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MESSAGE IN THE MOVIES

Steubenville, Ohio is a football town and Steubenville High School’s Big Red football team is a force to be reckoned with. Their stadium is first-class and includes a scoreboard with a horse that snorts out fire every time the home team scores a touchdown. Reno Saccoccia is a legendary coach who has been with the team for 37 years and the school turns out players who are recruited by the top colleges.

In 2012, however, the school drew international attention after two members of the football team were identified in a shared video of them raping a 16-year-old girl.

The girl (who was named “Jane Doe” during the investigation and trial) was served alcohol at a party and eventually became unconscious during the assault. She reported the incident to the police but could not recall specific details about the evening in question. There was no effort by the school administration to charge or suspend anyone on the team. Fellow students were quick to blame her for risky behavior and to defend their football heroes.

Amateur crime blogger Alexandria Goddard became interested in the case and spent weeks combing social media, eventually able to corroborate details that could pinpoint the approximate time and place of the assault. Investigative reporters from Cleveland media also became involved, followed by journalists from the New York Times.  Steubenville High School became national news.

Things have changed since 2012 (with a growing awareness of acquaintance rape and date rape drugs), but still have a long way to go. Roll Red Roll is a balanced report, including not only the growing level of support for the victim, but also the pushback from residents who chose to blame and shame Jane Doe, including audio from local radio call-in shows. Coach Reno is shown on a video trying to get his players to share honestly about what happened on the night in question, but he is inclined to want to keep his players from added scrutiny. The boys are presented fairly but disturbingly, with the immaturity of their youth capable of doing great harm to people.

There is no happy ending to this tale but, as hard as this film is to watch at times, Roll Red Roll reminds us that exploitation of women runs rampant whenever a patriarchal culture (including the objectification of women) prevails. The #MeToo movement has had a big part in changing the script. We, too, can be part of that change, as we commit ourselves to a world in which no one is devalued or marginalized.

Halo and Pitchfork Rating:

Three halos: A sobering reflection on how a community can be torn apart when rumors, blame and shame replace a serious examination of facts and personal testimony.
Three pitchforks: Spoken descriptions of rape, alcohol abuse, and moral complicity; crude language.

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