Tellybox Tuesday – Death of an Icon

Television

This week we return to a programme I featured a couple of weeks ago and that is Autopsy.  The subject of the show I watched this week was Marilyn Monroe and I have to confess the conspiracy continues as the first five minutes of the show failed to record! I started watching this ready to scream at the television even though I do know this show is good at sticking to facts and is not one I would expect to be part of any possible cover up but given they have to work with the available documents I was not convinced we would get any closer to the truth of her final hours.

The conclusion he reached was accidental overdose as a result of her doctor prescribing her drugs that should not have been given at the same time especially to someone with the insomnia issues she suffered.  While this might fit to evidence and he does make a convincing argument it does not totally convince me nor does it explain everything.  Why did the maid call her psychiatrist before the doctor, why did the both arrive so quickly?  Why did it take to medical professionals over an hour to call emergency services? Okay they say they were in shock but an hour and if they were covering up their own complicity why not remove one of the two medicines which should not be prescribed together?  He rules out foul play due to lack of evidence in the autopsy report but I have to say that does not really mean a lot as far as I am concerned as I am pretty sure that the coroner would have omitted anything that he was told to omit after all this did possibly involve the President and his brother.

I don’t think we will ever really know exactly how Marilyn died and I don’t think we want to.  For 50 years people have shouted conspiracy and cover up, the rumours do not die and no explanation has ever been produced that covers all the facts, like her beauty the mystery of her death seems destined to last.

Now the writing part and it fits rather well into plot points, the facts fit numerous scenarios as long as you only show the ones that fit. the minute you throw in a random plot point then it becomes more difficult to sell the story you want to.  It does however give the opportunity to give differing solutions but in fiction the reader prefers a firm final solution.

 

Film

Well actually this week we are talking theatre instead.  As you will know from my various social media sites and the vlog the Saturday before last I went to the local theatre the LBT to see The Mist in the Mirror adapted from the book by Susan Hill, author of The Woman in Black. Firstly I am going to share the trailer they produced for this production…

And I am going to share a far more professional review than mine which it really is worth taking a quick peek at before I start….

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/the-mist-and-the-mirror-oldham-coliseum-theatre-woman-in-black-sequel-doesnt-take-itself-too-seriously-10040523.html

Now the first thing I want to comment on is the theatre experience I love going to see plays but this one was the first I had gone to see alone and it was lovely to note I was not the only person who decided just because their friends weren’t up for it they weren’t going to miss out.  In some ways it is a liberating experience going alone as there is no one commenting during the play however the downside is there is no one to discuss it with after, well unless like me you have a blog and a wonderful audience. Like the previous production I had seen by this company they mix live acting with film using a minimum of scenery. In fact this is the trailer for Hound of the Baskervilles the previous production I had seen

I really wish there was a way for you to experience these but I cannot find anywhere that has the performances themselves recorded, The Mist in the Mirror has far more in the way of humour than The Woman in Black and if I had to pick fault with it, it would be the same issue I had The Woman in Black and that would be the ending. I write ghost stories and to write an actually scary ghost story is hard, it is about creating a tension and suspense, a questioning of our own senses and is not a form suited for a simple straight ending in some ways.  Now a few people did jump in the audience at certain points, I was not one of them, and I understand that time constraints also play a part in adapting a novel to film or play, (and I confess I have yet to read either novel so I reserve the right to change my mind lol) but I felt the ending was rather abrupt and was a little predictable.

However overall I really did enjoy it and will certainly be going to see any future productions this company put on.

 

Youtube

Okay I will let you watch the TED Talks video before I discuss it not really writing related this one…

Okay they have great voices and the song is moving but that is as far as it goes with me.

Dannielle Hadley – Accomplice to Murder

Debra Lee Brown – First Degree Murder

Theresa Battles – Accomplice to Murder

Diane Metzger – Helped Murder her husband’s ex-wife

Thelma Nichols – Murder (beat a woman to death)

etc.

Now I am sure that some of the women have stories of horrific upbringings and maybe were even unwilling accomplices I do not know how horrific a crime a 14 year old girl would need to commit in the States to get life as the system is different here, but I think we can all honestly say if they were a group of men with the same records no one would care if they could sing or not.  I know I sound unsympathetic but the saying goes if you can’t do the time don’t do the crime and at least three of the women obviously were not bothered by someone else being denied a life as I say accomplice can have many definitions but beating a woman to death has only one.

I love watching crime programmes, I am fascinated by what makes people tick and I do believe in the right circumstances (or should that be the wrong ones) everyone is capable of killing another, if you think I am lying just imagine someone is choking the life out of your loved one right in front of you, your partner, your child or grandchild are you telling me you wouldn’t do whatever it took to stop them and save the one you love?  We would know there would be consequences and you might argue that you would not be thinking of those at the time, but if you did would it stop you acting? I think not, I have no doubt that these women may be sorry but that does not bring back the people that are dead or take away the pain of the families and a very big part of me thinks until they can do that they have no right to feel sorry for themselves.