The Incident at Oglala is a documentary that tries to review the brutal killings of some two FBI agents at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the year 1975. The two FBI agents, in unmarked vehicles, were driving close behind a pickup truck. This resulted into sheer panic in fear on the families after which shots were heard, and a shoot-out started leading to more than one hundred agents, goons and other armed officers to surround the site. According to several trusted sources, more than forty Americans were killed during this incidence while most of the agents were seriously injured in the process. According to FBI records, only three AIM members, Bob Robideau, Darrell Butler, and Leonard Peltier were brought to trial. The movie mainly focuses on the claim that only one convicted suspect, Leonard Peltier was innocent and that he did not take part in the alleged crime. However, in an effort to achieve this aim, it neglects proven truths about the matter that would otherwise be used to support a logical conclusion.
Robert Redford, who aims at ensuring that the audience gets to understand that the suspect is innocent, is the narrator of the Incident at Oglala.. However, in the proceedings of the movie, the writer fails to show exactly how the suspects, who the FBI personnel were chasing for armed robbery, managed to stop their vehicle in a bare field. According to reliable sources, Leonard Peltier was arrested on February 1976. After his arrest, the Government presented documents containing official declarations by Myrtle Poor Bear who claimed to be Mr. Peltier’s girlfriend and alleged to have seen him shoot the agents. However, in reality, Ms. Poor Bear did not witness the shootings since she was not present during these happenings. Soon after this, Ms Poor withdrew and denied the allegations she had made before saying that the FBI had threatened her and forced to sign the sworn statement with its affirmations. Mr. Peltier was thereafter taken to the United States for further trials. After being held in North Dakota for two years, another witness alleged to be an FBI agent changed his account of testimony contrary to previous claims that the FBI agents followed a pickup truck onto the scene. The new account sated that the FBI agents had followed a red and white van to the place of shootings, a vehicle that Mr. Peltier mostly used. In the entire process of trial, a number of witnesses gave their testimonies but after it all ended up admitting that, the FBI coerced them to give wrong information about the case and furthermore not even a single witness identified Mr. Peltier as the shooter.
Immoral Behavior and Its Influence to People
Overall, the Incident at Oglala is an entertaining movie which if watched by an individual with an open mind will definitely affect the viewers morals, both positively and negatively. This is because there are a number of outstanding things that one can learn from the movie. In addition, there are also other evil things that evil and criminal in society, which are implicit in the documentary. This is because such immoral behavior can lead to moral rot, if exposed to people. Therefore, it will be extremely important that careful scrutiny be done in the proceedings of the events in the movie.
Some of good things that the viewer can learn after watching this movie include virtues such as honesty. In the movie, we see witnesses who are coerced by the FBI to give false testimonies. However, in the process of the trials they were able to stand their ground and give the whole truth of the matter contrary to the conflicting testimony they had given out before. Therefore, the viewers learn that honesty should be upheld irrespective of the external forces that trigger us to give false testimonies against others in the community.
On the other hand, several disgusting things are evident in the movie. These are things like disrespect for human life and murder, which is highly visible in the incident where the shootings take place. In the process, more than forty innocent Native Americans are reported to have been killed within a twinkle of an eye and other agents incur extremely serious injuries. Such practices in any society ought to be condemned with all seriousness. This will help avoid incidences where innocent blood is shed anyhow and people are left with injuries that leave them helpless for the rest of their lives. This violence is disastrous as it inflicts great torture, panic, and fear as seen in the movie when the two unmarked cars follow the truck resulting into mental torture.
Social Injustice and Corruption in Film
Corruption is another feature that is clear from the Incident at Oglala. This is highly practiced especially by the FBI personnel, who entice the witnesses to give false information against Mr. Leonard Peltier. It also manifests social injustice because the witnesses are not allowed to give their testimonies freely. Instead, they receive serious threats to force them give allegations to suit the will of the FBI. Another area whereby corruption is seen in the movie is in the Judicial Systems, which receive unverified claims and choose to execute them and Mr. Leonard is imprisoned and remains in jail for seventeen years. During this time, he makes numerous appeals, which are ignored. Indeed, the courts are reluctant to take any actions. In addition, the act of compromise is also evident when we see the witnesses complying with the demands of the FBI. Although security agents are pressured to unearth crimes that take place in societies, people should be willing to die for the truth. However, it does not require a genius to know that the incidences revealed in this movie reveal the moral rot that people carry in their lives even today.
The producer of the movie uses a lot of fiction especially in the incidence of the Guardians of The Oglala Nation activities (GOON) in their effort to counteract the activities of the American Movement Indian Movement. This scene turns out to be particularly dramatic with a lot of violence that is likely to impact the young generation negatively by making them violent.
In addition, the producer helps the viewer to understand a feeling of superiority complex that the whites in the movie have against the Indian conditions. According to sources of information, Indians living in Pine Ridge were being looked down upon even by the government, which had ignored issues of development in their areas. For instance, very poor healthcare was provided, poverty levels were unusually high due to unemployment, which rose up to 70%. All this resulted because the government had failed to give priority to the Indian Reservation something that should not be witnessed in this century.
In conclusion, the Incident at Oglala is an inspirational movie that everybody can enjoy watching and benefit from its content. It is recommended and suitable for a wide range of the audience not only a cross-section of the society since it makes sense to both the young people and adults. Therefore, this movie qualifies to be called a Universal Documentary.