2007 SUNDANCE SHORT! Blubaugh’s short documentary “Scaredycat” is ingenious. It’s a word I never use, but watching “Scaredycat” brought about that word. Blubaugh examines, in a short time, racism, trauma, the effects of trauma on our lives, and the ability of trauma to unleash unusual mental quirks, and habits, while also unlocking sub-conscious feelings like racism, and stereotyping.
Blubaugh is simply not a man who is accepting of his fate, even though he is a victim of it. He’s Obsessive compulsive, and he wants to know why he suffered such a horrible crime. Senselessly beaten by seven men one night, for no reason, his life has changed drastically.
He walks along tiles, adjusts garbage on benches, adjusts pictures on the way out of his house, and is afraid of black people. Blubaugh admits this is a wrong action, and that’s what makes his film so great. He seeks to get to the bottom of this issue and solve it, so he can live his life the way he wants.
As someone who has a loved one who experienced almost the exact same incident, “Scaredycat” was rather gripping to sit through. Blubaugh then does something not many of us could. He tracks down the men who attacked him, calls them up, and solves the situation once and for all.
It’s a stunning turn of events that’s played in a way that retains Blubaugh’s dignity, while we learn of the men who attacked him without any cause. Blubaugh then learns that sometimes crimes are just senseless and without explanation, and bad stuff will happen to even the most privileged of us. That’s life.
