This week we discuss date nights, homemade cards and Animal Crossing. We review Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project and The Dating Game Killer. We end up with big cat sightings in the British countryside.
Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project
The standalone, feature length documentary from Oxygen follows Kim Kardashian West as she speaks to incarnated people who are seeking justice for either receiving disproportionate sentences or not having their stories told properly in court. The documentary is split into parts and in each section meet a new inmates. Such as Alice Johnson who was a telephone mule for drug dealers. She received a sentence of life, plus twenty five years – a sentence similar to that which the Unabomber received. Kim hears about this on Twitter and wants to help. After posting petitions, meeting with Alice’s lawyers, involving her own lawyers, she gives a speech at the White House on behalf of Alice. After spending 22 years in prison, Alice Johnson is granted clemency and released from prison.
Kim decides that she wants to get involved in justice reform and meets further inmates. Whilst initially wanting to focus on non-violent crimes, Kim is swayed after receiving hundreds of letters asking for assistance.
We meet Dawn Jackson, who killed her step-grandfather after years of sexual abuse; Alexis Martin who was at 15 years old involved in sex-trafficking and when her pimp is murdered, also receives a prison sentence for being complicit; and Momolu Stewart who was 16 when he was charged and found guilty of first-degree murder.
The documentary highlights issues of mass incarceration, previous trauma, little access to social support, the right to fair trials and fair punishment. It further highlights that rehabilitation and reviewing matters is key.
The Dating Game Killer
The Dating Game Killer is a six-part podcast by Wondery on the story of Rodney Alcala. Alcala was a serial killer who was convicted for the murders of five women (he is currently 76 years old and on death row) which he committed between 1977 and 1979. He also had a string of other offences.
The reason Acala is notorious is due to his appearance on The Dating Game in 1978. He had already killed probably killed two women at this point. The Dating Game is a matchmaking style programme with a bachelorette who would ask questions to three bachelors, hidden from view and based on their answers would pick one to go on a date with. The video of Alcala’s appearance is available on Youtube. Alcala was introduced on the show as “successful photographer who got his start when his father found him in the darkroom at the age of 13, fully developed. Between takes you might find him skydiving or motorcycling.”
His acceptance on the show is controversial. Any kind of background check would have highlighted that he was a registered sex offender and a convicted rapist. He wins the game. He is picked by Cheryl Bradshaw and the host, Jim Lang, tells them that their date will be tennis lessons and then a trip to Magic Mountain. However, after meeting backstage, Cheryl refuses to go on the date and calls him creepy.
Alcala was also a photographer and they found thousands of sexually explicit photographs that they suspect Alcala took. Police in 2010 released 120 of the images in the hopes to identify some of the women pictured.
Listen to episode to find out our opinions on both of these pieces.
Sources
Kent Online – https://www.kentonline.co.uk/sevenoaks/news/big-cat-sighting-was-sculpture-226618/
NY Times – https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/16/world/europe/kidnapping-murder-norway.html?campaign_id=51&emc=edit_MBE_p_20200518&instance_id=18571&nl=morning-briefing®i_id=93365760§ion=whatElse&segment_id=28234&te=1&user_id=88ec89d7d3731a8da3a49a16b0880d62
The Guardian – https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/22/man-confesses-to-fatally-stabbing-his-father-on-zoom-video-conference-call
The Guardian – https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/apr/06/can-kim-kardashian-west-the-justice-project-alice-johnson
Wondery – https://wondery.com/shows/the-dating-game-killer/
