GLOBE & MAIL (Toronto) -April 7, 2000

FILM REVIEW

Documentary underlines horror of homophobia

LIAM LACEY - Film Critic

Back in 1989 in the small town of Monroe, Michigan, a gay man named Stephen Matthews and his father, Melvin, who ran a bait shop. were both charged with sexually abusing Stephen's five-year-old son. They were sentenced to 35 years of jail, based on boy's testimony and that of his mother and her new common-law husband.

Nonny de la Peña's documentary about the charges against the two men, their time in prison and subsequent exoneration, isn't revelatory, but it's a useful piece of film journalism that underscores the virulence of anti-gay bias.

Unfortunately for "The Jaundiced Eyed", expectations for investigative documentaries are high, with television magazine shows airing new exposes almost every week. Errol Morris's brilliant "The Thin Blue Line", which freed a man by getting a confession from the real culprit, ruined the field for lesser lights. TV investigations of the false child-abuse charges at the McMartin preschool in California and the Little Rascals daycare in North Carolina were also groundbreaking, airing at a time when some psychologists were still insisting that a child couldn't possibly lie about sex.

What's new about "The Jaundiced Eye" is that it's specifically about homophobia and the justice system. Confronted with an openly gay man and bizarre charges of child abuse, the community lost its sense of rational perspective. (The title is derived from Alexander Pope who said: "All is yellow to the jaundiced eye.")

The story follows a now-familiar pattern: The boy's mother felt the child was acting strangely and decided to take him to a therapist. The therapist, more eager than responsible, managed to extract some amazing stories from the child: The adult son and grandfather had sex together; the boy had been anally penetrated with a machete.

Prejudicial police questioning, an incompetent defence and a homophobic jury all contributed to the eventual miscarriage of justice. The fact that no physical evidence could be found didn't stop the legal steamroller from pushing ahead. The clincher for the prosecution was that the child tested positive for the sexually-transmitted disease, chlamydia, a medical conclusion the defence team failed to contest. It took four years behind bars before Stephen Matthews, reviewing evidence, discovered that the test was invalid.

Stephen, who was raped in jail, and his father, who turned to the Bible to keep his sanity, suffered blamed each other and eventually pulled through. Shortly after they were released the two men found themselves awaiting a second trial, which, after a long delay, was not prosecuted for lack of evidence.

The movie ends with the tape-recorded voice of Stephen's now teenaged son, parroting the homophobic anger of his stepfather

. Fortunately, it's not the end of the story. Since The Jaundiced Eye was made, the son, now 16, has signed an affidavit denying he was ever sexually assaulted and has reconciled with his father.