The Netflix documentary “Jennifer’s Truths” about a criminal case that shook Canada a few years ago is being talked about because of one of the strangest photos…
If you are a Netflix subscriber and a fan of true crimes, then you have most likely jumped on the latest documentary from the streaming giant: Jennifer’s Truths. This American production returns to an affair that shook Canada in 2010.
It begins with a call to 911: on the line is Jennifer Pan, a 28-year-old young woman who screams into the phone that her parents have just been shot. His mother died instantly at the family home but his father was taken to the emergency room and then put into an artificial coma.
As for Jennifer, she quickly becomes the focus of a gripping criminal case. This shy and frail woman seems not to tell the police everything…
To illustrate her documentary and show all the character’s ambivalence, director Jenny Popplewell uses archive images and testimonies. And there is an illustration that made many subscribers react.
The photo of discord
We’re about 30 minutes into the documentary. One of Jennifer’s former classmates describes her friend as a teenager “bubbly, happy, self-confident and sincere”.
The documentary then uses a photo of the young girl to illustrate its point. We see her, smiling, both arms raised, posing for the photo. The problem? If we look closer at the image, we realize that something is wrong, like This article explains it very well.
screenshot
Distortion of the hands (Jennifer only seems to have two fingers on the left), decor that is not straight, strange lights… no doubt: this image was edited by an AI.
A manipulation of the image which seems plausible if Netflix only had access to a single illustrative photo and all the others were retouched. In a second photo, Jennifer appears on a black background, with only one ear. Which would explain why she wears the same red dress every time…
But in the case of a documentary, which must highlight the truth and not distort or manipulate it, this use of artificial intelligence raises questions. Especially since the Jennifer Pan affair is still ongoing on the other side of the Atlantic since it experienced a twist in 2023.
Contacted by several American media, Netflix did not wish to respond to requests…