An American Crime

I have a soft corner for Ellen Page's movies. That's one of the reasons why I picked this film to watch.

Knowing that it is based on a true life story will definitely make you want to read about it before/after you have watched the film. And even if the film (which shows just a fraction of what really happened) does not manage to disturb you, the complete true story most certainly will.
Briefly, it is about a teenager, Sylvia Likens, who was tortured by her guardian and a number of neighborhood kids.

The thought that the victim let the torture happen to her, completely depresses me. She was probably helpless towards the end and could not fight back, but how could she ignore/accept the initial abuse and injustice? And how could the neighborhood kids contribute to such atrocities? And why did the adult-neighbors turn a deaf ear to her cries? There are so many how's and why's that people have brought up time and again concerning this episode, and I am probably just re-iterating them :(

Its just too depressing to think how much kids rely on their parents'/guardians' views, and how that fact is sometimes exploited for carrying out child abuse :(
How can knowledge about basic human rights be kept secret from anyone?

P.S. It took a couple of episodes of Friends for me to get over the depression caused by this movie, but I suppose I will never forget the story.