The Irony of TRUE GRIT
A few days ago, I went to a screening at the DGA of TRUE GRIT starring Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and introducing Hailee Steinfeld. The house was filled with excited voting members of the film/TV community. At the end of the movie, a question and answer session was held by a monitor with Hailee and Jeff.
The movie was loving shot by the Coen Brothers and deftly acted by the cast. The cinematography captured the period as if an original sepia photo from the West had come to life.
But I found the conversation after the film to be more thought provoking than the movie and I will tell you why.
Jeff Bridges called TRUE GRIT “a family movie” No offense to Jeff I think he is a fine actor but I don’t see TRUE GRIT as a family movie. It is a movie filled with guns, alcoholism, violence and revenge. Fascinating side note, in Arizona it is legal to carry a concealed weapon in a bar that serves alcohol. So has America really learned much since the Wild Wild West?
Many of us prove our point with guns. Look at the War after 9/11 that is still going strong bringing back soldiers with physical and mental injuries. It is also ironic that the young women in True Grit ends up loosing her arm after seeking justice from the man that killed her father. There is a price to be paid when we seek revenge.
In 2009 there were close to 10,000 murders in the United States compared to approximately 63 in the United Kingdom, 381 in Germany and 7 in Japan.
Last week TRUE GRIT was number one at the box office.
Also last week Jared Loughner allegedly shot and killed 6 people, injured 14including Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
On November 16, 2010, Ronni Chasen publicist and friend of Jeff Bridges was shot to death on her way home from a movie premiere.
Gun Violence is a staple in American Cinema. I heard on KPFK.org recently that since Martin Luther King’s assassination in 1968, over 1,000,000 Americans have been murdered by guns.
Getting back to the TRUE GRIT screening and question and answer session, I kept my mouth shut and my hand down while I thought of the irony of what Jeff Bridges said about his movie.
Everyone was so busy giving warm accolades and in such a rosy mood that I didn’t want to kill the idol worship with a serious question of the irony of True Grit being the number one movie in America one week after the shooting in AZ where they have some of the most lax gun laws in the world.
Showing posts with label Ronni Chasen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ronni Chasen. Show all posts
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
The Chasen Conspiracy: Famed Publicist Ronni Chasen Murder A Mafia Hit?
Ronni Chasen famed Hollywood Publicist was murdered on 11/16/2010. Beverly Hills Police Chief Dave Snowden announced on 12/07/2010 that Chasen’s murder was solved. As if the murder mystery solution was a Pre-Christmas gift, Snowden claimed in a press conference that Harold Martin Smith a man who apparently committed suicide, killed Ms. Chasen on a botched car jacking/robbery even though Ronni’s jewelry and purse were not stolen. Allegedly, Smith was on a bicycle when he shot Ronni Chasen in her car.
A few days ago, I was at Mayfair Market on Franklin. While I was checking out, I heard a woman laughing at the scenario that the Beverly Hills Police had put out in the solving of the Ronni Chasen murder. She scoffed at the idea that a man on a bicycle could roll up to Chasen and shoot her. The woman was talking so loud that the conversation stuck in my head.
While I was in Beverly Hills on Saturday, I heard more rumblings about the murder investigation. The buzz is from the people who knew and lived near Ronni that the story is not over and the crime is not solved. Many believe it was a hit.
Many believe that the Chief Dave Snowden was forced to make a rapid solution to the high profile murder. If he didn’t solve it soon, he would loose his job.
Also, the car Ronni Chasen was driving showed no gun shots to the outside. The Mercedes was unscathed. No bullet holes on any windows, nor on the exterior of the car. Would Ronni leave her windows down late night on her way home on a deserted street? Not likely.
Chasen’s car window was shattered but not by a gun. Was the damage done from the outside or the inside? The damage to the window can be determine by the glass fragments left in or outside the car. Where were most of the glass fragments?
There were no gun casings found at the scene. How is that possible or plausible if witnesses said they heard multiple gun shots. Also witnesses who arrived on the scene said that they didn’t smell gun fire, or see much damage to the inside of Chasen’s Mercedes.
Did she try to make a call for help by her phone? Was she shot earlier and kept driving?
Was Ronni Chasen murdered by someone hiding in her car? How was she shot in the torso with no left over evidence inside the car? Was it a professional hit with a clean up crew?
Rumors also swirled that Ronni Chasen had been robbed of not only jewelry recently but an inside source claims that either one or more of Ronni’s Picasso Paintings were stolen.
If what the police say is true, how did a man on a bicycle roll up to a Mercedes? Why didn’t Ronni just run a red light if she saw a man coming close to her car late night. Did the attacker out peddle Ronni’s car? Did he hide in the bushes near the stop light and wait for a car to roll up and stop? If Smith intended to hijack Ronni's car, leaving his bicycle would have left evidence with his prints. Was it a random act? A man so bold to carjack or rob a late model Mercedes is too afraid to grab the jewelry and purse after he murdered her?
Was Ronni Chasen’s murder a calculated crime where someone or a group of people tracked her whereabouts, knew what time she was heading home and knew exactly which route? Lastly, in a world with millions of satellites and numerous surveillance cameras blanketing every metropolitan city, where is the footage of the accused riding on his bike? How is it possible that he was not seen by any witnesses or on camera footage? In a city like Beverly Hills, you mean a Black man riding on a bicycle at night who looks suspect, is not going to be seen by someone or the police? Was Harold Martin Smith just a patsy? A known repeated looser who was an easy fall guy that no one would miss or question?
Is it true that Ronni was supposed to testify against organize crime in a robbery investigation? These are just a few of the questions still swirling in regards to the Chasen Conspiracy.
A few days ago, I was at Mayfair Market on Franklin. While I was checking out, I heard a woman laughing at the scenario that the Beverly Hills Police had put out in the solving of the Ronni Chasen murder. She scoffed at the idea that a man on a bicycle could roll up to Chasen and shoot her. The woman was talking so loud that the conversation stuck in my head.
While I was in Beverly Hills on Saturday, I heard more rumblings about the murder investigation. The buzz is from the people who knew and lived near Ronni that the story is not over and the crime is not solved. Many believe it was a hit.
Many believe that the Chief Dave Snowden was forced to make a rapid solution to the high profile murder. If he didn’t solve it soon, he would loose his job.
Also, the car Ronni Chasen was driving showed no gun shots to the outside. The Mercedes was unscathed. No bullet holes on any windows, nor on the exterior of the car. Would Ronni leave her windows down late night on her way home on a deserted street? Not likely.
Chasen’s car window was shattered but not by a gun. Was the damage done from the outside or the inside? The damage to the window can be determine by the glass fragments left in or outside the car. Where were most of the glass fragments?
There were no gun casings found at the scene. How is that possible or plausible if witnesses said they heard multiple gun shots. Also witnesses who arrived on the scene said that they didn’t smell gun fire, or see much damage to the inside of Chasen’s Mercedes.
Did she try to make a call for help by her phone? Was she shot earlier and kept driving?
Was Ronni Chasen murdered by someone hiding in her car? How was she shot in the torso with no left over evidence inside the car? Was it a professional hit with a clean up crew?
Rumors also swirled that Ronni Chasen had been robbed of not only jewelry recently but an inside source claims that either one or more of Ronni’s Picasso Paintings were stolen.
If what the police say is true, how did a man on a bicycle roll up to a Mercedes? Why didn’t Ronni just run a red light if she saw a man coming close to her car late night. Did the attacker out peddle Ronni’s car? Did he hide in the bushes near the stop light and wait for a car to roll up and stop? If Smith intended to hijack Ronni's car, leaving his bicycle would have left evidence with his prints. Was it a random act? A man so bold to carjack or rob a late model Mercedes is too afraid to grab the jewelry and purse after he murdered her?
Was Ronni Chasen’s murder a calculated crime where someone or a group of people tracked her whereabouts, knew what time she was heading home and knew exactly which route? Lastly, in a world with millions of satellites and numerous surveillance cameras blanketing every metropolitan city, where is the footage of the accused riding on his bike? How is it possible that he was not seen by any witnesses or on camera footage? In a city like Beverly Hills, you mean a Black man riding on a bicycle at night who looks suspect, is not going to be seen by someone or the police? Was Harold Martin Smith just a patsy? A known repeated looser who was an easy fall guy that no one would miss or question?
Is it true that Ronni was supposed to testify against organize crime in a robbery investigation? These are just a few of the questions still swirling in regards to the Chasen Conspiracy.
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