S.F. DocFest —“The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia”; “Cropsey”
by Peter Wong, 2009-10-28
Is the White clan the public embarrassment of Boone County, West Virginia that its more upstanding citizens imply they are? Well, the subjects of Julien Nitzberg’s documentary “The Wild And Wonderful Whites Of West Virginia” do smoke crack, drink heavily, and even publicly expose a penis on camera … among other things. Yet, Nitzberg manages to reveal the admirable family strengths that bind the clan members together.
This Johnny Knoxville (“Jackass”) co-produced documentary follows the White clan over the course of a very eventful year. The viewer is treated to a birth, encounters with the criminal justice system, lots of raucous partying, and much more.
Some readers have probably heard of the Whites’ most famous member, Jesco White. That man’s incredible tap-dancing talent earned him PBS fame as the Dancing Outlaw. While Jesco White puts in several appearances, the other equally colorful White clan members receive some much deserved screen time. These members include Bertie Mae White, who raised 34 abandoned kids; Dorsey White, whose firearms demonstrating went unexpectedly fatal; and Sue Kirk White, witness and non-informant to a double murder.
The early parts of the film confirm the public impression of the Whites as an ongoing source of public shame. Their heavy drinking and admissions of drug dealing are presented as matter-of-fact realities. Yet the most outrageous moment must have been the on camera joint toking and coke snorting at the matriarch’s 85th birthday party.
Suspicions that Nitzberg intended to create a glorified human freak show soon get dispelled by several sequences in the film’s middle and later thirds. Jesco candidly admits that his popular image of being a freewheeling outlaw has tripped him as if he were in prison. Sue Kirk’s long efforts to regain access to her newborn child prove alternately expected and heart-wrenching.
Understanding how the Whites came to be means understanding the milieu of West Virginia. That Southern state resembles an African nation where the mineral resources (i.e. coal) are exploited by outside corporations and the people extracting the resources are left to starve or find their own way. Such outside exploitation breeds cynicism about a better future. The Whites’ antics spring from a realization that they have no real hope of changing reality, so they might as well party.
However, the Whites’ partying ways aren’t pursued at the cost of their very admirable family unity. Providing support for White family members who get in trouble is an unspoken rule. Yet one pauses when that support means cleaning up a crime scene and hiding crucial evidence.
By the end of this occasionally jaw-dropping film, Nitzberg manages to build audience admiration for the Whites and their excesses. Even when one White member gets an elaborate back tattoo depicting his twin gods Elvis Presley and Charles Manson, one can’t help admiring the White clan’s unabashed dignity ... as long as the Whites stay very far away.
Crime tales can provide interesting windows into the nature of human beings. Doc Fest’s disturbing Closing Night film, “Cropsey,” considers urban legends, the desire for closure, and the elusive nature of truth.
The title of Barbara Brancaccio and Joshua Zeman’s documentary is the generic name given to a child kidnapper/murderer who allegedly stalked Staten Island. Cropsey’s individual details may vary with the telling. But the purpose is the same: to scare kids away from playing in the forests and the ruins of Willowbrook State Hospital, a former insane asylum. When a Down syndrome child disappears, the legend begins seeming more than a frightening story.
Luc Sante, author of that secret history of New York, *Low Life*, would have recognized the early parts of “Cropsey.” In economical terms, the film establishes Staten Island as both a place where people lived and the historical taint that affected future uses of the place. What is that taint? Staten Island is the place where things were unofficially buried.
But in “Cropsey”’s case, were the bodies of kidnapped mentally ill children covertly buried in Staten Island soil? Donna Contugno believes so, as the body of missing Down syndrome child Jennifer Schweiger was found in this manner. Yet that belief may be tainted by Contugno’s own fears for the well-being of her own child.
That deadly mixture of fear and uncertainty fueled belief that a child killer freely roamed Staten Island’s forests. This selfsame psychological combination also seemed more determinative than empirical evidence of the guilt of Andre Rand, the man eventually charged with the crime. One of the key pieces of evidence was eyewitness reports which placed Rand in the vicinity of the place where Schweiger disappeared.
But if Rand is innocent, the film shows the case for that contention is far from certain. The accused man refuses to directly present his side to Brancaccio and Zeman. Is his refusal to be interviewed a sensible reaction given past demonization by the media and public hysteria? Or is the man actually playing a clever psychological game with some unknown goal?
To give the prosecutors their due, the only real witness to Schweiger’s death is the perpetrator, who may or may not be Rand. There are no pieces of suddenly discovered evidence which could answer all the mysteries surrounding the crime. Yet the prosecution is obligated to exert best efforts to obtain some reasonable closure to the case.
In that regard, “Cropsey” would be the anti-true crime film. It follows the course of Andre Rand’s legal struggles, yet its closure does not come from answering the mystery of Jennifer Schweiger’s death. Rather, the film’s resolution comes from confronting the intersections between urban legends and popular conceptions of guilt. Urban legends’ psychological truths come from embodying popular but unspoken prejudices. Had Rand neither lived solo in a makeshift shelter nor looked as if he were suffering from mental illness, would he have been instantly suspected in Jennifer’s demise?
(“Cropsey” screens October 29 at 9:15 PM at the Roxie Theatre, 3117-16th Street at Valencia. For advance tickets, go to www.sfindie.com)