Judgment Day: The Ellie Nesler Story (1999)

I caught this screening as a mid-day movie, mid-week (warning bells should have gone off already...). A difficult subject and a tabloid case were given a cliché-ridden treatment.

I was really amazed that the mother could actually suggest that sexual abuse could turn her son bisexual. This is as offensive as the abuse her son suffered. And the glossing-over of the real-life behavior of Ellie further compromised the story. (Google her and find out what kind of mother she really was before you rally to her defense.)

Vigilante-ism might make for dramatic conclusions, but it told half the story and gave no insight to the lives of those affected. If you want a look at the damage that kids can have from sexual abuse, and the ambivalence that they may feel for the abuser, get Gregg Araki's "Mysterious Skin". Curious how conservative groups in the US and Australia have tried to ban this film which does not glamorize or eroticses paedophilia, but rather shows the impacts it can have as the victims grow to realize what happened to them.