Brent Criticizes the Critics

Moving from debating about (and yachting with) Roy Coen back to Kocis-related matters, Brent has a new blog post up. It's an interesting one...a shotgun blast at various online and print media that have mentioned him in recent months.

GayVN news comes under fire for having a subtle pay-to-link policy in it's news stories (and thus not linking to him), and using older Falcon photos of him (I guess the real offense here is that they lack the BCI web address watermark?).

Next in his gun sites is JC Adams and his Gay Porn Times. More unhappiness with a perceived pro-Falcon slant to the story, and correcting some errors...one of which is unquestionably a huge and insulting one to Brent (or any civilized human, for that matter): "He’s been laying low since getting caught in the backdraft of the Bryan Kocis/Cobra Video murder, for which his former costar Harlow Cuadra, and boyfriend-partner Joseph Kerekes, are standing trial."


LOL, OK this complaint is legit, IMO; I too would be a tad upset at being falsely accused of co-starring with Harlow! And for the record, THIS does not count as co-starring. ------->

Brent's reply to this malignant slur:

"While there was initial interest in collaborative film work between Brent Corrigan and Harlow Cuadra, BoyBatter’s misunderstanding of the circumstances (namely our settlement with Cobra Video) at hand made it unlikely. Then the unthinkable occurred and the mere prospect of a collaborative effort became utterly impossible, and certainly unattractive to Brent Corrigan INC. We were not EVER costars."

This is somewhat interesting, as it addresses the whole motive question. Note that Brent makes clear a misunderstanding on the part of BoyBatter occurred...which is pretty close to what I originally theorized happened at that Vegas dinner, months ago when we first read the affidavit report on it.

Then Brent (BTW, as you can all see...I now hyperlink to BCI at every mention of Brent, and I will try to use only the freshest pics of him from his site, and TRY not to mention Falc...a certain studio...I must avoid the WRATH of BRENT! Don't hurt me, pleeeeeeze...!) says nice things about Just Us Boys and Angel Benton, and lukewarm things about Jason Sechrest.

Then he talks about Rolling Stone...ah, now things get interesting!

"The press is without a doubt, a necessary evil in our lives. I’m not proud and in no way endorse Peter Wilkinson’s portrayal of Brent Corrigan and Cobra Video in his article written for Rolling Stone. The clues to that aren’t in skewed facts, but Wilkinson’s defiance and disdain for me in writing his article. It’s in the details he deemed necessary to include, and his decision not to include others. An author like Wilkinson doesn’t have to lie to sway his readers’ opinion. Instead, they choose carefully which facts to include and which facts to leave out in order to steer the reader’s perception.

I cringe when I meet someone and they proclaim they read the Rolling Stone article. An overwhelming urge to set the record straight about everything to that individual washes over me each time I hear those words. This being particularly ironic to me because that’s what I was under the impression Rolling Stone was doing when they invited me to participate in the article. But silly me, I didn’t take into account the individual agenda of the journalist writing the piece. Furthermore, next time I’ll trust my gut instinct. I should not have ignored Wilkinson’s tinge of disdain that lightly emanated from him upon our first meeting."

Hmmm, interesting. And then, the Out article:

"OUT Magazine practically ignored the bigger picture at hand, which makes me feel less agitated than I do about Rolling Stone and Peter Wilkinson. Particularly, I can’t ignore what Out does for our community, and for that I thank them. I have an immense amount of respect for Out. Although Michael Joseph Gross didn’t get it all wrong, many of the facts he included in that article are in fact, inaccurate. For instance, my first shoot date for Cobra Video was February 3rd, 2004 and not September 2004. The article also states that my second shoot was in Florida, when it was actually filmed here in La Jolla, north of San Diego but close enough to still be considered local for me. Michael Joseph Gross also mixes up references to money and repeatedly mixes facts about the two different summers I spent in Dallas, Pennsylvania. Furthermore, the order of events and his perception of my last few months at Cobra appear to be mistaken."

Hmmm. I'm not sure what he considers "the bigger picture at hand" here, but the time and place corrections above are useful and appreciated.

Humbly, as always, at your service...jim

Update: A response from Jason Sechrest.

Update 2: Brent is nominated by fans for not one but two Cybersocket Web Awards; for Best New Adult Site and Best Porn Star Site.

Update 3: Angel Benton at Just Us Boys returns the love.

Update 4: J.C. Adams replies.

Update 5: In a new blog post, Brent flies to sunny Florida, meets his cast, and also runs into a couple fellow porn stars cast as cameos for Another Gay Sequel. The handshakes are chilly, as one of these porn cameos once had "taken the liberty of posting written, multi paragraph notices to the industry urging fans, viewers, journalists, studios, and producers not to buy my work, support my cause, or hire me for adult projects."

Hehe, well of course, we have NO idea who this mystery porn star/producer is, but Brent reports that he does not hold a grudge, and will not let a little antipathy interfere with the general sense of la dolce vita he is experiencing on the set in SoFla.

Trent Lott's Male Escort

Or so it is being alleged. No word on whether Trent Lott ever visited a Montana dude ranch, however.

Hmmm. Color me "skeptical" at this point, for three reasons:

1) All the evidence seems to consist of the denials by this escort being parsed into admissions;
2) The escort in question, Benjamin Nicholas, has had some credibility issues in the past - some kind of plagiarism scandal concerning his blog, if memory serves; and
3) Like my momma always told me, if it is too good to be true, it probably is.

Update: Story spreads to Huffington Post, although the overall tone there is skepticism as well.

Update 2: The "Big Head" blog that broke the story is now publishing all the emails from the escort. LOL, remind me to never make an "off-the-record" comment over there! In any case, yeah, it's my Point #1 above in spades: This whole story consists of a bunch of non-denial denials being parsed into admissions by an overeager blogger. And I'm not sure, really, who is playing who here...whether Benjamin saw this as a way to get cheap, easy publicity, or this Big Head guy wanted to "create" a scoop. Or both. In any case, I am seriously doubting the real Trent Lott is involved here, in anything but an imaginary way.

Update 3: Dan Savage talks to Benjamin Nicholas, who still denies everything and says he is "hoping that the national media doesn’t pick this up." Meanwhile, according to Savage: "Unfortunately for Nicholas, the national media is picking this story up: the ABCNEWS producer and investigative reporter that broke the Mark Foley story just called. She wanted to know how she could get in touch with Nicholas about Trent Lott."

But we'll see. Humbly, as always, at your service...jim

Deal or No Deal

Rather than speculate about rumors of an upcoming plea deal, or educate on the overwhelming prevalence of them in our criminal justice system, or make a failed hoax attempt about a deal implicating cooperating witnesses, I’ve decided to take a more cultured, sophisticated approach to this whole deal deal:

Lets make a game show out of it!

Everyone who want to play submit an entry: WHO will make the first deal, WHEN will this deal be announced, and WHAT will the terms be?

So, each eligible entry must contain 3 guesses:

1. Harlow or Joe?
2. Month deal will be announced in the media? And
3. The maximum sentence agreed to under the deal, in years (or “life” for life)?

Everyone who gets all three correct is a winner! If no one hits all three, the winner is chosen amongst those who hit 1 and 2 above, and got closest in sentencing years. Life = infinity (so is not a good choice for tie-breaking purposes).

If no one gets 1 and 2, or if there is NO DEAL…no one wins.

The prize? That coin of the realm here in the Kocisphere…bragging rights!

So, comment and submit your entries NOW! :-)

Humbly, as always, at your service...jim

The Harlow Apology

(One of the main purposes of this blog is to explore some of the lesser talked about aspects of this case, that I have felt never got quite the attention they deserved. The granddaddy of all these under-talked about topics is the Harlow Apology.

Below is a slightly modified repost of an exhaustive explanation and analysis of the Harlow Apology I did, back on the Harlow & Joe...On Trial Blog.

It's amazing how many times the issue of Brent and Grant's involvement comes up, despite the shining, incontrovertable truth of the Harlow Apology. It seems to me, some of the bloggers in this case are agenda driven to simply forget the Harlow Apology, to sweep it under the rug, and just pretend it does not exist. Causing me to remind everyone of it's existance, over and over again, in comment after comment!

Notice that no one ever challenges the Harlow Apology whenever I bring it up. It's because they can't. It's logic is impeccable, it's conclusions inescapable. No, the typical response of those adverse to it's meaning is to simply ignore it, hoping the inconvenient truth of it's message will just go away.

Anyways, here it is again, in it's first very own FULL BLOG POST...a LONG OVERDUE HONOR...spreading it's glorious rays of truth once again throughout the Kocisphere...ladies and gentlemen, I present to you: The Harlow Apology!)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It's just extraordinary to me how little people know about perhaps the most CRUCIAL piece of evidence in this entire case: The Harlow Apology.

...

The scene is La Jolla, CA. In at least two conversations, Brent and Grant are part of a police surveillance and recording operation, the purpose of which, IMO, is not so much to gather evidence against H & J (although that is no doubt going to be a useful byproduct of the sting operation), but to clear up an important loose end in Sgt. Hannon's investigation: the extent to which (if any) Sean and Grant had any prior conspiratorial involvement with Harlow and Joe in planning the murder.

In other words, the main purpose of the WHOLE Blacks Beach taping operation was to answer the burning question: Did anyone "put them (Harlow and Joe) up to it?"

And what was the answer?

Well, the thing to keep in mind is that the answer here derives not so much from what H & J unwittingly said into those police recording tapes...but WHAT THEY DID NOT SAY. Had S & G been involved, conspiratorially, with H & J in planning the murder, the entire two-days of recorded conversation would have been LACED with references by H & J to their co-conspiratrial involvement.

But there are absolutely no such references in those tapes.

In fact, it gets even better than that for S & G. According to the affidavit, Brent and Grant asks Harlow a question (paraphasing): "Gee, why did you guys kill Kocis? You know we NEVER wanted you to do this. It's brought alot of unwanted suspicion on us in fact."

Now, this is what we call a loaded question.

If you notice, the most important part of the question here is not the question itself (Why...?) but the premise (we NEVER...). In other words, it's a trick. How Harlow responded to this trick loaded question is CRITICAL.

Now, if S & G were guilty, Harlow would have immediately objected to the premise. He WOULD HAVE said something like "Wha???? What you talkin' 'bout??? You ASKED US to do this!!!! You put us UP TO IT!!!"

But Harlow did not say that, did he? Oh no!

In fact, if Harlow had just shrugged his shoulders at this point, said nothing...that would have exhonerated S & G. Silence indicates assent in this instance - assent to the premise in the carefully loaded question.

But Harlow did more than give silent assent to the premise! Hoo boy did he ever! Harlow actually gave Brent and Grant a HOME RUN! Harlow gave NON-SILENT FULLY VERBALIZED AGREEMENT to the premise! He APOLOGIZED to them! He actually said he was sorry, for murdering Kocis w/o Grant and Brent's prior knowledge! Says so, RIGHT THERE IN THE AFFIDAVIT ("...As a response, both Cuadra and Kerekes made apologetic statements for their hardship." Affidavit pg. 30)

And as I've said MANY times before: You do not apologize for something someone wanted you to do. You apologize for something someone DID NOT want you to do.

THE HARLOW APOLOGY. LEARN IT. REMEMBER IT. EMBRACE IT. LOVE IT!

As you can see, it completely exhonerates Brent and Grant. Which was, like I said, most probably the whole point of this Blacks Beach police operation...to tie up this loose end in the case. And as you all can see, it got tied up in favor of Brent and Grant. Decisively, for all time.

The Harlow Apology prooves not that Brent and Grant are victims of this crime, along with Bryan Kocis...not perpetrators. And no amount of jailhouse spinning by Harlow and Joe will change this fact.

Silent Whisperings

Since I've started my own blog, I've begun to get requests via the comments feature to open direct private email communication with someone; or just for-my-eyes-only comments, not to be posted.

My thoughts on the former are, that since I have given Elm and Jakester such a hard time for opening direct private communication with the participants, it would be hypocritical of me to start dabbling in the same sort of thing.

So, what is happening is, I'm not responding at all to these requests for direct email powwows. I hope this is not being misinterpreted as rudeness. It's just that, if I'm gonna talk the talk, I'm gonna walk the walk. It's principles not rudeness.

Plus with all this IP tracing mania out there, I really don't want to be broadcasting my home town to email recipients...even those I trust. Which includes most everyone here, BTW. I've made the call early on to remain anonymous; I am going to strive to keep it that way (for now).

My thoughts on the latter are, well, if you want to whisper sweet nothings in my ear, and ask that they not be posted, ok fine. I'll read 'em, and respect your request not to post. But obviously I shouldn't reply.

As always, humbly at your service...jim

Blair Says "Farewell"

"Hello everyone. I am writing this one last blog entry to let you all know this site will be taken down one week from today. This decision is pivoted on my eagerness to cut all ties from me to the porn industry..."

Goodbye, Blair.

Best of luck to you, Troy! :-)

Elmysterio Comes Clean

You remember how many times Elm and the other Harlowites have uttered those most sacred words of American jurisprudence: "Innocent Until Prooven Guilty?"

LOL, might as well ask how many stars are in the sky.

Well! TODAY we see how sincere they about that.

Thus scrivens Elm:

"As far as I am concerned I truly do think that they are going to be railroaded in to prison for life and or even killed for this crime."

Here's the definition of the word Railroaded: "INFORMAL. send along quickly or too quickly to be fair."

This trial is not until March of 2008! And the lawyers can get continuances, generally speaking, until the cows come home.

So, there is no "railroading" going on...no, this is the clearest sign yet that the Harlowites don't really give a damn about "I.U.P.G." At least the U.P.G. part.

Here is what I wrote in reply to this outrage, over on Elm's blog; it is worthy of being highlighted here, in it's very own blog post:

"You see? I KNEW IT.

I KNEW "Innocent Until Prooven Guilty" was a load off bullcrap, when coming out of your guys mouths.

I knew it! Said it all along...EVEN if Harlow pleads, or is found guilty (whatever), you guys would just shift to Plan C: Harlow, the Unjustly Convicted!

You see, this is one of the reasons it made my skin crawl every time you or Jakester uttered these sacred words...it's because I knew...I could just SEE the insincerity every time you guys wrote I.U.P.G.

You guys never did give a shit about the U.P.G. part, didja? Oh no! It was the "I" part, the "I" forever! Even after Harlow is "P.G.ed" he's "I". Oh what a LOL!

See everyone? I TOLD YA SO! :-D"

Harlow Writes a Letter

A letter to the editor of Out magazine, interestingly enough.

Naturally about the Michael Gross article...he liked it!

I was too cheap to buy the issue (December), but that's pretty much what he wrote; not much more, not much less. Check it out for yourself!

Ethangate Update

DRA-MA.

Blair has announced his intention to delete his video in a few days, saying it has served it's purpose.

Meanwhile, webmaster Keith is taking center stage, with a few more "clarifications" over on the rump of BBS he is still maintaining for whistleblower purposes. The comments are, once again, even more entertaining; grab some popcorn and be sure to read those too:

http://bratboyschool.com/bulletin/2007/11/clarity.php#comments

The battle being fought in the comments section is rather interesting: Is "Ethan" a co-conspirator, or a victim?

Keith is striving mightily for Ethan-as-victim (they grew up togther, so Keith is in a relatively good position to know this). However...this notion is not going over well with many others.

It is probably not helpful to Ethan's case here that the only two who have NOT come spoken are Rick Altmann, and Ethan. Everyone else right now has come out and slammed Rick. Thus, silence by Ethan naturally implies guilt. That right now is his main problem, IMO.

Like I said, grab the popcorn and check it out...Humbly, as always, at your service...jim

Oh GAWD, It's Brent Corrigan Reloaded!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Ben and Ethan are Splitsville

OK, this is TOTALLY not Kocis related, but interesting nonetheless...

And it comes as no surprise, really...I am sure we have suspected this for weeks...but this answer in the comments section of Benjamin Bradley's blog finally spells it out, in clear unambiguous words:

"Angel,
I hope you understand that I have not meant to keep the truth from anyone. The only reason some things have not had light shed on the subject is because there are other people I have to consider. This isn't just about myself. I will be honest and say that Ethan and I are not together. This is the first official statement I have made on the subject. I wish Ethan the best. I really do. Like I said before, life takes twists and turns that one would never expect. I just want everyone to know that ProjectBE was about two people coming together to try and inspire and uplift others. That was always real. And while we are not together, I sill want to continue on the same path, whether I do it alone, or with a loved one.

I thank you so much for your understanding on the subject as it is a difficult one. However, I believe everything happens for a reason, and I only want to make the best of all that life dishes out.

Much love, BEN

Posted by: Benjamin Bradley | November 9, 2007 11:26 PM "

Jim's Greatest Comments, Vol. 1

The AaronAid series. It began with Elm's accusing Aaron aka Robert Wagner of being the murderer (in cahoots with bb, Brent, Grant...yep, those two worked with busom buddy Aaron and bb in this conspiracy, LOL!...the FBI and Luzerne County). But mostly Aaron; in the Elm theory he was the actual killer. The others just helped Aaron to frame Harlow and Joe. I think. Elm's theory was posted a while back, and was...um...complicated.

My challenge was to write a parody of this theory. But how does one parody a theory that is, in effect, already pretty much a self-parody of itself?

With difficulty, that's how. It wasn't easy, but I came up with a plan: AaronAid! Orginally conceived as a a three-part series, only two were ever completed...a third, alas, never went further than an outline.

AaronAid Part One (posted July 19, 2007 7:09 PM)
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Well I think this is just terrible. Here is Brent and Grant being accused of working secretly with Aaron and bb, to murder Bryan. Well call me crazy, but I just KNOW in heart they are innocent!

And besides...they are INNOCENT UNTIL PROOVEN GUILTY! (Yes I read this in a blog somewhere...now whose was it again???) Hence, what right have you Elm, to level such serious accusation! None! Because they are I.U.P.G.!

A feel I need to help these four, who I feel have been unjustly accused of a heinous crime. What should I do?

Well, first I'm starting up a MySpace page: www.myspace.com/fourwronglyaccusedbyelmysterio.

And second...I hereby announce the formation of a NEW legal defense fund! Now, Brent and Grant already have BrentAid. We know this. So, I'm not going to worry about those two. They are covered.

Soooo, with great fanfare (do do do DOOOO!), I would like to announce the formation of...

AaronAid !!!!!!

Here's the pitch (to be posted atop www.freeaaronandbb.com):

"Folks, Aaron (and bb) have been accused of a crime they did not commit. By Elm. And as a result...they might get raided by SWAT team, and arrested, and have all their assets frozen...you never know these days! And if that happens their legal bills will be out of control. Without your help, they'll have to rely on Cad for long-distance pro-bono work.

"Aaron is a sweet, fun-loving guy, who could have NEVER commited this crime. And bb...eh, well...ok bb and me have not exactly seen eye to eye on a couple issues in the past...but STILL, it is my sworn duty, as citizen JIM, to see to it that everyone in this land is I.U.P.G.!"

And there you have it, folks...AaronAid is born! As soon as I set up the web sites, order the hats and tee shirts...whew, much work ahead of me here...

Oh one last little detail. Money donated to AaronAid will go exclusively to legal fees...and, if needed, kidney replacement surgery.

Eh, you never know! One of them might have kidney failure during this legal ordeal, and I think allowing for this possibility is a prudent measure.

So! This means that, if by chance I spend the donations on kidney surgery rather than legal expenses (mj), no one (mj) has the right to complain (mj) because I just ***explicitly*** spelled out (mj) in my appeal (mj) that the funds could be used in this manner (MJ!). Now is everyone clear on that? (mj mj mj mj mj mj mj...)


AaronAid Part Two (posted July 20, 2007 1:10 PM)
------------------------------------------------

OK, back to serious matters now...about two innocent boys, unjustly accused...

*****AaronAid Update!!!*****

OK fellow Aaron supporters...the "Free Aaron (and bb)" tee shirts are ON ORDER! Yay!

Yes indeedy, my Free Aaron campaign is rolling on! A friend recommended this clothing store out in San Diego to me, and after speaking on the phone to a very helpful Sales Lad over there, we'll have shirts soon. wOOt!

Now, I cannot heap enough praise on this helpful and kindly Sales Lad. As you can see by this transcript I recorded...he went the extra mile for us here...kudos to him!:

-----------------------------

Sales Lad: "American Apparel, can I help you?"

jim: "YES! I need 1000 cotton tee shirts, with the logo "Free Aaron (and bb)" silkscreened on them. Stat! Delivered with the next 24 hours, please."

SL: (long pause) "...OK, who the @#$% is this?!..."

jim: "My name is jim and I'm on a moral crusade to defend two boys, falsely accused of a heinous crime they did not commit, committed by someone else, who was not them."

SL: (another curiously long pause) "...I see."

jim: "And they are needed to raise money for their legal defense fund."

SL: "Uh huh. Could I...um...put you on hold for a sec?"

[30 minutes of elevator muzak]

SL: "I'm back, sorry for the wait..."

jim: "That's OK, I sure you must be busy over there."

SL: "Well, yes, as a matter of fact I sold over $1,300 worth of clothing last weekend alone...but thats neither here nor there. No, the reason for the long hold is I had to make a special call to the factory, and yes, I was able to place your order."

jim: "WOW thats super!"

SL: "Er yes, well, the only thing is, our factory was fresh out of cotton."

jim: "Really? Thats too bad. So what are they..."

SL: "...Made of? Burlap."

jim: "Burlap?"

SL: "Yeah burlap. And thats the other little thing too...they're not exactly shirts per se,...they're potato sacks. With a head hole cut in the bottom, and two arm holes in the side..."

-----------------

Anyways, long story short...thanks to this helpful Sales Lad, "Free Aaron (and bb)" shirts (okay, potato sacks) are on the way! : )

I'll be sure to keep you all updated with new Free Aaron developments, as soon as I think of them...


AaronAid Part Three (never got off the drawing board)
------------------------------------------------

In a nutshell, the outline of Part Three was as follows:
1. T-Shirts (ok, ok...potato sacks) get delivered.
2. Announce formation of the Free Aaron Blog. Moderated by "Bee." All are welcomed to comment! No viewpoints turned away!
3. Someone posts they did not like Aaron's performance in "Every Bareboned Schoolboy's Dream XVII."
4. "GODDDAMMIT THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A FORUM SUPPORTING AARON! GO TO HELL YOU MISERABLE WORM! FOAD! OH AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE ME POSTING IN ALL CAPS...FUCK YOU AND YO MAMA TOO!!!..." etc..
5. "Bee" is announced on a leave of absence from blog moderating duties, is replaced by "The Cherub of Veracity."
6. The Cherub announces a huge victory! The State has agreed to return a ball of lint from siezed from Aaron's washer-dryer; this is clearly a sign that the case vs. Aaron is weak.
7. etc...

...and this is as far as I got. I scrapped plans to complete it; it was not funny enough, IMO.

Would You Spend a Year in Jail for Harlow and Joe?

A Class 1 Misdemeanor in Virginia is the most severe class of misdemeanor on the books in that state; just one grade below a Felony.

The penalty in Virginia for a Class 1 Misdemeanor is jail for up to 12 months, and a fine up to $2500.

Now, what would you think of a so-called friend who asked you to do something for him, that might cause you to spend a year in jail, and pay a $2500 fine?

Now, I don't know about you, but I would NOT think much of this so-called "friend" after he tried to pressure me into this sort of uncomfortable situation. IN FACT, if this situation were to ever happen to ME, my first inclination would be to terminate this friendship, for a period of time equal to "forever, plus one day."

Yet, according to the latest news, this is precisely what Harlow and Joe began asking of certain friends and aquantances, apparantly, just after they murdered Bryan Kocis. To LIE to police for them, and give them a false alibi as to their whereabouts.

"Any person who knowingly and willfully makes any materially false statement or representation to a law-enforcement officer who is in the course of conducting an investigation of a crime by another is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor."

We know Harlow and Joe were in Luzerne County on January 24th; we know this from wireless emails, cell phone towers, motel logs, credit cards and Joe's own jailhouse interview. To explain all this evidence away, they now say they were on an innocent "camping trip" (LOL!) to the coal mining region of northeastern Pennslyvania. In the dead of winter. Uh...yeah.

HOWEVER, before that mountain of evidence trapped them in Luzerne County, they had tried to claim Harlow was with a "client" that day. Apparantly, they had made several attempts to find such a "client" willing to sling such bullcrap at the police. A client willing to commit a Class 1 Misdemeanor for them.

You know, I would not be surprised if Harlow and Joe DID INDEED manage to find such a sap. Some of the sycophants posting over on Harlow blog do seem that deranged, no doubt about it.

Is that poor sap now facing jail time in Virginia, I wonder?

You know, it's one thing to ask for donations from friends to help one out when facing prosecution. It is quite another thing, however, to ask your friends to COMMIT A CRIME and risk INCARCERATION to help you out. THAT is a whole new level of depravity, IMO...the kind of moral bankruptcy you would expect to see in serious felons and murderers.

Humbly, as always, at your service...jim

Prosecutor Charges Porn Store Owner -- For Selling Porn

I saw this link on the Drudge Report.

It's a news story from Virginia, interestingly enough. Those crazy Virginians...next thing you know, they'll be prosecuting the owners of male prostitute web sites -- for prostitution!

Oh...um...wait a minute...

Fargo

Fargo is one of my all time favorite movies. As it says at the outset, it is based on a true story (well, not exactly true…the Coen brothers who wrote/directed/produced the film “clarified” that claim after the film came out, saying instead it is based on bits and pieces of several stories), and is thus a relatively good example of art imitating life (as opposed to, say, life imitating art).

The interesting thing about the film to me is, that it is not really a whodunit, but rather a “whydunit.” It starts out with one of the main characters, Jerry Lundegaard (played by William H. Macy) plotting to kidnap his wife (a kidnapping which in fact turns into several acts of felony murder…the wife, a state trooper, two motorists, his father-in-law, a parking garage attendant and a “funny looking” hoodlum all end up dead as a result of this rather poorly planned kidnapping).

So, right off the bat the audience knows Jerry is behind the kidnapping. What we are left wondering about at the outset is: why? Jerry Lundegaard immediately comes across as a harmless looking, clean-cut, middle class guy…how can someone who looks like that get involved in a kidnapping and felony murder plot, associating with dangerous characters in dimly lit bar? Thus one of the sub-plots to this movie is a search for why and how. When asked by one of the co-conspirators (the funny-looking thug, played by Steve Buscemi), Jerry vaguely indicates that he needs money, but is otherwise very evasive: “…these are personal matters.”

In this blog post, I am going to skip over the other sub-plots in this excellent movie (ie, the murderous rampage of the bungling kidnappers, and the search for them by the intrepid and very pregnant Marge Gunderson), and focus only on the Jerry Lundegaard sub-plot…why does he want to put his wife at risk by kidnapping her, and how did he ever devolve to such a level of criminality?

The Coen brothers give us our first clue towards answering these questions, in the TruCoat scene. It depicts Jerry at work, just a typical day as a car salesman in Minneapolis. A customer and his wife are with Jerry at the showroom, and they are not happy. It seems they ordered a new car from Jerry, and Jerry is informing them that due to an “accident” the car comes with this expensive TruCoat sealant they did not ask for, or desire. And Jerry is telling them they cannot take possession of the car without paying an extra $500 for the unordered and unwanted sealant.

Well, the customer complains bitterly, and eventually Jerry goes into the back room to argue the customer’s case with “his boss.” But not really. Turns out, he stands around the break room instead, chatting about a hockey game with a co-worker. He never intended to talk to the “boss.” It is clear the whole thing is a scam. Jerry is lying to this customer…a lie which he is obviously well versed in. It is a lie that he has performed, over and over again, as part of his regular duty as an ordinary car salesman.

JERRY: Well, he never done this before, but seein' as it's special circumstances and all, he says I can knock one hunnert off that TruCoat.
CUSTOMER: One hundred! You lied to me, Mr. Lundegaard. You're a bald-faced liar!
(Jerry sits staring at his lap.)
CUSTOMER: ... A fucking liar -
WIFE: Bucky, please!
(Jerry mumbles into his lap) JERRY: One hunnert's the best we can do here.
CUSTOMER: Oh, for Christ's sake, where's my goddamn checkbook. Let's get this over with.

So, you all can see the purpose of these scene in the movie, I am sure…it is to point out that Jerry, by being a car salesman, is a habitual liar. Now, you may say, “well, those are just lies, not kidnapping or murder…” and car salesmen (and people in similar disreputable industries) make little white lies like this all the time, big deal. But what you have to keep in mind is the sheer volume of lying Jerry must engage in, day after day, as part of his sales job. It’s the quantity of the lying, not so much the quality, that you can see is probably the beginning of Jerry’s decline into more serious criminal behavior.

The next important scene revealing Jerry’s decent towards murder comes while he is in his office; he answers a most unwelcome phone call from an official at GMAC. Long story short: It seems Jerry has advanced from the nickel and dime lying of your average car salesman, to felony fraud and grand larceny. He has scammed GMAC for $320,000…for loans on apparently non-existent cars to fictitious customers. And GMAC wants the non-existent VIN numbers from him.

So, we the audience can begin to see the progression here: first petty lying, now criminal fraud. This GMAC scam seems a bit akin to identity theft; it makes you wonder if the buyers for these non-existent cars are fake or real? It is obviously a more complex fraud than, say, simply misrepresenting the nature of an item for sale, but criminal fraud it is, indeed; and we the audience can surmise that such serious criminality must have sprung from the day to day habit of lying, alluded to above; which loosened his moral compass to the point such decent into felonious behavior became, in fact, a relatively small and believable step to undertake.

It is not clear what Jerry did with this $320,000 of GMAC money he took, except that he must have lost it somehow (gambling? bad investments?) and he now finds himself heavily in debt. And with no chance of getting any mercy from his parsimonious father-in-law, has finds he HAS to try something desperate…hence, the audience finally has the mystery revealed…the why and how of Jerry Lundegaard’s decent to kidnapper and murderer is now fully explained.

If someone were to tell me “Gee, thins was a good movie, but I just don’t understand Jerry’s motive here,” I would naturally assume this person had been taking too many bathroom breaks during the movie. The why and how evidence is plain, and clearly revealed in those key scenes. To understand Jerry, you just have to watch those scenes.

And at the end of the movie, when the cops finally catch and arrest him…it is hard not to feel a little sorry for Jerry Lundegaard. Still, as the audience knows, kidnapping and murder are crimes…for which the penalties must be paid.

Humbly, as always, at your service...you betcha! jim