Mind Over Murder

A mark of intelligence is the willingness and ability to change one's perception as new information becomes available. It's rarely seen among group thinkers, be it a tight knit neighborhood or a virtual community with an opinion. The movie Mind over Murder is remarkable when we see people literally putting themselves in others' situations, changing their minds and imparting their collective gained wisdom on others.

As I suspected those slamming the series did not watch through to the end. At first I too was put off a bit by the pacing and the play aspect, but then I began to understand the reason for it. By the last episode I knew I was seeing something truly unique and a project that tangibly led to healing in this small town.

The true crime murder component of the movie is a vehicle for what I saw as something far more meaningful which is humans softening and beginning to understand one another in the face of heightened emotion and years of pain and solidifying opinions. It is something the residents of our world need so much. This docuseries was life changing for so many people who were in pain. I felt that while watching the last episode. Are there moments of cringe? Yes. But they serve a purpose. Give it a chance. We learn in the movie that some people simply don't want to hear the truth after investing so many years in a certain way of thought. I recommend softening, opening your mind and then diving in to this.

Can't stand how ignorant that Burdette guy is. He should spend as much time in jail as these people had to. This guys clearly has no empathy whatsoever. Just protecting his image and lying to himself and the people around him. Should be ashamed.

Other than that pretty interesting documentary. It took some time to really take me in. But after two episodes it started to get twisted. Before that I didn't really care a lot.

Sad that this was possible. To just put people in that position by pressure.

It's annoying that the review needs a certain amount of words. I don't know what to say more. I recommend it if you don't know what to watch else and you're into true crime.

There are a few things I don't like about it, but many that I do. It's artfully produced and certainly not a waste of time. At some point I think the town folk even mention that the series is bringing a lot of money to Beatrice, and are urged to cooperate as much as possible with the crew. In the end you get a story full of candor, contradiction and absurdity in equal parts.

Above all, it manages to humanize all the characters despite the extraordinary tale, which itself is quite a feat. Even when they disagree you find a way to relate to each of them. Seeing the same picture from different perspectives is important as you look to explore the key question posed throughout the series: What do you do when the truth you've believed for 35 years may actually be false? There are no easy answers for the individuals, much less for the community.

For the people that didn't understand why it was included then gave up before the final episode: you missed something that the rest of us would say was amazing.

Not the quality of the production itself, which seemed well done, but for the impact it had on the locals and particularly on the families involved, some of whom were in the audience.

I'll admit that I did wonder why they were spending any time on it, but it paid off spectacularly.

Most people would have realised that Burt had employed some fairly dodgy interviewing techniques by about episode 4, but seeing his reaction to both the documentary and what he had been told about the play was illuminating.

This is one of the few series that I feel really used the length to build an emotional story for the audience too. The ending episode had a feeling a catharsis for me as well. You'll see some complaints about the length, but it's necessary to look at this from all angles. The individuals testimony were heartfelt.

Burt Searcy is an asshole though, and the guy in the play did him perfect. Looking at his phone because that's easier than facing the pain he caused these people just because they were "undesirables." He wants to talk about how this is hurtful to Helen's family, this is just capitalizing on their pain, but who's the one who inserted himself into this and whined about his legacy to the cameras? He didn't "solve" this case because he's a kind person, he did it because he wanted to live forever through it and erase his cloud that came with leaving the Beatrice PD. A very repulsive man.