HBO Paterno

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DeereHawk75

Well-Known Member
Watched this last night on HBO. Al Pacino did a good job of portraying him. Can't believe Penn St. did not get much heavier sanctions. There was way more to it than I realized.
 
DeereHawk75 said:
Watched this last night on HBO. Al Pacino did a good job of portraying him. Can't believe Penn St. did not get much heavier sanctions. There was way more to it than I realized.
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And this was a docudrama so how much of it was fictionalized dialogue? Even some of the best movies have some info in them that seem to be true but then later are found to be fictionalized. I am not saying that Joe Pa or many of those people didnt know and abet the situation, they most assuredly did as some were convicted of crimes and fired.

I do not get HBO so what was some of the new info you were given in this movie?
 
Memory is such a fleeting thing, even memories of victims. I wouldn't put a lot of stock on HBO. As a published author I had one of the most documented books ever for a personal story. However, after the fact, I still find information that wasn't exactly correct. For example, most of the soldiers I interviewed swore they went ashore on D Day, but records show they went in on D+1. One very emotional story told by one was not remembered by 10 who would have been there. You can have adults from the same family who all went through abuse and have some remember minute details, some who deny what happened and some who have no memories prior to puberty at all.

We do know the sanctions should have been worse regardless of the movie. Things aren't necessarily fictionalized. It's just the human element.
 
uihawk82 said:
And this was a docudrama so how much of it was fictionalized dialogue? Even some of the best movies have some info in them that seem to be true but then later are found to be fictionalized. I am not saying that Joe Pa or many of those people didnt know and abet the situation, they most assuredly did as some were convicted of crimes and fired.

I do not get HBO so what was some of the new info you were given in this movie?
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Yes, you absolutely cannot believe everything you see on screen with movies that claim to be "true stories". A lot of people do, though. For that matter, some people believe in fictional movies too, or at least see them as relevant, somehow. The power of the media to influence opinion and thought is obviously massive.
 
MoseSchrute said:
Yes, you absolutely cannot believe everything you see on screen with movies that claim to be "true stories". A lot of people do, though. For that matter, some people believe in fictional movies too, or at least see them as relevant, somehow. The power of the media to influence opinion and thought is obviously massive.
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Very well said and I would add the more educated the population the less gullible and likely they are to be taken in by stories that just "dont add up" to logical scrutiny. Unfortunately good education takes a back seat to many things not just in the US but around the world. In the end I was somewhat surprised there were some jail sentences handed down to people involved with the Sandusky scandal as usually the perpetrator gets their come-uppence but enablers or surrounding people get a slap on the wrist if that.
 
I don’t have HBO but saw the trailer. Looks good.

I’ll probably see if I can find a way to watch.
 
uihawk82 said:
Very well said and I would add the more educated the population the less gullible and likely they are to be taken in by stories that just "dont add up" to logical scrutiny. Unfortunately good education takes a back seat to many things not just in the US but around the world. In the end I was somewhat surprised there were some jail sentences handed down to people involved with the Sandusky scandal as usually the perpetrator gets their come-uppence but enablers or surrounding people get a slap on the wrist if that.
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Agree about "good education"; but unfortunately we no longer have that, and much of our current educational system doesn't necessarily lead to knowledge or logical thinking.

https://www.livescience.com/62220-millennials-flat-earth-belief.html
 
uihawk82 said:
And this was a docudrama so how much of it was fictionalized dialogue? Even some of the best movies have some info in them that seem to be true but then later are found to be fictionalized. I am not saying that Joe Pa or many of those people didnt know and abet the situation, they most assuredly did as some were convicted of crimes and fired.

I do not get HBO so what was some of the new info you were given in this movie?
Click to expand...


"Inspired by actual events" and "Based on actual events"...... Switching out the words "based" and "inspired" allows Hollywood to have wiggle room. Even if they choose the "based on actual events" route there are still certain liberties filmmakers take.
 
DeereHawk75 said:
Watched this last night on HBO. Al Pacino did a good job of portraying him. Can't believe Penn St. did not get much heavier sanctions. There was way more to it than I realized.
Click to expand...

Glad to see Pacino actually acting again. For a long while there all he did was yell. Between him and Sam Jackson all it seemed like they did was yell their dialogue.
 
uihawk82 said:
And this was a docudrama so how much of it was fictionalized dialogue? Even some of the best movies have some info in them that seem to be true but then later are found to be fictionalized. I am not saying that Joe Pa or many of those people didnt know and abet the situation, they most assuredly did as some were convicted of crimes and fired.

I do not get HBO so what was some of the new info you were given in this movie?
Click to expand...
I did not realize there were so many victims. I thought this was much more isolated. Not sure if I believe all in the the movie, but it ended with a phone call from a victim that said he had been assaulted in the mid-seventies and had told Paterno about it. That part may be "Hollywood".
 
Sometimes movie makers will find sneaky ways to admit to an audience that a movie about a true life person was largely embelished.

Braveheart, for example, started out with this dialogue.

Robert the Bruce (narrator): I shall tell you of William Wallace.
Historians from England will say I am a liar, but history is written by
those who have hanged heroes.

I guess that gave them an excuse to get much of the history wrong in the movie.
 
DeereHawk75 said:
I did not realize there were so many victims. I thought this was much more isolated. Not sure if I believe all in the the movie, but it ended with a phone call from a victim that said he had been assaulted in the mid-seventies and had told Paterno about it. That part may be "Hollywood".
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I found that last part interesting as well. Total "Hollywood" way to end a movie.

The biggest part of the movie I found believable was the portrayal of Paterno and the PSU leadership.

Basically Paterno being completely oblivious to the situation at hand and how to properly handle it. Pacino played it the way I think it really was. An old man, consumed with football and PSU, who didn't pay attention to and/or chose to not pay attention to what was going on around him. Ignored rumors and reported when and what he had to. When it blew up, he was completely unprepared in any way to deal with it. Had he been allowed to speak publicly by his family and inner-circle he probably would have buried himself.

And the PSU leadership being completely disgusted by what Sandusky did but also doing whatever they could to keep the apple cart from being flipped over.
 
trj said:
"Inspired by actual events" and "Based on actual events"...... Switching out the words "based" and "inspired" allows Hollywood to have wiggle room. Even if they choose the "based on actual events" route there are still certain liberties filmmakers take.
Click to expand...

On the various incarnations of "Law & Order" they call it, "ripped from the headlines". 'Nuff said.
 
SmokeTownHawk said:
After all is said and done I'm wondering if several years from now we'll be seeing a similar movie about MSU?
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I think you can take the over on that one.

Sure their was some drama added to spice it up a little, but I think the basic points of what really happened came through pretty clear.
 
guffus said:
Sometimes movie makers will find sneaky ways to admit to an audience that a movie about a true life person was largely embelished.

Braveheart, for example, started out with this dialogue.

Robert the Bruce (narrator): I shall tell you of William Wallace.
Historians from England will say I am a liar, but history is written by
those who have hanged heroes.

I guess that gave them an excuse to get much of the history wrong in the movie.
Click to expand...
The movie "Bat 21" with Gene Hackman & Danny Glover was based on something that happened in Vietnam, the rescue of a downed aircrew member named Lt. Col Iceal Hambilton. I met the former Forward Air Control pilot, Darrell Whitcomb, the wrote the book titled "The Rescue of Bat 21." The movie could not use the actual events because they were still classified at the time. It is too bad because the actual events leading up to his rescue would have made a much better movie.
 
DeereHawk75 said:
I did not realize there were so many victims. I thought this was much more isolated. Not sure if I believe all in the the movie, but it ended with a phone call from a victim that said he had been assaulted in the mid-seventies and had told Paterno about it. That part may be "Hollywood".
Click to expand...
There was a guy that came forward and made that claim. That wasn't fictionalized by the movie. Not sure the guy was 100% credible that made that claim but he did make it. I lean more towards believing JP knew about it or heard complaints early on. I don't think there's any doubt he knew about by the time Sandusky "retired".
 
Finally watched this movie. Clearly paterno didnt know what was happening with the public perception until it was way too late. He was used to being revered and couldnt handle being reviled.

Other than the obvious...the thing that still angers me the most is the penn state students. Kids got raped at their school and they rioted on the streets because their football coach got fired? Just completely out of touch with reality in a sickening way.

One of my best friends is dating a former Penn state cheerleader and she drinks the penn state koolaid as well. They pretend its water under the bridge since "all the bad people are gone" and still never learned that their football obsessed culture allowed it all to happen. It's pretty sickening. They just cant seem to connect the obvious dots
 
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