The 1988 Film: The Thin Blue Line

The 1988 film, The Thin Blue Line, was the first documentary of its kind. Director Errol Morris, created the Interrotron, a device where the subjects are able to look right at the camera, cutting out the third party, and allowing the audience to feel as though the subjects are talking directly to them. This interview technique was accomplished by taking Morris out of the room and putting him on a screen where the subjects were able to simultaneously talk to him and look through the lenses of the camera, all the while being recorded. This entire documentary was an investigation into the murder of Robert Wood, a Dallas police officer that was shot and killed while pulling over a car with no headlights on. Randall Adams was wrongly accused for the crime based off one “eyewitness,” David Harris.

Whenever a person told their side of the story, the film would cut to a clip that showed the audience what that person “saw.” This is where it gets interesting. There was not one reenactment that was the same, Randall Adams, David Harris, and all the rest of Morris’ sources had a different memory of the night of the murder. Even Robert Woods’ police partner thought the suspect’s car was a Vega instead of a Comet. Although she was almost right, a Vega is simply not a Comet, and as a result many hours of intensive investigation was wasted looking for a car that did not exist

The Thin Blue Line brought up many questions concerning eye witnesses and memory. As the reenactments portrayed the memories of the eye witnesses, the audience could not help but be confused from all the inconsistencies that arose from story to story. And if the public is uncertain on who killed Officer Wood, then how was it so easy for the justice system to convict Randall Adams of the crime? The only evidence to prove this conviction were some extremely questionable testimonies that the eyewitnesses had, not to mention, some testimonies were changed during the