Daniel Carleton Gajdusek, Nobel Prize winner and hugely respected controversial scientist is suddenly accused of abusing boys. He had adopted 56 children from poor countries and the uncivilized tribes he studied. Then in 1996 finally a single boy accused him of abuse in USA and Carleton got a year in prison then went to live in France.
The doc shows how Carleton finally defined that kuru was and how it worked. How he gained huge respect as a genius in his field. Then it focuses on why he even studied kuru and the primitive tribes. He wanted to get away from civilization and laws to be around boys he could promise riches to. Then he brought many to USA. The doc presents largely his friends and defenders. Very high ranking academics too. Most say that they don't understand the evidence, don't believe the claims, claim he is asexual in real life, claim that actually taking advantage of boys is normal in some cultures Carleton was in. Claim that it wasn't anything serious. But while his defenders call him an innocent genius we get 3 interviews claiming otherwise. One is a journalist who stays neutral, but believes the claims and explains them. Second is a White accuser completely disproving the main defense of this just being children from another culture "so it's not a big deal at all". And thirdly Carleton himself admits to it all and much, much more quite openly. Which then just makes his friends say he is overblowing things or being weird. Clearly everyone in the doc do believe the claims as you can see how they struggle trying to redefine the acts. Most just say it was small stuff. Which the extremely short sentence itself also supports.
This doc is a crucial watch for anyone in academia. It's a controversial topic, but I think it shows exactly how academics think about the world. They support their own and redefine acts and terms to create an alternative world view. The doc also illustrates how sexual liberation in the West took things to extremes and harmed innocent children. And often some hypothetical far away culture is used as an excuse to create disgusting sexual norms in the West. While in reality such cultures are just defined as such by the people needing examples to implement their extreme cultural norms.
