The Truth vs. Alex Jones

The-Truth-vs-Alex-Jones
The Truth vs. Alex Jones

An episode of a documentary series that many would find quite disturbing is when information is revealed, and at the time these events were taking place and with a legal suit being led against Alex Jones there were polls which showed about one in five people believed that there was a massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. One might be tempted to think of Jones as a loud and foolish man trying to milk his audience’s stupidity, but then that number shows the extent of his distasteful influence. It’s not that hard to connect that kind of inhumane ideology with other brutal conspiracy theories that became sensationalized in the last decade and devastated sane dialogue in this country. Even if one doesn’t wish to investigate the dispersal of ideas and even pseudo ideas which could be in part credited to Jones, the details of this particular case are quite disturbing and infuriating. Most importantly, they are depicted in Dan Reed’s “The Truth vs. Alex Jones” in a way that is well edited, organized and highly designed and illustrated. This is one of the better documentaries of this kind in a long while which premieres on HBO and Max tomorrow, Tuesday, March 26th.

This is partly the case because of the extraordinary material that Reed (“Leaving Neverland”) and his team had access to, who complete their film with images of the two trials against Alex Jones for the suffering caused to the survivors of the Sandy Hook family. Naturally, the chilling events of December 2012, when 20 children and six adults were massacred in Newtown, CT, are the starting point for anyone watching “The Truth vs. Alex Jones.” Reed and his team do not mention the name of the mongrel who caused devastation that day but let the families narrate the events instead. What began as a chap staged in the court building then came to conclude with what can only be called a jarring ordeal: each time the deceased was named, their name was carefully enunciated. Their names should be stated, and it is time they were heard. This is a clever tactic for the storytellers because they want public opinion to share the pain as opposed to the blame.

This was a cost that became even more excruciating for his family, especially in light of the fact that Mr. Jones, before the as-dead bodies had fully been counted, was putting forward the theory that Sandy Hook was a false flag operation employed to promote either side of the gun control legislation. Jones and his cohort of foul-mouthed fanatics embarked on a path that included constant threats and abuse, like when the father of one of the children at a funeral was shown being frightened at the very sight of a microphone, which the most disturbed members of this cult regarded as confirmation of his fake demeanor. It is disgraceful what people are prepared to say and do about the parents of the children of Sandy Hook, including the persons interviewed for the film, who continue asking for explanations of things that have already been explained and for proof, which I can only presume exists in their heads. That such imbecilic entitlement exists the kind that there’s no point exhuming the bodies because it was all staged instead, exemplifies the type of stupidity that propagates most of these conspiracy theories without ever contemplating why her question should have any consequence to those in the opposition. No, not every dumb, rude question needs to be answered.

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of Reed’s work is it features some of the people whom Jones has fanatically influenced, including those who still espouse that Sandy Hook never happened: for the record despite what was said on air Jones apparently confessed in 2022 that it did ‘100% happened’, so he’s basically a fraud – he’s a seller of things he doesn’t even trust. Placing the family members in the primary and subsequently the audience & InfoWars employees in the secondary position creates a base for understanding the trial videos which come in the last third of the movie because it explains so much. It is understood already whose anguish has been deepened and who has sat there adding salt to those tears so that the testimonies in the trial become all the more credible.

It is a well known fact how the trial progressed but it is still shocking to witness the testimony of Jones and his team alongside Jones’ parents. Such key events, such as the moment when Jones’ attorney Batt accidentally sent the prosecution all of Jones’ text messages, are included in the footage I personally had not seen, a vivid exchange with a judge who was annoyed enough with Jones’ nonsense to be called Judge maya Guerra Gamble, and visually jaw-dropping moments for Jones trying to wiggle out of the responsibility he had to parents off the witness stand. And it all comes together so well, there are too many moving parts to tell a very big story and the pacing is exactly right for a cable documentary. This is how a documentary film should be done. Such administrative storytelling. None of the stretched out docuseries syndrome that has become a common narrative in most drama documentaries.

Alex Jones was in this case penalized with a total of 1.5 billion in total across all trials. Considering the hate speech he has uttered and how people in this country should have basic empathy for one another, I anticipate viewers of this film will be left wondering whether: “The Truth vs. Alex Jones” What else can be done?

For more movies like The Truth vs. Alex Jones visit 123 movies

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top