Delayed Reaction: The Hunting Ground

The Pitch: A documentary about rape on college campuses.

It's tough to say that I didn't care for The Hunting Ground that much. The topic is a good one. It's important to bring to light the rape culture on college campuses and to show the victims' side of things. My issue with The Hunting Ground is that most of it was a "greatest hits" of the topic: athletes, frats, apathetic college administrators. If I've seen every section of the movie covered in a dozen episodes each of Law & Order, I'm not sure how much it's adding to the conversation. I've said before that I have less interest in documentaries that know the point they are trying to make going in, even if I agree with the point. This was nowhere near as bad in that regard as something like Blackfish, which I couldn't even finish. What kept me watching and ultimately saved the movie was Andrea Pino and Annie Clark: the assault survivors from UNC. Following their efforts  to increase awareness and fight back was engaging and informative. It's one thing to present a lot of scary statistics. It's another to show that people are doing something about it, that something can be done. The parts following them were the only times I didn't feel like I was being lectured at. I appreciate the topic being discussed. I just didn't feel like it was engaging me on a new level very often.

And Lady Gaga and Co. deserved that damn original song Oscar.

Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend