contacts Talese to let him know
that he found discrepancies in
Foos’ published story. Talese, the
book author, publicly disavows his
work, saying that he can’t support
or promote his book knowing that
some of the information might be
false. It is factual that Foos owned
the motel, and he did participate in
voyeurism, but many of the dates
don’t match what Foos recorded
and shared with Talese.
he interesting thing
about Voyeur is how
blasé everybody seems
to be about the situation,
regardless of whether or
not it’s all completely true. Gerald
Foos is now openly admitting
to committing sex crimes years
after the damage is done, years
after witnessing a murder (and,
assumably, other illegal activities)
and years after selling the
motel and quitting voyeurism
altogether. Voyeur is a well-done
documentary, but behind the film
lies something very creepy and
foul-tasting: the idea that the sexual
misconduct against unknowing,
non-consenting individuals
are now being formatted into
articles, books and movies. It’s
sadly obvious that neither Foos or
Talese appear to care about Foos’
incredibly perverted crimes, and
they treat this situation as if it’s
okay that this happens every day.
Foos also staunchly stands by the
T
idea that he is not ‘a pervert,’ but
instead, his voyeuristic tendencies
were all ‘research-based.’ Yeah,
okay.
hy does this
documentary glorify
sexual assault and
misconduct? Running
out on the statute of
limitations doesn’t mean that your
backstory disappears into thin air.
Who thought that profiting on
something like this was a good
idea, and why wasn’t Gerald Foos
treated the same way as any other
sexual assailant would be treated?
In today’s world, so many men are
being ousted as ‘sexual offenders,’
and one-by-one these men are
being dethroned. What’s the
difference between those men and
Gerald Foos? After watching the
documentary, it’s evident that Foos’
primary concern was about being
punished for what he had done. He
doesn’t appear to be sorry about the
crimes committed; he only appears
to be regretful he’s opening up
about it. Similar feelings are echoed
in scores of ‘apology posts’ written
by offenders and posted on social
media. Posts essentially say “well, I
grew up in a different decade, and
it was okay then!”, or “I’m going to
use this statement and opportunity
to promote the good I’ve done
for women/minorities/LGBT+
individuals.” In my opinion,
nobody’s really sorry, they’re just
W