We’ve all heard the story. In 1964, thirty-eight New Yorkers heard Kitty Genovese screaming as she was being stabbed in the street, but none of them called the police or came outside to help.
The incident was used as an example of how heartless New Yorkers had become and helped popularize the idea that, if more people are around to see a crime, fewer of them are likely to help.
The New York Times started the story, but it wasn’t true because the New York Times got it wrong.
The documentary The Witness gets it right. Produced and narrated by Kitty Genovese’s younger brother Bill, The Witness debunks the story you know and tells as much of the truth as possible because stories that rely on witnesses are always, at least, a little unreliable.
It's a remarkable documentary that makes Kitty Genovese a real person and will change how you understand people and the world.
Watch it on Kanopy.