Cherchez la femme

The Black Dahlia, the movie, is to be released next week. It's based on James Ellroy's novel, which in turn is based on the true-life murder mystery of Elizabeth Short. I read it about a decade ago. The incisive psychological portrayal of a cop's grim obsession with the Dahlia is undoubtedly informed by events in Ellroy's life, the rape and murder of his own mother.

James Ellroy on his mother and the Dahlia:

It was a salutary ode to Elizabeth Short and a self-serving and perfunctory embrace of my mother. I acknowledged the Jean–Betty confluence in media appearances and exploited it to sell books. My performances were commanding at first glance and glib upon reappraisal. I cut my mother down to sound-bite size and packaged her wholesale. I determined the cause of my ruthlessness years later.

She owned me. Her claim rankled. I wanted to portray myself as a man above all Oedipal constraints. I had created a fictional Elizabeth Short to usurp my mother’s claim and upstage her. It worked in the novel. It sold a great many books. It left Jean Hilliker still dead on that roadside, unblessed with love.

Cherchez la femme.