Primetime is the name on everyone’s lips. The narrative debut of documentarian Lance Oppenheim has become a surprising box office sensation in the weeks following its Sept. 25 release date. It follows Chris Hansen (Robert Pattinson) on his way to make television history with his revolutionary show, To Catch a Predator. While the film chronicles the real life events of the show’s production in 2006, Hansen has claimed the film is “so detached from reality or anything I’ve experienced then or now doing the investigations.”
I’m not so much as concerned with accuracy when it comes to portrayals of Hansen or any other real person. Hansen is a controversial figure and comes across as morally ambiguous in both the film and by the media in real life. Yes, putting pedophiles behind bars is a good thing. However, Hansen and his team’s way of going about it and their motivations for doing it are up for debate. He’s has stated the portrayal of him is inaccurate in the film. As a public figure, Hansen does not have total control over his image; a person’s persona can take if of its own. His own family thought Pattison did a “pretty good imitation.”
In this case, the possible fictionalization of the truth is relatively inconsequential. This goes for pretty much every biopic ever made. The fake girlfriend of Mark Zuckerberg, Erica Albright, in The Social Network doesn’t sway viewer perception of Zuckerberg’s later actions. It’s fairly clear that Marie Antionette didn’t really wear Converse like she does in Sofia Coppola’s film. These artistic deviations from reality are made to highlight emotional or thematic throughlines. Creative liberties become an ethical issue when the version of events depicted in the film are presented as reality. This is the case in Primetime‘s penultimate scene and climax; the suicide of assistant district attorney Bill Conradt.
We will never know truly know what happened on the day of Bill Conradt’s suicide. Primetime is admittedly a dramatized portrayal of real events. As reality television, To Catch a Predator presents a narrativized and edited version of the same events. Both pieces of media are biased in some way. Even if they are trying to be objective, both Primetime and Predator are attempting to convey a message to their audiences. No matter how noble the message is, it will always be biased.
The Conradt case is smack in the middle of season 1, episode 15 of Predator. The cops obtained an arrest warrant for Conradt and decide to go to his home instead of waiting for him to come to the sting house. They arrive midday at his small, red farmhouse. His home had no visible windows from outside and the entry way was secluded from the front lawn. The cops knock on the door and when there is no answer, they forcibly enter. Hansen and his camera crew are not permitted to enter the house; they wait outside and wait for the cops to update them. A few minutes after the cops enter the home, according to Hansen’s narration, they hear a bang. A lieutenant comes outside and informs Hansen that Conradt shot himself.
Hansen appears calm while processing this information, so calm that he comes off as totally unaffected by Conradt’s death. In narration, he calls it a “devastating tragedy. A shock to all of us.” Of course, Predator isn’t focused on Hansen’s thoughts on the matter. He has to remain objective when stating the facts even if he is emotionally affected. The film shows a version of events completely different from what is depicted in Predator, in regards to both Hansen’s reaction and the film’s recreation of the events.
Everything in the film has led to this moment. Conradt is the show’s “white whale”, according to Hansen’s producer, Andie Bender (Meritt Wever). Catching someone as high profile as an elected official would be sure to bring good ratings, something Hansen and co. have been working towards the whole film. The police decide to go to Conradt’s after Andie not so subtly encourages them to do so. Conradt’s home is a cookie cutter McMansion with a grand staircase leading from the lawn to the front door. The crew is stationed in the front lawn, with a direct view into the home, windows illuminated in comparison to the darkening sky. Hansen and Andie standing outside, waiting for the cops to make their move. From their vantage point, Conradt is clearly visible in the front window. The cops enter and Conradt looks out the window. He makes eye contact with Hansen, draws his gun and shoots, blood splatters across the window.
Pattison’s Hansen is clearly affected by this. He actually witnesses Conradt’s death, whereas, in reality, he does not see it. Hansen’s reaction is framed in close up. Minute details of his face are the focal point of the shot. He appears to be frozen. His mouth is agape, breathing is heavy and eyes are slightly teary. The film cuts to a wide shot. The footage is grainy, seemingly captured by one of the film crew’s cameras. Hansen continues to stand and stare, unmoving. A minute or two goes by in wide, then we cut back to Hansen’s face. This time the shot is even tighter on Hansen’s facial expression than before. His previously unshed tears are now tracks on his cheeks. He looks directly into the camera and mutters, “what would’ve happened if I wasn’t here?”
Primetime interprets the day of Bill Conradt’s suicide as the emotional breaking point for Pattison’s Hansen. The film follows the descent of Hansen’s mental state as he juggles his increasing visibility as a public figure, the show’s claim to fame, along with his family and affair. Conradt’s suicide marks the point of no return for Hansen. Predator’s version of events sees Hansen as the stoic, moral authority of the show. Primetime departs from the “reality” Chris Hansen wants us to believe To Catch A Predator is. The result shows Hansen as the controversial, morally ambiguous figure he is instead of the pinnacle of moral authority he wants us to believe he is.
