Right now I'm rewatching In Cold Blood, the film about Truman Capote's novel on the murders of a innocent ranching family. I haven't read the novel and don't know if it would be possible (emotionally) for me to, but I understand the controversy around the subject matter all while I'm reminded what a superb story it is. Truman Capote was right. Nobody wants "monsters" humanized, and it was an incredible risk and artistic achievement to attempt it. If someone murdered someone from my family or a loved one I would want blood, immediately. But the power of our shaky social contract, where if you violate the code of the tribe and are rightfully expelled, is still as surprising to me as the power of chemistry in connecting on some level with each other. It's also a testament to our skill as storytellers, how we can weave this simplicity into our real-life, complex situations, where we can reduce someone who might have been a victim of abuse their entire lives to an inhuman monster to maintain our own narratives of the "right" way to be passing time. Our own experiences are never as linear as any "story" until after the fact. Or maybe it is so simple as that, and we make it overly complicated?
Anyway, I like the movie. It makes me feel empathy that I didn't feel before, and I think that's an important feeling to be capable of having.
