MovieChat Forums > Paradise Lost 2: Revelations (2001) Discussion > Does This Film Mock and Victimize The Me...

Does This Film Mock and Victimize The Mentally Handicapped?

posted 9 years ago by bootblack987
1 reply | jump to latest

I am wondering if Mark Byers might have been a fetal alcohol syndrome baby. Or if he might have sustained a head injury at some point in his life. And that this film mocks and victimizes someone who should be given help and support. He is clearly not of sound mind, even though you can see there is intelligence there at times.

Also, do you think that the filmmakers are villainizing Byers in a similar way to how the people of West Memphis villainized Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin?

[–] boywiththethorn 7 years ago

Yeah, I think there is an element of that. Mark Byers clearly has mental health problems. I recall one scene of this film shows a title card with his list of medications. The implication of including that information is clear - "this is an unstable person - of course he is guilty". Whether he enjoyed the attention of the filming, I feel that his treatment was exploitive on the end of the film makers.