I just finished watching this film for the first time. I was angered through out this film. I could not believe that so called grandmother and mother had those childern for so long. I'm sure she started being crazy with her own children first.
I know that her daughter was mean to Robert after he was born. It makes me wonder how much of the abuse Robert received from his mother was actually instigated by his grandmother. Then again her accounts of things seemed to be fully exaggerated or out right lies.
It angered me to watch her force pills down his throat. However I think I was most angered to see her tell him he lost the race(when he actually won), tell him that he couldn't run anyway, then to watch that little boy go off to be alone, only to have that devil woman follow him drag him out and hold him down and talk about how bad the child acts and why she has to do that to him. If only I could have reached through my television and throttled her.
Of corse what could possibly take the cake but to have that sick woman beat herself up and then try to blame Robert. Though, I thought it was funny that she ended up in the hospital because she went overboard on the beating. I have to admit that I was hoping that her own Karma would get her in the end and that she would die from the injuries she gave to herself.
It was nice to see that Robert was completely off the meds getting straight A's(he was getting A's before) and being involved in Cub Scouts and sports. Being with their mother is much better for them. Also it was obvious that after living with their mother, Robert didn't seem like he wanted to be around his grandmother at all. I can't say that I blame him.
The system took it's sweet ass time on this case. I understand that the system says that cases like these are hard to prove. Oh well, that's just my opinion but one thing for sure, no child ever deserves to go through that hell.
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goddess6
17 years ago
^^^
i agree w/ you 100%, i am sad to say my mother was & still is like "mamaw", tho a wrking functioning "mamaw" to me & my brother when we were young, sometimes i can't believe we made it out alive, intact & sane~ watching this docu
disturbed me too that no one seemed to want to step in, to save these poor boys~ it's just not fair to leave kids in these circumstances~ emma/mamaw didn't look to be that old either, she just looked rode hard & put away wet because of her backwoods lifestyle, not to mention her obvious mental state~ i just hope for the boys sake, that they NEVER have to live w/ or be raised by her again~
"I see my self remaining when all of you are gone...~"
Stevie Nicks
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Sashmanash
16 years ago
I'm really impressed with the people who persisted on this case and wouldn't give up until Robert was safe. We hear all the time about kids falling through the cracks of "the system" however here we have a case where good people just refused to give up on Robert.
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megmarch2003
16 years ago
I completely agree with everything people say and feel about Anna, the grandmother, but there is one point that I think people, including Ms. Kennedy, misinterpreted.
Anna telling Benji that HE won the race-- I truly believe that in her heart she meant that he was a winner in life whether he won that footrace or not, but it just didn't come out the right way. She didn't know how to word it properly, and poor Robert had the experience ruined for him and his feelings hurt as a sad consequence.
"You can't tell me nothin' if you ain't had an 8-track." -Sinbad
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