{"id":2236092,"date":"2024-05-02T23:15:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T03:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-documentarians-and-the-murderer\/"},"modified":"2024-05-02T23:21:51","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T03:21:51","slug":"the-documentarians-and-the-murderer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-documentarians-and-the-murderer\/","title":{"rendered":"The filmmakers and the killer"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">10<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthe-documentarians-and-the-murderer%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2236092&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The documentary explores the influence \u2063of films on real events and individuals.\u200d It delves into the impact of &#8220;The Jinx: Part Two,&#8221; focusing on the rich yet eccentric Robert Durst&#8217;s criminal history. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dailywire-launches-an-empire-of-terror-third-installment-of-hit-docuseries-what-we-saw-hosted-by-bill-whittle\/\" title=\"DailyWire+ debuts 'An Empire Of Terror,' third part of popular docuseries 'What We Saw' with Bill Whittle\">series sheds light<\/a> on how documentaries like &#8220;The Jinx&#8221; can lead to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/google-engineer-sentenced-to-14-months-in-prison-for-threatening-to-murder-chief-justice-roberts\/\" title=\"Google employee given 14-month prison term for threatening Chief Justice Roberts with murder\">real-life repercussions<\/a>, such as Durst&#8217;s\u200d conviction for murder. The documentary \u200bdelves into the effects of\u2064 films on actual occurrences \u200band people. It specifically examines the repercussions of &#8220;The Jinx: Part Two,&#8221;\u2063 centering on the peculiar criminal\u2062 past of wealthy\u200c Robert Durst. The series\u200d highlights the potential real-world consequences of documentaries like &#8220;The \u200bJinx,&#8221; as evidenced by Durst&#8217;s murder\u200b conviction.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Because <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/film\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>documentary films<\/a> contend with real people and real events, it is to be expected that they shape the public\u2019s understanding of those people and events. But it is a different matter altogether when those <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/movie\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>films <\/a>start to have a tangible impact on the people or events they are purporting to document. <\/p>\n<p>What if <em>Fahrenheit 9\/11 <\/em>had somehow brought about an end to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/iraq-war\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Iraq War<\/a>? Or if <em>Grey Gardens<\/em> had led to Big Edie and Little Edie renovating their dilapidated estate? In such hypothetical cases, would the filmmakers be considered bystanders to the consequences of their films or, for good or ill, participants in those aftereffects?<\/p>\n<p>Such are the questions and quandaries that must be pondered in watching Andrew Jarecki\u2019s long-belated documentary miniseries <em>The Jinx: Part Two<\/em>. Like its predecessor, the new series revolves around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/798422\/robert-durst-found-guilty-of-first-degree-murder\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Robert Durst<\/a>, the vastly wealthy and exceedingly eccentric heir of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/new-york\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>New York<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/real-estate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>real estate<\/a> family. To have known the psychopathic, indeed homicidal Durst seems to have placed one at risk of losing one\u2019s life: In 1982, Durst\u2019s first wife, Kathie, disappeared, an incident in which he has long been considered culpable. In 2000, his friend Susan Berman was killed, a crime for which he was charged and convicted. And in 2001, a neighbor, Morris Black, was killed, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/crime\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>crime<\/a> to which he admitted but of which he was, unbelievably, acquitted. The six episodes in the new series air weekly through May 26 on HBO, which made the first four episodes available to the press.<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Robert Durst in the documentary, \u201cThe Jinx.\u201d (Courtesy of MAX)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The original <em>The Jinx<\/em> sketched this history in all of its grimness and oddness, except for one key element: At the time the first series began airing in February 2015, Durst had not been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/1661477\/robert-durst-charged-with-1982-murder-of-wife-kathie-durst\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>charged<\/a> in the death of Berman, but the documentary proved so damning that it ultimately led its subject to justice. In the final episode, Durst, who had, of his own volition, agreed to be interviewed for the series, made the fatal error of grousing to himself, off camera but on microphone, something about having \u201ckilled them all, of course.\u201d In March, armed with a latex facial mask, a map of Cuba, and, as ever, loads of cash, Durst was apparently planning to relocate permanently to the island nation when he was arrested by the authorities \u2014 who, it turns out, had already been in touch with the filmmakers for some time. The first episode of the new series offers the following title card: \u201cIn 2013, <em>The Jinx <\/em>filmmakers shared the evidence they had discovered with law enforcement. As a result, the LAPD renewed their investigation into the murder of Bob\u2019s friend Susan Berman.\u201d Oh. <\/p>\n<p>In 2021, Durst was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for murdering Berman. Later that same year, he was charged with murdering his first wife, Kathie, but he died at 78 in January 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Talk about Peak TV! This is the show that helped put a man behind bars. \u201cI think he would be free today if he had just kept his trap shut,\u201d <em>New York Times<\/em> reporter Charles Bagli said. The first series and its impact are peppered through this new series: There\u2019s footage of a kind of \u201cwatch party\u201d at which investigators, witnesses, and Kathie Durst\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/5-month-old-girl-shot-dead-as-chicago-begins-another-bloody-and-tragic-weekend\/\" title=\"5-Month-Old Girl Shot Dead As Chicago Begins Another Bloody And Tragic Weekend\">family members gathered<\/a> around to watch the infamous \u201ckilled them all\u201d episode back in 2015. And at one point during Durst\u2019s trial for killing Berman, hypotheses related to the case are traced to an earlier feature film Jarecki made about Robert and Kathie Durst, the fictionalized <em>All Good Things<\/em>. Even so, <em>The Jinx: Part Two <\/em>does not linger on the knotty ethical issue of the series\u2019s own role in Durst\u2019s downfall. <\/p>\n<p>Instead, the show hurtles headlong into relitigating Durst\u2019s alleged and actual crimes and documenting his long-deferred prosecution for one of them, the murder of Berman. Among the most compelling segments are numerous jailhouse phone calls and conversations between the chipper, persuasive, demanding Durst and his surprisingly wide network of rich and strange friends. Foremost among them is Durst\u2019s second wife and chief keeper of secrets, Debrah, with whom he talks, at one point, about selling several of his properties to help make cash available for what is sure to be a costly defense. (You know you have entered a strange social sphere when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/takeaways-from-day-one-of-the-trump-trial-in-new-york\/\" title=\"Key points from Day One of the Trump Trial in New York\">real estate valuations<\/a> in the Hamptons are discussed in a jail meeting room.) As heard on these jailhouse communiques, Durst\u2019s weirdly catty commentary on the unfolding trial and its participants is undeniably entertaining.<\/p>\n<p>Those newly interviewed include the judge in the case, several jurors, various attorneys, and, most intriguingly, many from Durst\u2019s orbit, some of whom come across as bizarre as one might imagine. Among Durst\u2019s oddest longtime bosom buddies is one Nick Chavin, a former foul-mouthed country singer who performed under the name \u201cChinga Chavin\u201d and who later, with Durst\u2019s support, entered the business world. He professes his love and loyalty to his friend but has enough of a conscience to cooperate with the authorities eventually. \u201cWhat do you do when your best friend kills your other best friend?\u201d Chavin asks plaintively, referring to Durst\u2019s murder of Berman. <\/p>\n<p>That even sometimes credible-seeming people manage to get caught up in aiding, abetting, or merely providing moral support to Durst is a testament to the way in which proximity to great wealth can wreak havoc on both common decency and common sense. In recounting the investigation, Jarecki is aided immensely by Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney John Lewin, an unusually affable but utterly committed cold-case prosecutor: He\u2019s loquacious, tenacious, and tireless in pursuing what he has judged to be the truth.<\/p>\n<p>In all of the measurable ways, both iterations of <em>The Jinx<\/em> represent true-crime television at its finest. The shows are slick and sleek, effortlessly sliding in relevant pieces of information, countless cliffhangers, and even a few open questions. Reenactments of certain events are tasteful and restrained. The casting call for the show must have sought those belonging to the unusual category of \u201cactors who look like Robert Durst in soft focus.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yet the blurring of the line between the filmmakers\u2019 inquiries into the Durst saga and their involvement in its resolution hangs over the show. Of course, that line has been smudged many times, often under fairly tawdry circumstances: The infamous ITV special <em>Living with Michael Jackson<\/em> precipitated the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/this-is-a-rico-case-and-it-involves-potentially-the-incoming-president-of-the-united-states-assuming-hes-installed-tom-fitton-on-hunter-bidens-criminal-c\/\" title=\"\u201cThis Is a RICO Case and It Involves Potentially the Incoming President of the United States, Assuming He\u2019s Installed\u201d \u2013 Tom Fitton on Hunter Biden\u2019s Criminal Case\">criminal case<\/a> against its subject, and the equally infamous unaired Fox special with O.J. Simpson, <em>If I Did It<\/em>, provided confirmation, for any remaining naysayers, of Simpson\u2019s guilt in the murder of his ex-wife and her friend. Both projects were undertaken with the initially enthusiastic participation of their ostensible subjects \u2014 as was the original <em>The Jinx<\/em>. While far fancier in its presentation and sense of self-importance, <em>The Jinx<\/em> is somewhat depressingly cut from the same cloth. Is this documentary storytelling or entrapment, or (more likely) some bizarre hybrid of both only possible in a media environment in which notorious figures, such as Simpson and Durst, can\u2019t help but speak to a curious public? <\/p>\n<p>By raising these points, I do not mean to dampen interest in a compelling entry in the annals of American crime nor diminish the significance of a deranged killer being held to account. The fact remains that <em>The Jinx: Part Two <\/em>wraps up only part of the story. Another filmmaker, one who knew neither Durst nor his chroniclers, ought to take up the topic of what happens when documentary filmmaking and the legal system collide. <\/p>\n<p><em>Peter Tonguette is a contributing writer to the <\/em>Washington Examiner <em>magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Documentary films influence public perceptions through real stories, but when they shape events they portray, it raises ethical concerns. Fahrenheit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2691,"featured_media":2236093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/LA.TV_-1024x591.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2236092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/LA.TV_-1024x591.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2691"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2236092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2236093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2236092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2236092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2236092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}