Happy Valley

First of all, this documentary really stated nothing new for me beyond the Matt Sandusky angle. In reality, why should you watch it to begin with if nothing new is brought to the table?

The real vision of the documentary is how cults can easily form and easily maintain a grip on a person. I've always learned it is never a good thing to deify someone, regardless of their truest intentions. While it might leave you empty of people to look up to, what do you think will happen when you find out this "hero" aided in something terrible? Clearly the people of State College have recoiled deeper into their cave, not willing to think for a second about their demigods. A normal person would state the obvious...Joe Paterno paid a heavy price for his actions. But to sit for 10 years and say nothing and then claim ignorance? A normal person would say would fully acknowledge maybe it wasn't good to put him on such a pedestal.

Fortunately for the people of State College the filmmaker decided to leave everything on the screen, making no grand proclamation even though we could clearly see it. The only scene you really need to see is the protester at Joe Paterno's statue. People just did not want to believe the truth that and they were almost ready to throw down, mouths foaming, minds completely clouded. No person or concept should ever have this hold on you.

And here is the scary thing the film eluded to....it will happen again in State College. And it will happen in other cities all over the world. If anything, what we can take out of this film is that if you are good at sports, people will forgive you or completely downplay your actions. And this mentality is dangerous.

he titular "Happy Valley" that director Amir Bar-Lev's fascinating documentary about the Penn State sexual abuse scandal focuses on sits right in my back yard. Growing up the son of a rabid college football fan (go Temple!), I spent dozens of freezing cold Saturday afternoons watching my father's pitiful Temple Owls get their asses handed to them. Several of those beatings came at the hands of Joe Paterno's Penn State Nittany Lions (that's pronounced "Nit-knee"). My father hated Joe Paterno. "He's an a**hole," he would tell my 10 year old self. My grandfather, a Temple alumni and highly regarded high school football coach, actually knew Joe Paterno personally. He was much more diplomatic. "He thinks he's God," is how he put it, if I recall correctly. And so, my opinions on Joe Paterno, Penn State and their fans have been likely influenced since the day I was born, making me an easy mark for Bar-Lev's slyly biased documentary.

For those unfamiliar with the horrific events that surround Happy Valley, it goes like this: in 2011, Penn State football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was accused and convicted of 45 counts of sexual abuse to minors that occurred between 1994-2009. Sandusky met his victims through a non-profit charity for wayward youths he funded called "The Second Mile," earning their trust through various predatory means (free games, meals, attention they weren't getting at home). As if that weren't horrible enough, it was eventually revealed that someone had caught Sandusky raping a boy in the showers, alerted head coach Joe Paterno who in turn alerted his superiors. And then nothing. No police. No disciplinary actions. No justice. And that's what Happy Valley takes aim at. We can all agree that Jerry Sandusky is a monster, but what of the revered man who played a part in just letting the monster roam free, enabling him to damage more lives than he already had? Shouldn't he have to answer for his part in all of this? The answer, if you're a Penn State football fan, is a resounding, "NO!"

Bar-Lev populates his documentary with folks who are varying degrees of pro-Paterno. From his own immediate family who will defend their father's legacy and character to their own graves right down to the flustered Penn State football fan sitting in front of his bedroom wall scrapbook of Penn State pendants, posters and plaques complaining about everyone getting bent out of shape about this whole thing and not focusing on what really matters: football. Rather than force a reaction from his subjects, a la Michael Moore, Bar-Lev takes a page right out of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart's book and simply lets them talk and talk and talk until they hang themselves with their own words, not even realizing it in most cases. It's a funny trick, for sure, but after the 5th time you see it unfold you kind of get the point. These people are blinded by their fandom, biased by their own admiration for Joe Paterno. From the fans who traveled to take a photo with the since removed bronze Joe Paterno statue to the fans who rallied and then rioted when Paterno was fired from his head coach position in the aftermath of the FBI report that detailed his involvement in Sandusky's web of nightmares, these people will not stray from St. Joe's side.

But who is Joe Paterno and why does he have this effect on people? Happy Valley does its due diligence to give a little bit of history on Paterno and his good deeds throughout the years. That juxtaposed with video of the frail, fragile coach during his last few months make a case that he was a good man, flawed, but rooted in good intentions. Of course, we all know the old adage about good intentions and where the road they're paved in lead to. I believe they lead to the Orange Bowl, according to this gentleman with the Penn State logo painted on his naked torso.

In the end, Happy Valley is a fascinating look at this culture of fandom that even my own football-obsessed father can't reconcile. To be so blinded by winning at all costs that you'd sacrifice the innocence of a child… it's tragic and infuriating. And that's the feeling you'll get while watching this film. I only wish that it wasn't as one-sided, albeit ever so subtly, so that the other side's case wasn't presented in the condescending tone it is. Of course, how are you supposed to defend someone embroiled in a conspiracy of this nature without looking like a complete asshole? These are the kinds of problems us Temple fans never have to worry about.

A well done documentary about how people react when the people and things they believe in turn out to be an illusion. Being from the 'liberal west coast', I've never understood how football could possibly reach the level of reverence it enjoys elsewhere. But here it is in all its glory... supported by hoards who seem more concerned with sportsball than anything else in their lives -- including justice for abused kids. Well okay, maybe they care for the kids as long as the football games don't stop and no one attacks their coach. For without football, we are nothing.

In all fairness, the documentary did include representatives from the non-reverent point of view. But it's witnessing the reactions of people who have so much invested in a sport that has achieved cult status, as well as the mechanics of group think, that make this an interesting doc. A good study in the sort of self-righteous mentality that starts wars. But who am I judge? I'm a west coast liberal. I'd rather do almost anything else than watch football.

Happy Valley (2014)

**** (out of 4)

This here is an excellent documentary that takes a look at the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky scandal and how Penn State drew criticism for how they handled it. Another focus is on head football coach and legend Joe Paterno and his reputation.

HAPPY VALLEY is a great documentary because it takes a look at the subject in an open and honest way. It doesn't have an agenda to prove one thing or another but instead it simply tells a story, shows both sides of the argument and it lets the viewer make up their own mind on it. As the documentary shows, many people believe that the media took the focus away from the villain Sandusky and put it on the school and Paterno. Others feel that the school and Paterno didn't do enough.

That's basically the dilemma to this story and the documentary covers both sides extremely well. We get interviews with the Paterno family including Joe's widow and his sons but don't think that the documentary takes an easy viewpoint on him. It discusses what he knew, what he did about it and whether or not he should have done more considering who he is. The documentary also interviews Sandusky's adopted son who came forward that he had been abused as well.

The documentary mainly focuses on the year after the news broke and this of course includes Paterno's death, the removal of his name and statue from the school as well as how Penn State tried to rebound. There's no question that the film does a very good job at covering all sides of the event including the reaction to the people of Happy Valley and their anger at the media.

HAPPY VALLEY is certainly an excellent documentary that covers all the bases and is certainly worth watching.

I liked this documentary very much. Watching people involved in the unchecked crimes of Jerry Sandusky give their side of the story was much more revealing than reading quotes. Matt Sandusky, Jerry's adopted son, impressed me as thoughtful and sincere. He did his best to be fair to Sandusky, saying that ninety percent of the time he spent with the man was everything a kid would want--association with fame, access to football games, etc.--but the other ten percent "would destroy you."

I was shocked when Matt, at the end of the film, said that not one single person from the Sandusky family contacted him after he went public about how Jerry molested him. What kind of people are Dottie and her relatives? If they didn't believe him, you would think someone might want to talk with him and ask him to take back his "lies." But no. That didn't happen.

The one thing missing from "Happy Valley" was any mention of the well-known fact that Paterno decided that some of his players who broke into a residence and beat people should not be put into the legal system. Paterno clearly believed that he and his players were above the law. He decided the law-breaking players would clean up the stadium after some games. It's also known that then-President Spanier and other higher-ups in the Athletics Dept. all agreed that Paterno was in charge of things like this. This piece of history is a big deal. It should have been in the documentary.

The behavior of some of the residents of Happy Valley was detestable. There's an extended scene in which these idiots don't hesitate to grab a sign from an older man making his negative view of Paterno known at the statue of the coach. A woman who wants a selfie with the statue pushes the man aside with her body. Others get in his face with red-neck-type logic. It's scary to see how conformist the community could be---all worshiping a football program.

This film had to be made, and it was made well.