Thursday, March 05, 2015

Scooter and Jinx

As HBO goes, you know, Girls is fine (and has had its moments this season). Looking is fine (it's slow, methodical, but still enjoyable - though no appearance by Julia Duffy this season...yet).

But for me, this Winter season, it's all about a documentary / interview / investigation show called the Jinx: the Life and Deaths of Robert Durst.

The show is brilliant in its own way.

Years ago, I caught a story about Durst - though I didn't remember the details or his name - and the tale that was told (New York?  Vanity Fair?  Highlights for Children? ) seemed to be a little one-sided, as most articles related to crime seem to do.

I'm not sure why we turned on the Jinx, but glad we did.

It is a six part series (we are four in, so far) that starts with the discovery of a dismembered body in Galveston Bay.

The show isn't chronological and skips back and forth across decades, and just the way the director / interviewer (I've seen him before, and cannot place where) put it together completely makes sense. At least so far.

Durst is an odd-ball at best. A triple murderer at worst.

I think it is in the second episode that we find Durst's father woke the then 7 year old Robert up in the middle of the night so he could witness his mother jumping off the roof of their house to her death.

That is one fucked up father.

How does that not fuck you up for life.........and on multiple levels.

My father criticized how I played golf - I think that was my big trauma.

I won't say it explains the things he allegedly does (again, there's that potential triple murder thingy), but you might have a hard time saying the man was mentally unfit.

And yes, I did say alleged murders. In this series, they are tracking three. One of which we know the outcome (no spoiler alerts here in case you plan on seeing re-airings or on demand), so far with the other two we do not.

It would be easy to go out and read things on-line, but so far 710 and I have resisted, as we are just fascinated by the main character and don't want to know where this is going.

No doubt residing somewhere on the Autism spectrum, Durst has almost no filter, no remorse (assuming he has anything feel sorry for) and speaks very candidly - almost too much so. But he does it in a way that finds both 710 and myself laughing out loud.

There is a good cross-section of family interviewed here, along with victims families, friends, neighbors, police, judges, lawyers (defense and prosecutors), jury members, etc. But the main character is Durst himself - and he's interviewed extensively.

Right now, the story seems fair and balanced - as the filmmakers wade through the oddities that is Durst and his life (he's an heir to a billionaire father who owns NYC real estate such as the Elias Clark Conde Nast building). But even the police and lawyers seem to be shaking their head over the weirdness of the situation and turn of events.

I'm dying (pun intended) to see how it all turns out.



Song by: Sonic Youth

1 comment:

GregM said...

I agree. Loving this show. Andrew Jareki, the director and interviewer, also did "Capturing the Friedmans". If you haven't seen it, it;s also great.