Abducted In Plain Sight (Netflix)

[Shit Good Nose]

Just watched it with Mrs Nose.

DukeDeMondo - chuff knows how you came to think any of that was designed to provoke giggling or be played for laughs.  The two specific scenes you mention particularly - Mrs Nose actually cried when Jan Broberg described that first rape in the motor home, and when her dad talked about the wanking I saw an utterly broken man retelling something that he was so ashamed of doing.  I also don't understand what you mean about the soundtrack "choices" - all I heard all the way through was just the same low-key background "muzak" you get in all of these types of docs.  The way you were talking about it led me to expect Spanish Flea to pop up immediately followed by that classic old ladies clapping clip from Python.

The only thing I thought was a bit dodge - as in totally unnecessary - was the re-enactment sequences, but that's because I don't go a great deal on docudrama (would rather just have talking heads and actual footage from the time if its available - just stick with talking heads if it's not) and, besides, none of that was exactly light hearted.

To quote Mrs Nose (verbatim) - "that was a bleaker watch than Ted Bundy".

[McFlymo]

The only thing I thought was a bit dodge - as in totally unnecessary - was the re-enactment sequences,

Agreed. Some of the hammy acting was distracting, would've been happy with photos, old film clips and more of the real people involved.

[thugler]

Did anyone else find themselves doubting the tale told by the parents? The young girl i believed, but the lack of concern, initially and then after the first kidnap were beyond belief. Plus the phonecall recordings between the mother and b when her daughter was missing were bizarrely friendly. How did it take them so long to find her when she was sent to the school? Surely they just had to follow B around for a bit. The sleeping in their daughters bed for 6 months thing is ludicrous.

[Shit Good Nose]

Did anyone else find themselves doubting the tale told by the parents?

Church-going folk in a small rural town in 70s mid-West America.  I believed every word.

[Fambo Number Mive]

The documentary showed how dangerous sociopaths are. The alien contact thing was particularly weird.

[biggytitbo]

Some of the naivety seems incomprehensible even for the time, perhaps the parents themselves have slightly exaggerated it as a way of excusing themselves?

[Shit Good Nose]

Some of the naivety seems incomprehensible even for the time

There are loads of small rural towns, particularly in the bible belt, which are still like it today.

You have to remember typical middle America is about 30 years behind the times.  Stick a loyal church-going community in there and you can increase that to 50 years.  All that in a small rural town you can up it to 70 years.

Even the local FBI didn't know what a nonce was, which should tell you all you need to know.

[BlodwynPig]

The documentary showed how dangerous sociopaths are. The alien contact thing was particularly weird.

Nothing Beadle didnt do

[lankyguy95]

This was batshit.

[Cuellar]

I agree. Madness.

[poodlefaker]

The first time she goes missing they leave it for a few (5?) days before calling the police because they think she'll be OK (even though she should have only been out for a couple of hours); the second time they leave it for a few WEEKS, because they're so embarassed it's happened again? Jesus.  Then it takes the police THREE MONTHS to find her, even though they're watching him and he's in contact with her. And he's put her in a boarding  school.

[Cuellar]

And they were basically both banging the guy, so boy, would their faces be red!

[DukeDeMondo]

Alright, I'm clearly going to have to watch this another time, there are enough good, right-headed people on here saying "you're talking a load of old fucking mop" to make me think that maybe I am. It could be true also that my experience of the thing was coloured by the fact that it had become the internet's LOL WTF?? of the week by that point. I found some of the talk in that key a bit distasteful, given what the documentary's actually about. So that might have influenced me some.

[bgmnts]

Some of the naivety seems incomprehensible even for the time, perhaps the parents themselves have slightly exaggerated it as a way of excusing themselves?

They believe in Mormonism, all bets are off.

[Noodle Lizard]

I don't think you're talking mop, Duke DeMondo.  I didn't think it was especially egregious in its presentation compared to countless similar things, but it certainly felt as if it were made by someone whose primary intention was "people will think this is fucking mental, this'll get lots of attention!"  It definitely wasn't the most tasteful documentary, especially when compared with something like Dear Zachary or even Just, Melvin: Just Evil.  The reconstructions were embarrassing shite and it was poorly-structured, as well.

[McFlymo]

I thought Dear Zachary over egged it in places. At one point, I seem to remember a plot twist being revealed, followed by a frantic montage and then a man screaming over the images... Seemed a bit much, like. It was good though and didn't have the hammy re-enactment stuff.

[BlodwynPig]

Q: How do you like you true crime sicko docs?

A: Over Easy.

[McFlymo]

Q: How do you like you true crime sicko docs?

A: Over Easy.

Runny ... runny away from the trailer before he catches you againy...

(I'm so sorry)

[BlodwynPig]

Q: how do you like your big game hunting docs?

A: Poached

Q: and your lunatic asylum psycho docs?

A: Scrambled

Ad inifintum

[studpuppet]

They believe in Mormonism, all bets are off.

Yeah - for me that was the main reason that explains the attitudes and actions of everyone in this story, including it providing the perfect environment for someone like Berchthold to operate in and it seems to be mentioned only in passing at the very beginning. It especially explains the willingness of the parents to let him have contact with their daughter (many Mormons marry very young and 'B' being married was obviously not an obstacle to taking other wife), and it even explains the masturbation episode as I'm sure Bob thought he was helping his brother back onto the path to righteousness.
It's almost as thought the family offered full participation in return for not sullying the name of their church. This is an interesting piece:

http://www.pajiba.com/film_reviews/abducted-in-plain-sight-is-a-story-of-abuse-in-the-mormon-church.php

[imitationleather]

I'm not sure what to make of this. Initially I thought I was in for something in the line of Dear Zachary, maybe, and I steeled myself accordingly, but then that wasn't what it ended up being at all.

What it was, was something that made me feel very uncomfortable. It may be that I'm misreading it, I'd have to see it again to be sure, but I definitely felt like certain scenes were being played for sly laughs, and I didn't think there was a whole lot to laugh about, really. Certain soundtrack choices, certain editing decisions. The handjob's already been mentioned. That was one scene I had trouble with. I felt like that shot of the father was held as long as it was purely to allow us to guffaw and What The Fuck? to ourselves for a minute before it moved on to the next revelation. Which felt a wee bit fucking icky to me. And the scene where the victim talks about the first rape in the motor home. I felt like that was absolutely designed to provoke bemused giggling above anything else. In that case it was largely because of what was going on on the soundtrack.

So I dunno. I dunno that it was very much more than a bunch of "get a load of these fucking headbins!" Which I don't think is all that appropriate an approach to a story like this.

But, again, I may be wrong. That's what it felt like to me, anyway, on first viewing.

To be honest, these were my feelings too. Until it got to the end and the guy was still pursuing them all those decades later my missus (who I watched it with) was convinced it must have all been bullshit, so frivolous was the presentation but also completely utterly crazy the story.

I felt it was a 2.5/5. All about the arbitrary scores.

[Moribunderast]

Just got around to this. Would have missed it completely had this thread not existed (so much goes up on Netflix with no fanfare or advertisement these days) but am, well, not "glad" I watched it but it was certainly something. It's really hard to put myself in the mindset of that time, in a rural town, with a sociopath pulling your strings because so many decisions just seemed utterly bizarre and dumb. Like, I know being "gay" in a small town in America would be awful but weighing that up against your daughter's abductor being imprisoned? I dunno, I agree with the daughter who said the parents really don't want to think about the details of what actually happened. It's unspeakably grim and disgusting.

The phone calls between 'B' and the mother were horrifying (for B's manipulations) but the mother's reserved reactions made me think of that Jam sketch - you know the one. When he tells her that Jan has been prostituting and she responds rather calmly, "Oh dear," I immediately thought of "You can tell him I'm pretty pissed off, too." Not that I'm blaming the mother or accusing her of being uncaring based on that - so many victims of crime are disbelieved because they don't react in the "appropriate" way.

The other thing that kept jumping at me watching this was: that paedophile is the spitting image of James Purefoy! To the extent that I feel bad for Purefoy because I'm sure he's received a bunch of jokes about it online or from arsehole friends. I know I would be that arsehole friend if I knew him. Seriously: