Capturing the Friedmans

got a problem in this culture 734 00:34:32,266 --> 00:34:34,500 with hysteria around this issue. 735 00:34:34,567 --> 00:34:39,533 And so they're really free to let their fantasies fly. 736 00:34:39,600 --> 00:34:41,100 I think the most overwhelming thing 737 00:34:41,166 --> 00:34:44,500 was the enormous amount of child pornography. 738 00:34:44,567 --> 00:34:46,767 You would just have to walk into the living room, 739 00:34:46,834 --> 00:34:48,934 and it'd be piled around the piano. 740 00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:52,967 There were literally foot-high stacks of pornography 741 00:34:53,033 --> 00:34:56,233 in-- in plain view all around the house. 742 00:34:57,467 --> 00:34:59,166 Nathan: But photos taken during the search 743 00:34:59,233 --> 00:35:01,467 showed nothing of the kind. 744 00:35:06,567 --> 00:35:08,433 Onorato: But as far as the families were concerned, 745 00:35:08,500 --> 00:35:11,000 I don't wanna use the word that they were competitive with each other. 746 00:35:11,066 --> 00:35:13,700 I don't know if it's to that extent. 747 00:35:13,767 --> 00:35:16,166 You know, sometimes it'd be some idle conversation about, 748 00:35:16,233 --> 00:35:17,600 you know, another boy, you know, 749 00:35:17,667 --> 00:35:19,467 "He was sodomized five times, 750 00:35:19,533 --> 00:35:21,400 but my son was sodomized six times." 751 00:35:21,467 --> 00:35:23,867 You know, as if that meant something 752 00:35:23,934 --> 00:35:25,367 in the overall scheme of things. 753 00:35:25,433 --> 00:35:28,100 There's a whole community atmosphere that gets created 754 00:35:28,166 --> 00:35:30,066 in a mass abuse case like this, 755 00:35:30,133 --> 00:35:32,934 where the families are talking to each other, 756 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:34,166 they're going to community meetings 757 00:35:34,233 --> 00:35:35,767 or they're calling on the phone all the time. 758 00:35:35,834 --> 00:35:37,700 They're seeing each other in group therapy. 759 00:35:37,767 --> 00:35:40,300 And there is definitely an element 760 00:35:40,367 --> 00:35:43,367 when a community defines itself as a victimized community, 761 00:35:43,433 --> 00:35:45,133 that if you're not victimized, 762 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:47,266 you don't fit into that community. 763 00:35:47,333 --> 00:35:50,500 The families that had their child molested, 764 00:35:50,567 --> 00:35:52,400 or allegedly molested, 765 00:35:52,467 --> 00:35:54,133 became very involved, 766 00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:58,233 and it took a greater part of their life at that point. 767 00:35:58,300 --> 00:36:00,133 I appreciated their call in the beginning, 768 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:01,734 telling me what happened. 769 00:36:01,800 --> 00:36:03,967 And then, when I told them we'd looked into it, 770 00:36:04,033 --> 00:36:08,166 and my wife and I both felt that nothing happened to our son. 771 00:36:08,233 --> 00:36:10,300 It got to be a little pushy situation 772 00:36:10,367 --> 00:36:12,333 where they told us that we were in denial, 773 00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:14,667 and it absolutely happened to our son. 774 00:36:32,066 --> 00:36:33,767 (children laughing) 775 00:36:40,333 --> 00:36:41,600 (answering machine beeps) 776 00:36:41,667 --> 00:36:43,867 Man (on phone): Y ou fucking bitch, I'm gonna kill you! 777 00:36:43,934 --> 00:36:46,900 When Jesse gets out of jail, he's a dead motherfucker. 778 00:36:46,967 --> 00:36:50,033 When Arnold gets out of jail, he's a dead motherfucker. 779 00:36:50,100 --> 00:36:52,800 Fuck you and fuck your whole family! 780 00:36:52,867 --> 00:36:54,166 (phone line clicks) 781 00:36:57,233 --> 00:36:59,600 Jarecki: Is there any one word or phrase 782 00:36:59,667 --> 00:37:04,233 that you could use to describe the experience overall? 783 00:37:10,233 --> 00:37:12,667 Chaos. Hysteria. 784 00:37:12,734 --> 00:37:14,967 It was really crazy. 785 00:37:15,033 --> 00:37:17,867 Am I dreaming? Is this a nightmare? 786 00:37:17,934 --> 00:37:20,300 The-- this can't be happening to my family. 787 00:37:20,367 --> 00:37:21,633 My brother? 788 00:37:26,633 --> 00:37:29,133 And a day doesn't go by that I don't think of it. 789 00:37:30,967 --> 00:37:33,266 It destroyed my family. 790 00:37:33,333 --> 00:37:34,967 Tore us apart. 791 00:37:36,300 --> 00:37:38,333 I don't know. 792 00:37:38,400 --> 00:37:40,500 I-- I can't say too much about it. 793 00:37:40,567 --> 00:37:42,700 They-- they were-- we were a family. 794 00:37:43,934 --> 00:37:46,367 ♪ ♪ 795 00:38:02,233 --> 00:38:04,834 ♪ ♪ 796 00:38:33,166 --> 00:38:34,867 David (on video): Mommy believes you did it, 797 00:38:34,934 --> 00:38:36,367 and she believes you should go to jail, 798 00:38:36,433 --> 00:38:38,567 and she believes that she deserves everything that's left, 799 00:38