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deliver us from evil

This is my review for "Deliver Us From Evil". I only really watched one section - it overlapped a shot of the Peedo smiling off-camera and licking his lips, a separately recorded voiceover of the peedo describing exactly what he did with little boys willies once he got his hands on one, and weedy wet flute music in the style of Ray McCooney. So I decided to judge the whole docko based on that, attempted to write a subtly pejorative review, and ended up writing a load of waffle. Don't read this - watch this clip from the Brass Eye paedophile special instead.

“Paedophilia” can describe behaviour at many levels, from the thought crime of submerging oneself in graphic descriptions of child abuse to performing the acts first-hand. Amy Berg uses the language and conceits of the horror film to successfully re-examine an ecclesiastical scandal through her documentary that follows the Brechtian concept, “Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it”.

The subject is paedophile priest Father Oliver O’Grady, who felt “ill equipped to handle” the responsibility laden upon him by his parishioners. Perhaps we normal members of society are ill-equipped to examine the human need for affection or validation hampered by Catholic doctrine and extreme sociopathy.

Examinations of paedophilia are often diverted by the difficult examination of the cause of this aberration, or attempts to elicit sympathy for the devil. Who would want to watch a version of JAWS which followed a member of the reclusive, non-threatening 99% of the Great White population, who wakes up in the morning, eats seals and then goes back to sleep? Berg’s bold “exception that proves the rule” approach is vital when tackling the subject of predators of any kind.

A dictionary definition of “Survivor” describes one who prospers and flourishes after trauma. Many have thrived on the proceeds of feigned or exaggerated childhood trauma – genuine victims who are reluctant to relive their pain presumably did not “survive”. Through her work, Amy Berg allows her interviewees, or “characters” as she calls them, to survive vicariously.