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Man in the Middle

In: Historical Events

Submitted By oumabaros
Words 572
Pages 3
Documentary films are nonfictional motion pictures created with the intention of documenting a record of an event that occurred. One such film in the documentary category is the “Man in the Middle”. It is an insightful, moving and historically important documentary that tells the story of Ruben Salazar, a journalist for the Los Angeles Times and Spanish language television station KMEX who was killed by a deputy sheriff’s tear gas on August 29, 1970. Produced by filmmaker Phillip Rodriguez, the documentary focuses on Salazar’s struggles against huge odds and at great personal cost to report the harm racism had done to this country.
Through a collection of videos, photographs, journal entries and interviews, the documentary explores Salazar’s life with friends and colleagues. Sgt. Tom Wilson of the Los Angeles Sherriff’s Department, who was accused of killing Salazar, also features in the documentary. The film is efficient and enlightening. It is at times a frustrating, primer on Ruben Salazar. Photographs in the film are displayed without corroboration. One important fact a viewer will notice is that though the film is perfectly arranged, it fails to reveal the details that will enable one make judgment regarding the perpetrators of the murder. For instance, the witness who told the police that a man with a gun had gone into the Silver Dollar Café had nothing of substance to say. The film tends to put so much focus on the man whom the police case files indicated that he was clad in a red vest. Watching “Man in the middle” made me conclude that the documentary’s purpose was not to explore the life and death of Ruben Salazar. It was an attack on the legacy and ideology of the civil rights movement. This is made clear in the last half of the documentary when Julie Ruhlin of the L.A. County Attorney’s Office of Independent Review is allowed to redbait the movement and re-narrate an “official” version of Salazar’s death without being contested. She goes further to describe the role of the Sheriff’s on August 29, 1970 without being countered by anyone. It is surprising that Ruhlin, who was most likely not alive or too young to remember the events of that day is given so much authority by the filmmaker. Even more surprising a certain corporate blog, which reviewed the pre-release version of the film and even interviewed Philip Rodriguez, did not even bother to ask any questions. It is my opinion that Tom Wilson, who shot the tear-gas projectile that killed Salazar, intentionally killed him. Just like the coroner’s inquest was a cover-up for the assassination of Salazar, “Man in the Middle” works towards extending this theme. I believe that the purpose of this documentary was to depoliticize the events leading to the killing of Ruben Salazar. The message conveyed is that assimilation is good while the identity of minority groups and their quest for justice is bad. “Man in the Middle” clearly whitewashed the death of Salazar while completely exonerating the Sherriff’s Department from all blame especially that of failing to take full responsibility for the events of that day. The purpose was simply not to file any criminal charges against the trigger-happy sheriff officer. The documentary wants us to believe that Salazar’s death is a forgotten story and that we should just move on. It is a lesson on how unfair justice is in the society.

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