Cinema Purgatorio #11 - "My Fair Dahlia"

[laughing_tree]

Varnished with blood and Brylcreem, in our razor-collared cutting edge collection we restore the broken-bulb emporiums where, in the creaking backseats, modern terror and monstrosity were shamelessly conceived. In our worn aisles and glossy pages the most individual and inventive talents in contemporary comics are delivering a landmark midnight matinee in monochrome, intent on pushing both the genre and the medium beyond their stagnant formulas and into shapes that suit the unique shadows and disquiets of our present moment. -- Alan Moore

Comments

[gnarll]

Thats a real case I believe. Elizabeth Short.

[donnblake]

Yes, now known better (or for worse) as the Black Dahlia.

[tripodeca113]

[Go's off to read the annotations,]
[Comes back]
Ah genius.

[leoboiko]

Yeah most of Purgatorio goes way over my head. I bet cinema majors must be having a blast, as I (as a Lovecraft fan) had with Providence.

[indy2012]

I always appreciated Moore for writing in a way where I feel challenged. I don't get that from a lot of comic writers.

From what I gather here initially, the Elizabeth Short case, which turns 70 this year, sensationalized and objectified and victim-blamed and conspiracy-theoried the true Short out of existence. At the end of the day, this is a story of a woman being brutally murdered and never getting justice. To this day, she's been the subject of numerous films, stories, and tv shows, and in most portrayals, she and her murder are framed in a titillating fashion. It is another example of human tragedy being monetized and transformed into garish entertainment.

I was reading through an article of unsolved murders posted by Buzzfeed, and was somewhat disturbed that this article was mixed in amongst Which Hogwarts House or Disney Princess are you based upon your favorite Kardashian quizzes. I mean, when does a murder or death transform from tragedy to entertainment?

The My Fair Dahlia title is an obvious reference to My Fair Lady where a phonetics teacher transforms a Cockney flower girl into a person who can pass for royalty, whereas here the senasational and sexy Black Dahlia is fashioned from sad and pointless violence against women.