Court TV, in its everpresent quest to define itself and generate programming that is interesting in any way that does not star (my arch enemy) Nancy Grace, started a new series yesterday called Murder by the Book. This 5 part offering focuses on authors discussing crimes that have "touched them in some way." (And yes, that vagueness is a quotation. Court TV's quest is everpresent but not too sophisticated, as you can see.)
First on the agenda last night was James Ellroy (of LA Confidential/The Black Dahlia fame), discussing the murder of his mother when he was a child. Tragic? Certainly. The stuff of his autobiography My Dark Places? Yes. Compelling television? Well, it depends if you like overtly incestuous/Freudian and vaguely matricidal material delivered deadpan. Last week, in an intereview with the Today show, when Lester Holt asked about Ellroy's relationship with his mother, the author stated, both in person and in a clip from Murder by the Book, "Here was this beautiful red-head....I hated her, I lusted after her, and I got my wish to see her dead." A visibly discomfitted Lester then asked if Ellroy thought these revelations might be startling, even disturbing to some people, to which the writer replied, slowly, with what must be his signature head-cock, "Maybe some people might be disturbed, but I'm candid." Ohh-kaaaay....
What? What kind of answer is that? Frankness trumps ickiness? In what equation? So bizarre. I have to say, after watching even brief clips/previews of the show, I was thoroughly put off by Mr. Ellroy's creepy vibe and so, it appeared, was Lester. The good news is that Ellroy claims that the Today show interview was his last interview on the subject, ever. He says he will no longer discuss his mother's murder and, if he's telling the truth, all I can say is Bravo! However, I doubt it. For all that he protests that interviews in the past have always returned to this event no matter how much he wants them to stay focused on his other work, he is the one who contines to release ever more graphic material about his relationship with his mother, even in places you wouldn't expect, such as the afterword to the latest edition of The Black Dahlia or on Court TV. Even his tagline for the series puts his assertion in doubt: he says "I have only one message for Court TV viewers: there is no closure." For my part, on this particular point, I'm hoping against hope he's wrong!
As for (my arch enemy) Nancy Grace, she could warrant an entire entry excoriating her brand of faux-jouralisitic tabloid fare, but Stephen King has done it much better than I ever could, so go read what he had to say about her in Entertainment Weekly instead. It's worth a read, I promise.
On a totally unrelated side note, the husband, in his capacity as hospital administrator on call, recieved the following page yesterday after the newly-installed computerized drug management system failed: "Motherboard replacement not easy apparently."
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