HBO has released the first trailer for Paterno, starring Al Pacino as the disgraced Penn State coach Joe Paterno.
The promo cycles through a lot of the major beats you'll remember from 2011: Paterno being confronted with the fact that his assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, abused children for years; the public's growing realization that Paterno had known for years but did nothing; the outcry against the coach as well as the demonstrations in defense of him.
It feels like we're revisiting the case in a different context now, what with the #MeToo movement in full swing. So much of this feels familiar – not just because we lived through it a few years ago, but also because it echoes similar cases from Hollywood to Olympic-level athletics.
Maybe that's depressing. But maybe that's also a reminder of why it's so crucial that we change things for good this time.
Paterno hits HBO April 7.
Topics HBO
