A few years ago I read the book "The Tuskegee Syphilis Study" by Fred Gray and it mentioned in there how inaccurate the movie "Miss Evers' Boys" was. I finally had the opportunity to watch "Miss Evers' Boys" and I can say that it is a travesty how inaccurate it is.
"Miss Evers' Boys" would lead you to believe that a Black doctor, Doctor Sam Brodus (Joe Morton), and a Black nurse, Eunice Evers (Alfre Woodard), were in effect running a study on syphilis in Black men and how it would affect the body when untreated. They were funded by, and given direction by the U.S. government, but Dr. Brodus and Nurse Evers essentially did all the heavy lifting (including the deceptions). And the movie was very ambiguous with its protagonist Miss Evers. They tried to make her a sympathetic character while also making her the most complicit in perpetuating the lie being told to the infected men. In fact, the movie made it seem like she was pivotal in making sure the men continued to believe they were being treated when they weren't.; as though she was so unscrupulous as to know that the men were not being treated, but kept up the lie on her own accord for the sake of Science. That and proving that African Americans were just as committed to science as whites.
Fact: The men were never treated, not even once, though the movie made it seem there was treatment at the beginning.
Fact: All of the supervisors and supervising doctors were white. Dr. Brodus (real name Dr. Brady) never supervised Miss Evers (real name Miss Rivers).
Fact: This study was conceived, financed, executed, and administered by the federal government. The African American medical professionals who participated in it were victims as were the 623 African American participants (not 412).
Fact: Nurse Evers (Nurse Rivers) never had a romantic relationship with any of the patients and she never escorted any of them to juke joints, night clubs, bars, or other entertainment places. She was a professional.
This movie is beyond disappointing such that when a few of the survivors saw it in 1997 they asked that the inaccuracies be dispelled. So, what can I say good about a movie that falsely depicts a true event? Nothing. I can't say anything good, except kudos that you revealed that there was such an abominable study that lasted for 40 years.
"Miss Evers' Boys" would lead you to believe that a Black doctor, Doctor Sam Brodus (Joe Morton), and a Black nurse, Eunice Evers (Alfre Woodard), were in effect running a study on syphilis in Black men and how it would affect the body when untreated. They were funded by, and given direction by the U.S. government, but Dr. Brodus and Nurse Evers essentially did all the heavy lifting (including the deceptions). And the movie was very ambiguous with its protagonist Miss Evers. They tried to make her a sympathetic character while also making her the most complicit in perpetuating the lie being told to the infected men. In fact, the movie made it seem like she was pivotal in making sure the men continued to believe they were being treated when they weren't.; as though she was so unscrupulous as to know that the men were not being treated, but kept up the lie on her own accord for the sake of Science. That and proving that African Americans were just as committed to science as whites.
Fact: The men were never treated, not even once, though the movie made it seem there was treatment at the beginning.
Fact: All of the supervisors and supervising doctors were white. Dr. Brodus (real name Dr. Brady) never supervised Miss Evers (real name Miss Rivers).
Fact: This study was conceived, financed, executed, and administered by the federal government. The African American medical professionals who participated in it were victims as were the 623 African American participants (not 412).
Fact: Nurse Evers (Nurse Rivers) never had a romantic relationship with any of the patients and she never escorted any of them to juke joints, night clubs, bars, or other entertainment places. She was a professional.
This movie is beyond disappointing such that when a few of the survivors saw it in 1997 they asked that the inaccuracies be dispelled. So, what can I say good about a movie that falsely depicts a true event? Nothing. I can't say anything good, except kudos that you revealed that there was such an abominable study that lasted for 40 years.