The Central Park Five Analysis

The Central Park Five is a documentary film that was produced by Ken Burns in the year of 2012. This documentary tells the story of five black teenage boys whose lives were changed forever when they were falsely convicted and imprisoned for brutally beating and raping a woman jogging in Central Park on the night of April 19, 1989. By creating this film, the filmmakers allowed the young men to share with the public their own accounts of that horrific night. The film exposed not only police intimidation, but the lack of evidence used to convict the five boys. Through blurbs of different newscast shown in the documentary, the viewer was also able to get a glimpse of how the crime brought about a cultural diversity causing extreme violence to erupt

The scene where Jim Dwyer a prominent journalist, and distinguished published writer spoke out proclaiming that he wished he would have been more skeptical as a journalist applies the use of ethos by the filmmakers. The scene starts off with the female detectives that are covering the case briskly walking around working at the crime scene with the voice of Dwyer speaking about the crime. Then it cuts to Dwyer setting speaking directly to the camera. As Dwyer sets there he says "I look back at the jogger case and I wish I had been more skeptical as a journalist. A lot of people didn't do their jobs, Reporters, Police, Prosecutors, Defiance Lawyers." Then the scene cuts to a black and white photo of protesters holding picket signs as the prosecutors are walking into what one might presume is a courthouse to discuss the case. They are carrying briefcases and documents. The signs held by the protesters read "Do the right thing, she couldn't run away should we, and There is nothing minor about it". There is a barricade dividing the protesters from the walkway where the prosecutors are walking. Dwyer continues to proclaim, "this was a Proxy war being fought and these young men were the proxy for all kinds other agendas and truth and reality were not a part of it". As Dwyer starts to make this statement to the scene cuts to black and white photos flashing on the screen of each of the young boys. In this scene I believe ethos was at work due to the character of Jim Dwyer was a journalist that covered the case. He knew what he was talking about and provided a logical appeal. His ethic and character have been proven time and time again through his