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Hanging Elizabeth Reed: A Ghost Story

Name: Hanging Elizabeth Reed: A Ghost Story
Released: 2020
Duration: 72 min

Representation Score

3.2/10

Limited

2020

Approved

Runtime

72 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

The film explores historical injustice through a period-specific lens, focusing on the interplay between gender and judicial power. By highlighting Elizabeth Reed's conviction by an all-male jury, the narrative challenges the established domestic and legal hierarchies of mid-19th-century Illinois. While the work provides a strong critique of patriarchal institutions and systemic failures, it lacks broader demographic diversity. The story appears to be centered around a specific historical context without visible racial or LGBTQ+ diversity. Ultimately, the film's strength lies in its thematic focus on gendered injustice and the disruption of established power structures through folklore and historical debate.

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Category Breakdown

Does Hanging Elizabeth Reed: A Ghost Story have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film does not include any LGBTQ+ characters or non-cisgender identities. The main storyline revolves around a traditional heterosexual marriage.

How does Hanging Elizabeth Reed: A Ghost Story portray gender?

Good

The story focuses on a woman navigating a legal system controlled by an all-male jury. This highlights the critique of patriarchal judicial structures and emphasizes the woman's role in driving the narrative within a historical context.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Hanging Elizabeth Reed: A Ghost Story?

Limited

The narrative seems to concentrate on a specific Anglo-American historical event in 1845 Illinois. There is no indication of a non-white majority cast or diverse ethnic representation.

How does Hanging Elizabeth Reed: A Ghost Story represent religion and culture?

Good

The film critiques the infallibility of 19th-century Western legal institutions. It incorporates folklore and the concept of a wandering spirit to explore subjective morality over rigid institutional certainty.

Does Hanging Elizabeth Reed: A Ghost Story include disability representation?

Minimal

There is no information about the portrayal of physical disabilities, neurodivergence, or mental health conditions within the characters or plot.

Present on Screen

Offers a strong critique of patriarchal judicial structures and male-dominated legal systems.
Highlights women's ability to drive the story and historical injustice within a domestic setting.
Employs folklore to challenge the perceived infallibility of Western institutions.

Limited or Absent

Lacks diverse representation regarding race and LGBTQ+ identities.
Appears demographically homogeneous, reflecting limited ethnic diversity.
Provides no visible representation of disability or neurodivergence.

Official Synopsis

This is the story of Elizabeth Reed who in 1845 became the first woman to be hanged in Illinois. She was accused of poisoning her husband Leonard with arsenic laced tea and was convicted by a jury of 12 men. The circumstances of her arrest, trial, conviction, execution, burial, and afterlife have been debated ever since. Folklore exists today that suggests her spirit wanders the countryside.

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