The Twentieth Century saw three notorious rape cases in the United States that were tinged with racial controversy: the Massie Affair and the Scotsborough Boys - both from 1931; and the much later Tawana Brawley case. All three turned out to be grand hoaxes, and all caused enormous damage. Were we really expecting the Twenty-first Century to be any different?
The 2006 Duke Lacrosse case saw three supposedly privileged young white men accused of the rape of a black stripper, who most shamefully were tried and convicted in the media before any of them set foot inside a courtroom. Director Marina Zenovich has done an exemplary job with this exhaustive documentary which was released a decade and a week after the gang rape that never happened.
At the end of the day, the only person who ended up in gaol over this sordid affair was the District Attorney. We hear from him only in archive footage, ditto the accused, none of them wanting to take part, nor did any of the university faculty. The one curious desideratum is Kim Roberts, the other exotic dancer who was present when Crystal Mangum wasn't raped.
One thing that sticks out is the apologetics for this clearly toxic woman, even from at least one of her victims. It's all down to her poor mental health - boo hoo. Guess that must be yet another example of the misogynistic rape culture in which we live. Not.
Mangum wanted to appear in this documentary, but couldn't due to, uh hum, force majeure! In archive footage though she gives a lachrymosal performance: "The Duke Lacrosse case will never define who I am". Dead right - having stabbed her lover to death, for which she received a maximum eighteen year sentence, she is now forever defined as a convicted murderess.