I noted in a recent piece that I'd deal with the question, is the Joker a psychopath? Of course, it matters a lot which portrayal of the Joker we're talking about. Sheltering in place has given many people time to watch various movies. Of the many featuring the Joker, most have probably see Heath Ledger's The Dark Knight and/or Joaquin Phoenix's Joker. To keep things manageable, let's choose Ledger's version in The Dark Knight, knowing there's nothing ever definitive about a fictional … [Read more...]
The Psychopath and The Hare.
The Psychopath and the Hare lip is my way to addressing what's become an interesting debate among moviegoers. Even comic book aficionados have gotten into the act. And so may you and I as so many of us are at home without sports, political rallies, and other live TV as a distraction. We've got time to watch movies like Joker. The debate is whether Joaquin Phoenix, who won an Oscar for Best Actor, portrays the Joker as a psychopath or not? The Psychopath and The Hare … [Read more...]
‘Bombshell,’ #MeToo, and Hollywood’s inability to portray its own villains.
As promised I will share your questions and comments and update mine now that I’ve seen Bombshell and thought about the #MeToo tie-in. First, I was dazzled by Theron's spot on depiction of Megyn Kelly. And the movie kept my interest and my companion's. Mostly, though, my concern in my prior blog - that Bombshell might gloss over institutional #MeToo issues - was unfortunately borne out. Additionally, I kept thinking, is Hollywood the best industry to lecture us about #MeToo behaviors, … [Read more...]
Crime – Serial Killer Myths – Scientific American mag’s truth – Tutorial II
Hope you were able to check out the first in a number of tutorials I'm writing about serial killer myths. Check back for others from time to time. If you're a writer of a true-crime books as I am, you may need to brush up, as I do, on your serial killer IQ. The same may be true for criminology students or anyone interested in what science can tell us about these most-heinous of criminals. Unfortunately, a lot of our general knowledge concerning serial murder is a product of … [Read more...]
Beauty Queen Killers – Known and Unknown – Crime Tutorial
Maybe you're an author writing about JonBenet Ramsey, a little "beauty queen" whose murder is still unsolved. Or you're writing about grown-up queens who've been murdered, like the ones featured in podcasts and 24/7 crime shows. Well, here's a tutorial that might help you flesh out some details in an article or book you're writing. It's about a few of the deets about both a known killer and an unknown one. Known and Unknown Beauty Queen Killers There are a few books about the known "Beauty … [Read more...]
True Crime — do these reasons explain why you love it?
Some have called my book-in-progress a true crime memoir. Its working title is Privileged Killers...and a criminologist mugged by reality. It's tagline — When friends kill and loved ones betray him, a progressive criminologist must ditch his idealism or lose his wife and even his life. True Crime rules...these days. Whether seen as a pure true crime story, or a hybrid true crime memoir, my book's alerted me to the huge appetite we have these days for true … [Read more...]
CRIME FRAUD Tutorial—Imposters Anna & Maddie —“Skilled” Criminals
Today's blog is one among my series on "skilled" criminals —fences, imposters, forgers, and art thieves. There's also a related series on "unskilled"criminals. The hope in this blog is to fire up writers, provide info to criminology students and true-crime fans, and to, well, have some fun. Recent Russian immigrant to the U.S. Anna Sorokin created the fictitious identity of Anna Delvey, pretending to be a wealthy German heiress. On May 10, 2019, a court sentenced her to 4 to 12 years in … [Read more...]