{"id":621963,"date":"2026-04-22T22:11:31","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T22:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/621963\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T22:11:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T22:11:31","slug":"boys-will-be-boys-is-not-an-explanation-its-permission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/621963\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Boys will be boys’ is not an explanation. It’s permission"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cutaways<\/a>\u00a0is a personal essay series where Canadian filmmakers tell the story of how their film was made. This Hot Docs 2026 edition by director\u00a0S\u00e9bastien Trahan focuses on his film Code of Misconduct<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Boys will be boys.<\/p>\n

I heard that line over and over while making Code of Misconduct. Sometimes as a joke, sometimes as a defense, sometimes as a way to end a conversation before it really began.<\/p>\n

Hockey has always been part of my life, like it is for most people here. I remember watching the Montreal Canadiens with my parents, the room quiet, the sound of the game filling everything. It\u2019s the same rhythm years later. My nieces jumped in the air after Cole Caufield\u2019s 50th goal. I told them they would remember that moment forever.<\/p>\n

Then, almost immediately, I thought about a line from a lawyer in the film: \u201cIf I had a daughter, I would never let her date a hockey player.\u201d It stayed with me. Because hockey is not just a sport here. It shapes how we grow up, how we compete, how we understand masculinity.<\/p>\n

Like many others, I had followed the impact of the #MeToo movement across different industries. But the case involving the five players from Canada\u2019s 2018 world junior hockey team stood apart. It carried the weight of something larger than the individuals involved. It pointed to a culture and to how difficult it is to confront.<\/p>\n

I wanted to document that moment. But I was equally interested in how it came to light.<\/p>\n

Without the work of TSN senior correspondent Rick Westhead, this case might never have reached the public. His reporting did not just reveal facts; it forced attention. It demanded it. Defending that kind of journalism is not particularly fashionable right now, but it remains essential. Without it, many of these stories never leave the room they happen in.<\/p>\n

Following him offered access, while also recognizing that documentary often begins where journalism ends.<\/p>\n

\"AA scene from Code of Misconduct. (Hot Docs)<\/p>\n

As filmmakers, we are not trying to establish facts in the way courts or reporters do. My role is not to determine an objective truth, but to document how that truth is experienced. Still, that work depends on what journalists uncover first.<\/p>\n

Making a film about a trial in Canada comes with limits. There are no cameras in the courtroom. What happens there cannot be shown directly. And yet, the justice system is public. It is meant to be understood.<\/p>\n

The challenge was how to make that process visible without being able to film it.<\/p>\n

From the beginning, the complainant was constantly on my mind. Her decision to remain anonymous shaped everything. For a long time, I questioned whether the film could exist without her voice. But she allowed her lawyers to speak with us, and that mattered. It gave the project legitimacy, and I am grateful for that.<\/p>\n

Her absence also ultimately became part of the story. Even in a case this public, anonymity remains possible. That, in itself, is significant.<\/p>\n

Code of Misconduct does not attempt to retry the case. The court has ruled. The evidence was not sufficient for a conviction. That stands.<\/p>\n

But a verdict does not capture what it means to go through the system.<\/p>\n

In this case, the complainant spent nine days on the stand, including seven days of cross-examination. Seven days answering questions, revisiting events \u2014 every word examined in detail. If you think about it, that\u2019s roughly a day in court for every hour she spent with them in that hotel room.<\/p>\n

What does it mean to sustain that level of scrutiny? And how does that shape the willingness of others to speak?<\/p>\n

There are other questions, too \u2014 ones that stay with you. Like what would you do?<\/p>\n

In a group chat at the centre of the case, messages were exchanged about a sexual encounter. No one intervened. No one pushed back.<\/p>\n

\"AA scene from Code of Misconduct. (Hot Docs)<\/p>\n

When I ask people how they would react in that situation, the answers come quickly. Of course they would say something. Of course they would intervene. But in reality, those moments are often quieter. Less clear. Silence becomes easier than interruption.<\/p>\n

That gap is important. That\u2019s where culture takes shape. Not only in extreme acts, but in what is allowed to pass without reaction.<\/p>\n

Throughout the film, we meet current players who recognize that problem. None of them deny it. But recognizing it does not mean it has disappeared. The culture that allows these situations to take place still exists. That is what makes cases like this one relevant beyond their outcome.<\/p>\n

Following the trial also meant confronting the possibility of an acquittal. That possibility raised difficult questions. It still does. Would documenting the process discourage victims from coming forward?<\/p>\n

At one point, a prosecutor in the film offers another perspective. The trial, he says, can also be a moment where the complainant regains a form of control. For a time, those accused have to listen. They cannot walk away.<\/p>\n

It may not look like justice. But it is a form of accountability.<\/p>\n

And regardless of the outcome, each person who comes forward changes something. Each testimony adds pressure. Each case forces a conversation that might not have happened otherwise.<\/p>\n

The system will never be perfect. But it evolves because people are willing to step into it, despite its limits, and because each case forces us to reconsider what we accept and what we pass on.<\/p>\n

If there is an objective, it is not to revisit a verdict. It is to change what comes next.<\/p>\n

Because \u201cboys will be boys\u201d is not an explanation. It is permission. And permissions, when left unchallenged, tend to repeat themselves.<\/p>\n

The question is not what boys are. It is what they learn to become. And whether we are willing to teach them that this is not what being a man should look like.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cutaways\u00a0is a personal essay series where Canadian filmmakers tell the story of how their film was made. This…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621964,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[49,48,75,337],"class_list":{"0":"post-621963","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-movies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}