not only doing a great disservice to their profession, but to their readers as well.
Paterno actually did the Maximum amount he could possibly do, which was report what he heard to his boss and to the police. Anything beyond that is actually illegal in the State of PA. And following up is an even bigger no no. So, don\’t blame Paterno, blame the laws in Pennsylvania.
Right, you are, right. I do agree with what you said about Woody Allen. In my original review, I had an extra sentence that read "Would we burn our Woody Allen DVDs IF the accusations from Dylan Farrow were proven to be true?" Since my review was probably running too long, it got edited out, which is understandable. Thankfully, our editor took out Allen\’s name from the review.
Sigh. This question most eloquently demonstrates your ignorance:
"Would Joe Paterno, the legendary head coach . . . hesitate to go directly to the police for even a second after catching Sandusky in the act of molestation if Sandusky was a liberal arts professor?"
First, Paterno witnessed nothing! McQueary sort of witnessed (heard) something–and Paterno made sure that pseudo-witness reported what he saw to the proper authority.
Second, of course Paterno (or any other human) would act if he had witnessed a crime! In fact, Paterno (who witnessed nothing) was one of the only people to do anything re. Sandusky!
Third, the only people who still think Paterno covered up anything, or acted inappropriately in any way, are internet trolls (who simply are rooting for other teams) and "reporters" like you, who can\’t be bothered to even google the person (and people) they are defaming.
Stick to reviewing films. If you need to denounce people, at least do a modicum of research first.
In no way does Woody Allen have a "similarly unseemly background" to Sandusky. What a glib, ignorant comment. Allen had an affair with a 19 year old girl, and his unstable wife coached an impressionable child into lying about abuse for retribution. No charges. Not REMOTELY the same as serial abuse of multiple children a la Sandusky
have you read the Freeh Report Mr. Kozak? All you need read is page 12 to see it was neither independent or objective.
@ Mr Kozak it is a shame that in your life you were taught to write, but not to research or rationally examine your topic. But do you know what is worse then that? Someone stupid enough to give you a forum where you can spout your ignorance. There has been 3 years of objective research done and it has been shown that Joe followed the law, and told the truth in his testimony. It has been shown that had the government alphabet soup that investigated Sandusky in 1998 had done their job there should not have been a 2001 incident. Ohh by the way we have the victim from the 2001 incident claiming he was not molested the night Mike McQueary said he "HEARD SLAPPING SOUNDS" in the locker room. That is right Mike McQueary\’s first description that night was to his father and a Dr Dranov who testified Mike Heard slapping sounds and when he questioned him, "But what did you see?" Mike went back to saying he heard slapping sounds and thought he was going to walk in on people having sex. So do me a favor unless you do the research keep you uninformed thoughts to yourself.
The Freeh Report \’proved\’ Joe Paterno\’s guilt? Pure logic dictates when to you base your arguments on a false premise, every single conclusion you arrive at will be equally false. Good job in perpetuating the false conclusions Freeh (in collaboration with the NCAA?) arrived at. Do me a favor and look up Freeh \’ s track record…from wrongly accusing the Atlanta Olympics bomber…to having the report he produced for FIFA immediately before the Sandusky report be thrown out of court for being based on hearsay/opinion/lacking evidence (same thing the Sandusky Freeh report is being criticized for) and the report he produced after the Sandusky report as it relates to corruption allegations of a Japanese businessman…which was ALSO thrown out by another court for the same exact reasons. Please…do a bit of due diligence. Thanks.