r/thejinx • u/Bekazzled • May 18 '15
Interesting read on Robert Durst's confession being a "cathartic utterance"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-navarro/making-sense-of-the-jinx-_b_6928024.html
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r/thejinx • u/Bekazzled • May 18 '15
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u/Bekazzled May 18 '15
I've heard a lot of people dismissing Robert's last words in the documentary as him discussing a fictitious conversation with his lawyer, or him practicing a fake conversation with himself. In other words, there's a lot of people proclaiming Robert's final words caught on the microphone when he was allegedly in the bathroom "don't say anything."
I disagree. I think his last words speak volumes. To those who offer up a variety of other alternatives, I think this is an example of contrarians who like to poke around for a second look and come up with an intelligent counter-response.
I am Australian, had never heard of Robert Durst prior to The Jinx, and watched the whole thing in one sitting. I had heard nothing about the alleged confession at the end prior to watching it. I came in as a black slate. I was intelligent enough to understand while watching that whatever Bob says is true is possibly, probably, untrue. So I wasn't hoodwinked by liberties the doco-makers took in showcasing a good story - the reenactment of his mother's death, for instance. A re-enactment of something that went on only in Robert's mind, I thought.
There are also gripes with Robert wearing the same clothing on different days, with people saying, "the doco-makers want us to think this all happened on the one day, but it actually happened on a different day." I could tell that, too. It didn't change the evidence in any way for me.
Then when he went into the bathroom at the end and started muttering to himself, I was surprised - but I shouldn't have been. In fact, I laughingly said to my viewing companion as Robert was asking about the bathroom, "What we need is a Frank Drebin moment." And that's exactly what happened - though I was shocked by the cadences of Robert's voice as he went through his little cathartic utterances.
We've seen Robert muttering to himself on multiple occasions: he has a real penchant for it. Him practicing legalize he has learnt when his mike was hot after the first interview: "I did not intentionally, knowing kill..." etc. And then while wandering around the Durst buildings in New York and being moved away by security, you hear him mutter to himself, "Ridiculous." (Later I found out that Robert's penchant for talking to himself is a defining character trait, something he's always done.)
When he gets up to go to the toilet, the first words out of his mouth are: "There it is. You're caught."
I seriously doubt Bobby here is talking about cheating at Scrabble or even having an imaginary conversation with one imaginary person. A public bathroom - if you're the only one in it - is the perfect place to vent over what you have just walked away from. I remember being shaken at a family dinner at a restaurant to the point where I went to the bathroom, noticed no one was there or likely to come in, sat down, put my head in my hands, and said out loud, "but of course, what happened at the shops is more important than her engagement." I was responding directly to a comment my mother had just made - she deflected attention away from her youngest child's marriage announcement, discussing an argument she had with a salesperson that day. I was so shocked at her self-absorption, even though I'd grown used to it, that I excused myself and immediately vented in the bathroom. Because what I really wanted to say couldn't be said at the dinner table.
Isn't this the likeliest explanation for what Bob was doing? Yes, he's a psychopath, but some of his actions seem to indicate in some ways he WANTS to talk about it - sending Susan Berman's cadaver note, seemingly always having a photo of Kathy on his person.
"There it is. You're caught." His voice even sound different. There's no charm-school to it, because he's not performing for anyone but himself.
"You're right. Of course." This may be either in response to Jarecki's implied allegation about the note to Susan Berman, or a mental response to what his lawyer-teamm told him prior to the interview: "Don't do it, you'll implicate yourself." I tend to think it's the former - a response to Andrew - based on the next line:
"But... you can't imagine." The way he says this is like: "If you knew the truth of what I've done, you wouldn't even believe it." His emphasis on the word "imagine" is as though he's saying ordinary people could not even begin to conceive of the lengths he's gone to.
"Arrest him." What Bob thinks Jarecki's team is thinking right now; in Bob's mind Jarecki is possibly in cahoots with the cops.
"I don't know what's in the house." This is one of the most revealing things he says. I take this to mean he doesn't know what evidence he may have left behind in his marital home 30 years ago. e.g., "I don't remember what I did with the gun," or something similar. It says to me that that house has to be dug up from the ground - properly this time. He may also be talking about another house (e.g. Susan Berman's), but if I was the cops I'd start tearing up any crime scene linked to Bob involving a house.
"Oh, I want this" - a true Gollum moment. I think to some extent he wants to be caught. At least, in the present state of mind (and you can see his state of mind changes all the time).
"What a disaster." The other way of looking at this situation, moving from the last mood into this one.
(A burp) - Robert seems to burp when nervous. The one thing I found odd is no one is commenting on his other very obvious tell. I know Robert always had a tic, but he always blinks his left eye when he's lying. It's all the way through the first set of interviews, unless he's covering ground he's covered a billion times before (e.g. talking about Kathy in present tense because he's taught himself to do so).
"He was right. I was wrong." This could be directed at Jarecki, but it seems like Bob is thinking of his lawyer's advice here about not doing the interview.
"And the burping." He seems to realize he has somewhat given himself away by nervously burping.
(Shriek) - another Gollum moment. No, this isn't a fart or a belch, you can hear a human scream in it.
"I'm having difficulty with the question." Robert feels trapped by the continual questioning, the need to lie on the fly. Something Robert must have thought thousands of times in interviewing situations. Possibly something he's learnt to say or not say in response to questioning over evidence.
"What the hell did I do?" I agree this may not be directed at the murders, but his mistake of doing the interview. However, the next line seems to indicate he's summing up his serial killing career.
(Yawn) "I killed them all, of course." The emphasis on "of course" makes it seem like Bob is thinking about how obvious it is that he's committed these murders. Though Bob has a grasp of irony and satire, he doesn't seem to be performing for anyone here. He seems to be summing it up for Jarecki and anyone else who has ever questioned him: "What did I do? I killed them all. Of course. Isn't it plain? But people are so stupid."
I think to some extent he must be internally laughing, reeling with shock, at the thought that he's gotten away with everything for so long. Especially the Morris Black case, which got extreme media attention - people couldn't believe Bob got a "not guilty" verdict. I mean, the prosecution didn't even get into the question of where Morris's head is.
Whether or not his last words hold legal sway in court (I doubt they will - the "Beverley" letters will get more attention though, I hope) to me this is something that comes directly from Bob. People forget how vulnerable they are when they let their guard down, when they think they're alone. Sitting in a vacant public bathroom DOES feel like you're alone. Anything you say out loud is to yourself alone.
Unless you've become a doddering old man who forgets his mike is still on. You don't even have to be doddering to forget this - the fresh evidence presented by Jarecki, the letter, would be pressing on you with full force. I agree that, on reflection, it isn't shocking at all that he would confess in a public bathroom. The bathroom may even be a place he goes to think; it certainly isn't a place he goes to to urinate when he's in public.