If you're tired of the Michael Jackson "drama" on your TV screens, but your appetite is whetted for other celebrity crimes in LA, try this. You can learn about Fatty Arbuckle, Aimee Semple McPherson, Caryl Chessman, and the Black Dahlia; sadly missing is any account of the Zoot Suit Riots, though they were certainly scandalous.
Posted by Linkmeister at November 20, 2003 03:48 PMI'm really not sure that I'll ever tire of the whole Michael Jackson debacle.
Posted by: Mary at November 20, 2003 09:56 PMOops. I'm not Mary, I jus played her on a previous visit to your site.
Posted by: JadedJu at November 20, 2003 09:56 PMt
Posted by: JadedJu at November 20, 2003 09:57 PMUm, huh? (goes off to look for posts from "Mary)
Posted by: Linkmeister at November 20, 2003 09:58 PMI read a book a few years ago called Hollywood Babylon.
It was about the early Hollywood scandals and the coverups.
The Black Dahlia was an interesting story, and Arbuckle's tale ruined him in Tinsel Town...
Of course there wouldn't be anything about the Zoot Suit Riots -- there wasn't anyone of consequence affected by it, right? -- just a bunch of LA "greasers." Why would it be important? OK -- I'll now take off my "Saviour of the Latina population" hat and resume normal broadcasting. This was one of those things I learned about in my Mex-American studies classes in college, mostly through accounts in local Spanish newspapers of the time. Aaargh. If you haven't seen it, the movie (really just a filming of the stage play) by Luis Valdez is excellent. One of my favorites. The depiction of this event in "American Me" is chilling, too.
Posted by: Skatemom at November 21, 2003 08:28 AMThe scope of that website didn't include that, of course, which is why I went looking for something about those riots elsewhere. PBS' American Experience did a good job with it, as I recall.
The really distressing thing is that California was already the site where thousands of Japanese-Americans were interned; racism everywhere.
Posted by: Linkmeister at November 21, 2003 08:44 AM