Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four movie review (2016)

Anna Vasquez, Cassandra Rivera, Kristie Mayhugh and Elizabeth Ramirez all came from strict Catholic homes, and grew up in a conservative Texas environment. "Coming out" was stepping into an unknown world, with perhaps terrifying consequences. Anna Vasquez came out to her mother when she was still in high school. Her mother went to talk to her priest about it and asked him what she should do about her daughter. He said, essentially, "Love her." And so she did. Some of the other girls didn't have it so lucky. They were thrown out of their homes, disowned. Anna and Cassie, a young woman with two children, fell in love. Kristie and Elizabeth made up the larger posse, and the women were friends, helping one another, being there for one another. For years all was well, until one day, after taking care of two of Elizabeth's young nieces, the four women were accused of sexual assault.

There was no physical evidence that a crime had taken place. Although the four women insisted that nothing had happened, in an environment of hysteria, homophobia and credulity, they didn't stand a chance. There was sketchy evidence from a pediatrician (debunked later), as well as the testimony of the two little girls, testimony that sounded fantastical, beggaring belief. Elizabeth's brother-in-law, Javier Limon, father to the two accusers, had been pursuing Elizabeth romantically, and was angry that she rejected his advances. Couldn't it be possible that he had coerced his children to make up a story so he could "get even" with the woman who dared to prefer women over him? But there wasn't a lot of critical thinking going on, and—understandably—nobody wants to disbelieve children when they make an accusation like that. The womens' homosexuality was used against them in their trials, and the news coverage was quite literally hysterical: the women were clearly witches, the children were “sacrificed on the altar of lust” (an actual headline).

Esquenazi presents all of this complicated information in a straightforward and compelling way, using local news footage, home movie footage, and prison interviews with the four co-defendants. Anna is the main interview subject, and she can still barely speak of what happened without weeping. Elizabeth is devastated that her nieces, whom she took care of all the time, would betray her, but she knew they had been coached by her vindictive brother-in-law. Anna refused to go into the Sex Offender program in prison, jeopardizing her possibility of parole, and causing her to lose any prison privileges she might have gained. Esquenazi also interviews the sheriff, the Mayor, the lawyers, many of whom betray their prejudices right to the camera, seemingly not realizing that they are doing so. The one unsatisfying interview is with Javier, who claims that nothing Elizabeth says is true. As more and more information comes out, one wishes that Esquenazi would return to that interview, ask some tougher questions, push him to go deeper, explain himself. What is his relationship like with his daughters, the original accusers, now? There are many unanswered questions.

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