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“The Preppy Murder: Death in Central Park"

Are you watching “The Preppy Murder: Death in Central Park”? Let’s chat. If not, skip this and go make a rental!

*The thing that gets me is the fictional sex diary. The defense wanted to make the victim look shady, so they claimed she’d kept a “sex diary,” a salacious account of her many conquests. This diary didn’t exist, though it would be so fascinating if it did (and also its existence would have nothing to do with the murder case, regardless of defense claims). It’s like the defense attorneys--grown men, professional men!--were dreaming up their own Upper East Side fan fiction, their own version of “Gossip Girl."

In the days of Marie Antoinette, didn’t people sometimes invent false journals and attribute these writings to prominent national figures? Some things never change.

*There’s more to say about the Catholic Church. Linda Fairstein claims she has no reason to believe ex-Cardinal McCarrick raped Robert Chambers--but I see more than one reason to believe this may be the case. Why would McCarrick make those bizarre statements in support of Chambers? And why would Robert Chambers speak--in his police interview--about “men raping men”? 

At the very least, it seems to me that Phyllis Chambers--Robert’s mother--might have had knowledge of some evil McCarrick behavior, and she might have used her knowledge as leverage in discussions with the Church.

*As always, this crime story is really a story about money and race and gender and power. If Chambers weren’t an attractive St. David’s-bred white boy, would his cause have generated so much support? Hard to imagine. 

If Phyllis Chambers had had a less tenuous place in Upper East Side society, would she still have allowed her son to endanger himself with Catholic Church officials? One wonders. (One also thinks of the Viola Davis scenes in the movie adaptation of “Doubt.”) 

And if this had been the story of one boy killing another boy, would there have been any attempts at “slut-shaming”? Once again, the mind reels.

I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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