The attitude of Michael’s mother, Joan, to the killers before the documentary is quite negative. She was affected so much by his death as he was her only son. When she was talking, she had tears coming out uncontrollably and we feel very affected by this. In order for her to get over her grief, she has a dog called Hamish. She is also very depressed and frustrated because every mother of the criminal in the court was able to talk about how their son meant to them but she was not able to. She is also shown to be quite aggressive as she says “I wish that we are able to go back to the time where they stoned the criminals to death.” We will never be able to understand the bond between a mother and her child unless we are one so we can’t really judge her. During the conference, tears swell up in her eyes and her voice is stammering hysterically as she talks about how her son meant to her. She describes him as a little boy (his little ears were filled with blood) and she says things that make us sympathize a lot with her. “I died that night with my son. All you had to do was to ask him to stand away. He did not even know people like you existed.” All these things let us see her as a loving mother, but after hearing what the victims have to say, and after she says “Christmas is coming up and I have a present for you.”, she takes out a bag of soil that represents Michael’s ashes. We as viewers are disgusted by the way she behaves because, firstly, she did not come with an open mind, secondly, she did not even try to forgive and rather carry this burden around her. After the conference, among all of the family and friends of Michael, she was the one with the least change. She still had the same behaviour and attitude towards the criminals. The way she handles grief is definitely different from the rest of them but she did not even try.
The producer has positioned us to view Joan as a loving mother but also as this aggressive, unforgiving person. When Joan is talking about her son before the conference, about how her life changed, the producer begins to zoom up on her face and she is she beginning to open herself up to us, we are bought even closer to her. Also when Joan is responding to the questions that the interviewer asks, we do not hear the interviewer’s voice. This makes all this seem very real to us. Another time is when Joan says she has brought a Christmas present because it was Christmas, the producer zooms up into her bag. All these different thoughts are being rushed through our mind as we wonder what she has brought and why did she bring it. We did not even expect it to be a bag of dirt which symbolizes Michael ashes. Especially after viewing Karl Kramer, we see her in a negative way, as this aggressive woman. The harsh words that come out from her mouth makes us dislike her but not hate her because, even though we are not mothers, we understand that this is a very painful experience for her. Especially since she only has one child, we feel sympathy for her but we do not totally expect her to forgive him. We just want her to open her heart and try to forgive the Kramer but instead, she comes all prepared with this negative thought that he killed her son and she can never forgive him.
My attitude to Karl Kramer is quite positive. Before even watching this documentary, I never expected to feel sorry for the criminals especially after they kill someone. During the conference, when the victim’s family and friends question him about why he did it and they push the blame to him, he does not argue and accepts all the blame. This is quite a tough thing to do especially when he was not the one who pulled the trigger. The way he responds to the questions that he is asked is all well-thought out as he is articulate of what he is saying. As Kramer is talking, he does not dare to face them but he looks down on the floor full of guilt. Some things he says really let us fell for him. “You have a higher moral code. Nothing that I can say or do will change things. The only way you’ll know if you were me. I can never understand the suffering because it hasn’t happened to me. You will never be able to understand the justifications the state of mind…because we all are different.” Also, he is shown to be a tough guy but he is later shown to be crying as his emotion is all coming out. After the conference, he picks up the bag that symbolizes Michael’s ashes that Joan threw. Kramer also joins the campaign that Ken has created ‘Enough is enough’, to let people know about his experience and to not let them fall in his shoes. When all things are happen, the producer is there with conventions to position us. When he wants us to understand and get closer with those who are talking, we are brought to a close up of their face and even zoomed in. An example is when Kramer is crying. We are also juxta-positioned as before we meet Kramer, a shot of a man walking upwards and downwards behind bars is shown. We are positioned to know that Kramer is very mature as he is thinking about everything he says. Lastly, when Kramer is talking, we are able to see the emotion change between the family and friends. Therefore, I think that the producer has definitely tried to position us to feel sympathy for Kramer.
