Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Friday 6 april 2018

"Paterno" movie a polarizing story with unanswered questions

By RALPH D. RUSSO ment, but is free on bail
AP College Football Writer while he appeals. At sen-
"Paterno" aims to tell the tencing, he said he regret-
polarizing story of a leg- ted that he "did not inter-
end's fall, when the most vene more forcefully."
essential question can nev- Paterno was never
er be answered. charged. In the movie, Pac-
The HBO movie directed by ino portrays the coach as
Barry Levinson debuts Sat- somewhat disinterested in
urday and stars Oscar win- initial reports of Sandusky's
ner Al Pacino as Joe Pater- arrest and the indictment
no, the Penn State coach against him, and then con-
whose career ended in fused as to why it would
scandal. involve him. As the story
The movie chronicles a erupts into national news
two-week stretch during and engulfs Penn State and
the fall of 2011, starting with Paterno over the course of
Penn State beating Illinois three days, Pacino portrays
for the record 409th victory the coach as being so fo-
of Paterno's career through cused on football that he
the arrest of former long- failed to take stronger ac-
time assistant coach Jerry tion when a young assistant
Sandusky to the first game coach complained to him
played by Penn State after about Sandusky's encoun-
Paterno was fired. ter with a boy in a team
The charges against San- shower years earlier.
dusky, who is serving a 30- In this Nov. 5, 2005, file photo, Penn State football coach Joe Paterno acknowledges the crowd When asked by a state
to 60-year prison sentence during warm-ups before an NCAA college football game against Wisconsin in State College, Pa. prosecutor during 2011
for sexual abuse of 10 boys, Associated Press grand jury testimony what
led to questions about the assistant, Mike Mc-
what Paterno knew about shortly after he was fired on built a virtually impeccable Posnanski was working on Queary, told him, Paterno
Sandusky. Nov. 9, 2011. He died Janu- reputation as not just a Hall a biography of Paterno, replied that he said San-
"You're dealing with certain ary 22, 2012, at age 85. of Fame coach but also as coincidentally, at the time dusky "was fondling, what-
issues that are never going Levinson said he was drawn an educator and humani- of the Sandusky scandal ever you might call it — I'm
to be totally explained," to the story because of its tarian, Levinson said."What and often had access to not sure what the term
Levinson told the AP re- Shakespearean qualities. is this man and what are private discussions of the would be — a young boy."
cently. Paterno was diag- Paterno coached Penn these contradictions?" Paterno family. Supporters of Paterno still
nosed with lung cancer State for 46 seasons and Levinson said. Two Penn State administra- feel as if his reputation was
Levinson said research for tors, Tim Curley and Gary unfairly tarnished by the
the film came from Joe Schultz — also portrayed in Sandusky scandal, while
Posnanski's book "Paterno," the film — pleaded guilty others are staunch in their
Paterno's son and former to misdemeanor child en- belief that Paterno shares
assistant coach Jay Pater- dangerment charges in blame.
no's book "Paterno Lega- 2017, leading prosecutors Levinson was not looking to
cy," plus news reports. Sara to drop three felony charg- change minds.
Ganim, the former reporter es of child endangerment "This is not a courtroom. You
for The Patriot-News in Har- and conspiracy. can embrace it. You can
risburg, Pennsylvania, who The school's former presi- watch and not necessar-
won a Pulitzer Prize for her dent, Graham Spanier, ily agree," he said. "I'm lay-
coverage of the Sandusky went to trial and was con- ing this out in this particular
scandal, was a consultant victed by a jury of misde- fashion without a particular
on the film. meanor child endanger- agenda to it."q

'Miracle Season' cast says it

highlights female empowerment

By NICOLE EVATT Found. addition to this film, kind of
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cast Erin Moriarty, one of the really emphasizes the con-
members of "The Miracle stars of the film, says the cept that if we're all in it to-
Season" say the film's fe- theme of women working gether, life is going to be so
male-empowerment mes- together to achieve a goal much easier," said Moriarty.
sage couldn't have come is particularly important in "And we've got to assume
at a better time. the era of #MeToo, with these roles of strength that
The movie follows the true women in Hollywood and are equal to men."
story of Iowa City's West elsewhere organizing to Danika Yarosh, who also
High volleyball team, which eradicate sexual miscon- stars in the movie, is op-
reached the state champi- duct. "I feel like the move- timistic about workplace
onships after the death of ment with what's going on parity in Hollywood and
teammate Caroline "Line" in Hollywood right now, in beyond.q