‘When They See Us’ Transforms Its Victims Into Heroes

Instead, it took me two days to watch the first episode, and after each pause, I had to convince myself that I could sit through the next scene.

This is not because this show lacks beauty or depth. It is thoughtfully cast, well-paced and visually stunning, thanks to DuVernay’s longtime collaborator, the cinematographer Bradford Young. In fact, “When They See Us” is DuVernay’s strongest work to date. But what makes it so devastating is its relentless portrayal of a criminal justice system that locks up, scapegoats and brutalizes black and brown American children with ease and enthusiasm. Part dirge, part indictment, the series stands out because it insists that we see the boys as they once were and as they always saw themselves: innocent.

[Read an interview with the Central Park Five.]

“When They See Us” is not the first project to delve into this subject matter. In 2003, Meili published a memoir, “I Am the Central Park Jogger: A Story of Hope and Possibility,” in which she publicly revealed her identity for the first time, recounted her ordeal, and said that she has no memory of her attack and has been told by doctors she never will.

But, as a television mini-series, DuVernay’s project more directly benefits from the archival research found in the 2012 documentary “The Central Park Five,” directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon. Debuting at the dawn of President Obama’s second term, that film “positioned itself as something of a public pardon,” Manohla Dargis wrote in her New York Times review. “Equal measures criminal investigation, cultural exhumation and a consideration of race in a presumptively postracial America, it seeks to set the record straight.”

Seven years later, America looks very different. As a result, DuVernay’s story eschews the measured tone of the documentary for an outrage more akin to to Anthony Davis’s forthcoming opera, “The Central Park Five,” and Alexandra Bell’s new series of prints, “No Humans Involved — After Sylvia Wynter.” Appearing in this year’s Whitney Biennial, Bell’s photolithographs critique the media’s coverage of the Central Park jogger case — especially the New York Daily News and its racist headlines like “Park marauders call it ‘Wilding’” and “Wolf Pack’s Prey” — and the publishing of Donald Trump’s 1989 newspaper ad calling for the execution of these teenage boys.