True Crime Story: Look Into My Eyes (2023) User Reviews

Typical Documentary Preconceptions & Biases

[graphicartdude · 6/10 · 3 January 2024]

While I found the subject material of this docu-series to be quite interesting, it unfortunately suffers from the typical shortcomings, preconceptions & blatant biases that have plagued & become synonymous with Hollywood, the news media, & much of the entertainment industry.

The main intent of a documentary should be to inform its viewers as much as possible on the topic of choosing, while hopefully entertaining them in the process. Yet far too many of these filmmakers fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors; by prioritizing shock/awe & injecting their own personal biases, at the detriment of remaining authentic & impartial.

Note: subtle spoilers below. While I'll refrain from sharing too many details, here are just some of the more glaring omissions & oversights from the docu-series that I felt effected its credibility & intent at remaining neutral like it should...

• No real attention given to the possibility (and likelihood) that medication related to the boy's dental visit might have caused the seizure, stroke or epileptic attack his girlfriend reported.

• No evidence or findings were presented relating to whether or not hypnosis can actually cause a delayed hypnotic response.

• No interview with the dental office itself or coroner etc to see which medication was given & if an autopsy looked for dental related meds in his system, or if it's possible those meds wouldn't even show up at all.

• No toxicology report presented for the first death, & no interviews with investigators regarding the suicides.

• Complete dismissal of potential non hypnosis related causation of deaths (ex: breakup, teenage depression, failed SAT, bullying, etc), or how thousands of kids kill themselves each year.

• No follow up or digging deep on the bullying messages or breakup (outside of just asking a friend).

• No in depth discussion with specialists, police department officials, crime scene investigators or medical professionals regarding the circumstances of the deaths.

• Only one certified hypnotist was used & questioned as the authority on the topic & on the possibility that hypnotism could have played a roll in the deaths.

The temptation of writers & producers to pander to a particular narrative is certainly understandable, though if you're incapable of doing so, & are too lazy to do actual research before basically depicting someone as an accomplice to murder, then you might want to reconsider your profession & get a job at CNN where being a propagandist & slanderer is a prerequisite.

Can't believe this actually needs to be said

[belsonrj · 7/10 · 13 May 2024]

I see a lot of reviews here saying that the documentary omits information and steers the narrative to one side. Perhaps this is true in some sense.

However, regardless of how effective or influential the hypnosis was on these students; this high school principal, again....this high school PRINCIPAL, should never have, under any circumstances, been performing these hypnotherapy sessions on students. He wasn't even the guidance counselor, which would have still been inappropriate, but at the very least it would've been adjacent to his professional scope of practice. "Scope of practice" being a key concept here. This is why dentists are not supposed to write prescriptions for depression meds even though they are also doctors who care about your health.

I felt like I was taking crazy pills as I watched these people struggle with some perceived moral conundrum about whether he was at fault or not. How in the hell is an educational administrator allowed to perform psychiatric therapy without the proper credentials and on minors no less?! What year is it? What country is this? These actions alone are criminal. I graduated high school in 2005, so not too far from these students, and I couldn't fathom my old high school principal holding private, recorded, hypnotherapy sessions on students.

So, it's impossible to prove how much or how little these sessions may have affected the outcome of these students' lives. One thing we do know is that we wouldn't be asking these questions had any adult used common sense in this situation and said anything close to, "Um, actually, no. This is entirely inappropriate and bizarre to think that you can mess around in the minds of children as a high school principal with nothing more than good intentions and a hypnosis certificate."

This is exactly why we require credentials in this country. And this principal was incredibly narcissistic to think that he could circumvent the proper credentials based on his own comfort in his level of understanding. And that's what the documentary truly succeeded in proving to me. That he is, without a doubt, guilty of being irresponsible with minors and abusing his position.

This is so absurd

[amyrach-32718 · 1/10 · 20 December 2023]

I only made it through 2 of the 4 episodes before deciding this is just so outlandish I couldn't continue to watch it. People don't commit suicide from being hypnotized. I understand these parents want somebody to blame other than their own children, and perhaps themselves (not saying these kids did it because of their parents, but people close to suicide victims tend to blame themselves), but claiming 1 or 2 hypnosis sessions were the cause is just a huge stretch. People are hypnotized ALL THE TIME, for different reasons, one of them being that it CAN be therapeutic, and their not going around committing suicide. Ever. And if they were, it would be illegal, or at least seriously frowned upon in the world of psychiatry.

It's tough being a teenager and things that adults think are small, teenagers think are the end of the world. I know SO MANY kids that committed suicide in high school its almost unfathomable. The youngest was 12. TWELVE! He was popular and had a ton of friends and nobody knew what provoked him to do it. I can think of more than 10 others in the 3 years I was in high school. Most of them, nobody saw it coming. Not friends, parents, teachers, no one. It happens. And so do fatal car accidents. The kid was 16, barely old enough to drive, coming home from a dentist appointment where he was probably hopped up on laughing gas and certainly anesthesia. This is ridiculous and I feel bad for the teacher getting this kind of backlash. Anybody who is watching this and buying into it is a moron.

Interesting documentary on the dangerous unexpected consequences of when people in positions of power display behaviours congruent with narcissism &psychopathy

[RastaVari · 8/10 · 6 July 2023]

I was not aware of this case of Principal Kenney who hypnothised tens of his students at school, several of whom then died, after seeing how cool teenagers thought an entertainment hypnotist was and how easily they trusted them (bleurgh..... yup that an entirely normal thing for a grown adult responsible for young people's safety and futures to think and say.... bleurgh)

He violated rules of therapeutic intervention, the sacred boundary of teacher/student and basic ethics (including on informed consent/exploitation/power and more), seemingly to improve the performance and standing of the smalltown school for which he was responsible and feed his own ego and wallet.

He uses the epithet of 'Dr' gained from a PhD in 'Educational leadership' (WTF is college/uni nowadays that you can do doctorates in 'educational leadership', what is that?!?!?) to infer he is a licensed healthcare professional. He did no kind of assessment of need, risk, alternative interventions prior to hypnotising multiple teenage students. He filmed the sessions and self published books about and recordings of his exploitation of the student/teacher relationship. The videos of the sessions, well those he did not destroy when the papers got hold fo the story, show mainly teenage boys often immediately with their heads in their headteacher's lap after being put under... incredibly odd and deeply creepy.

Obviously showing direct causation between the deaths of those he hypnotised and his selfish, unethical and unprofessional actions would be extremely difficult and probable cause without reasonable doubt impossible (also there is never going to be sufficient general evidence as to whether the kinds of thing he did could cause deaths/suicides because other hypnotists, apart from PUA, follow ethical guidelines)

The documentary brings the viewpoints of students, some of whom underwent sessions with Kenney others who were friends with those who died, parents of kids including a local journo who covered the case, Dr Kenney himself, as well as licensed hypnotists and others with professional oversight on the matters covered. Its an interesting series that shows the grey areas, geographies/communities and settings that certain types of personality, who get off on power and ego, like to dance and dangle.

Some contributors whether a little naive, still under the influence, or less aware of the nuances of abuse think he was only trying to help, others wanted him to be criminally convicted coz they don't understand how the burden of proof works in the law or in scientific enquiry. The professionals (apart from a coupla from the school who presumably he also did a number on) are much more circumspect and realistic in their contributions.

He, however, did admit guilt in court, as he explains, in order to protect his pension.... I think that statement straight from the horse's mouth says all you need to know about 'Dr' George Kenney. Often these kinda folk have so little empathy that they will tell you exactly who they are, if you're prepared to hear it.

Ridiculous

[sysgoddess · 2/10 · 17 June 2023]

Despite what this ridiculous show claims you cannot simply hypnotize someone and force them to do anything you want. Auto or self hypnosis is not easy to learn or master and many people are resistant to hypnosis, at least without there being a certain level of trust.

The whole case on which this is based is ridiculous and based on many misconceptions that are carried over into this program. This episode should be named "Only in Florida" as that is the location in which it took place

If the misinformation presented in this show is indicative of the poor quality of others in this series then I will not be watching further and I don't recommend it to others.

I am a North Port High Alumni and this is fake

[jprsff · 1/10 · 27 August 2023]

I am class of 2012. I was in school during this. The documentary omits and straight up lies about critical events.

Marcus Freeman died because his girlfriend made him drive when he was under anesthesia. I was in school when it happened. Ask any North Port High Alumni and they will tell you the same thing.

The creators of this documentary display a flagrant disregard for the truth or common sense. The amount of false information in this documentary is criminal. Literally the standard for libel has been more than met. Anyone associated with this documentary needs to take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror and then slap themselves in the face.

I will not rest till justice has been served to the producers.

Reality isn't a Movie

[sailorbleu · 1/10 · 11 January 2024]

I assume that the majority of the people in this documentary, including the producers and director, learned about hypnosis from Office Space and Stir of Echoes. It's the only thing that makes sense for how blatantly ignorant they are on the realities of hypnosis.

The majority wanted someone to blame for the tragedies and decided that the one person who helped these kids increase their grades and improve their games (which is actually a common reason for many children receiving hypnosis) was going to be the one they all rallied against.

Don't waste your time. If I wanted to read misinformation and ignorance, I'd have just stayed in social media.

Is everyone in Florida this dumb?

[zfqmcjt · 1/10 · 17 August 2023]

I read that the kid who killed himself died of an overdose and was bullied online right before he died, that the other kid left the dentist which seems more likely to be a cause of distraction while driving especially if he was already having pain or perhaps he had an allergic reaction to one of the medications, and that the last girl had a breakup with a serious boyfriend and also did badly on SATs. Yet somehow this one sided documentary barely discusses this and really tries hard to non stop tell you the same thing over and over: "WOW THIS HYPNOSIS STUFF IS SOOOO EXTREME!"

This is like satanic panic levels of stupid Florida/Southern USA stuff. This documentary barely went into background stuff, toxicology, social media, bullying, teenage drug use, teen relationships and breakups, etc.

Also, teens kill themselves and die in car accidents. It's a tragedy. But it's their number one causes of death... this is statistics. This whole documentary was way overboard trying to make this really shocking. Especially where schools in Florida have like hundreds if not thousand+ of kids, it is expected statistically some will die from these causes of death.

false story!! NORTH PORT HIGH ALUMNI

[alesana-78709 · 1/10 · 25 February 2024]

I went to North port high school. Dr Kenney was an amazing principal and person. Wesley was bullied by his ex whose name I won't mention, but she knows who she is; and took his own life in an abandoned house, not by pills. Brittney and Wesley both mentally struggled. We're under pressure. Marcus freeman's gf made him drive home from the dentist under anesthesia and he crashed on one of the worst highways in Florida. This documentary and the writers should be ashamed and have someone sue them for defamation. We lost three beautiful people that year on top of countless suicides all over SA county. 4 kids died at Sarasota military the same week from drunk driving no seat belts. 2011 was a year north port kids are traumatized by and we don't need this fake story thrown around about our dear friends who died way too soon and a decent man.