"The Phantom Killer" by James Presley (2014)

This is a case which they still speak of in Texas. It has never been solved. The Phantom Killer; so dubbed by the local press in Texarkana; is America’s Jack the Ripper. We think we know who did it; but then again, we’re not quite sure. And the fascination with the case may be more entertaining than actually finding out who really did it. It’s kind of like JFK and Dallas. We want to know, but then what would we do about it?

The town of Texarkana straddles the two states of Texas and Arkansas. The old joke was that a man could stand in the center of town with his mule and claim he was in Texas while his ass was still in Arkansas. With the advent of the oil industry; and later the war; work was plentiful and Texarkana was somewhat of a boomtown. But with all of the quick money came increased crime and a transient population. 

The author; James Presley; is the nephew of Sheriff Bill Presley; who was the the chief investigator on the case and; as a trained historian with a Pulitzer Prize nomination to back him up; has taken all of the eye witness accounts and affidavits from the investigation, distilling them down to a very convincing argument as to who the Phantom was. In addition he draws upon his knowledge of the local folk lore and geography to paint a portrait of the town; as well as the effects the crimes had upon the average citizen.

Eventually, after the town has been literally terrorized as they wait for the next killings; which occur with regularity; every African-American is pulled in for questioning. Eventually, though, the leads all point to a white man named Youell Swinney and his girlfriend Peggy. But catching him proves difficult, until his alibis don’t seem to match up. And just as the noose is tightening in the case against him, he marries Peggy, thus avoiding her having to testifying against her new husband. But, still their stories don’t match the facts and the investigation continues for years.

Swinney had a rap sheet going back decades by the time he was prosecuted again in 1981 for other violent crimes. Fans of CSI will be aghast at the way the investigation was done; with officers from 2 counties trampling over evidence and not roping off crime scenes. They even allowed the public to swarm all over the terrain where the killings took place; rendering any evidence gathered useless.

In the end Swinney walked free. But he continued to have problems with the law until 1981, when he was finally convicted of larceny. This is a great insight into the way that justice has changed; along with crime detection; over the last 6 decades. It is also look at what society was like in the heady days after the end of World War Two, when life sometimes seemed more perfect than it was. And to this day no one has been proven guilty of the 5 murders that terrorized the entire town in the summer of 1946.

  

"What's Eating Gilbert Grape" with Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio (1993)

When Albert Grape passes away he leaves behind a family of 5; a wife with emotional problems, 2 daughters, and two sons; one of whom is developmentally disabled. Johnny Depp plays Gilbert Grape, the older brother to Arnie, played by Leonardo DiCaprio in one of his finest roles ever.

Set in the town of Endora, where nothing ever happens, this film explores the nature of relationships and family. Gilbert feels trapped by his dead end job working in the town’s old grocery store. There is a new supermarket located just outside of town which serves as a harbinger of change which is set to come to Endora, and seems to symbolize the impending changes that will take place in Gilbert’s life, if he will only let go.

A new girl named Becky, played with great sensitivity by Juliette Lewis, arrives in town at the same time that Gilbert is having an affair with the wife of a local insurance salesman. She is able to understand and deal with Arnie, and does not view him as an obstacle to a relationship with Gilbert. As he begins to see that Becky may be the key to his freedom, he questions his relationship to the older woman. He realizes that he has been taking care of her emotional needs, much in the same way that he has always had to care for his widowed mother and siblings.

Gilberts mother, who was once the local beauty pageant winner, deals with all of the sadness and problems in her life by eating. She tops 500 pounds and has not left the living room sofa in years. She eats and sleeps there, with the family catering to her every need, which has a stifling effect on the rest of the family. They love her, but her problems complicate their own lives. It’s as if they cannot move forward as individuals while having to care for their mother. And she knows this.

Arnie manages to get into mischief in many different ways; the least of which is climbing the town’s water tower. Eventually this gets him taken into custody by the town police, which forces his mother to leave the house for the first time since her husband’s passing. She goes to the police station, demanding his release. When the family leaves the police station with Arnie, she sees most of the people in town have gathered to stare at her, some even taking pictures.

Realizing how her emotional problems have affected her family, she goes home and climbs the stairs to her bedroom for the first time in years. Gilbert and his sisters tuck her in, relieved that she is going to finally get some rest. But her excessive weight causes her to suffocate in her sleep, leaving the family seemingly rudderless.

But there is still one card left to play in this high stakes emotional drama, and Gilbert, along with his siblings, play that card, freeing them to live their own lives. A very emotional film, this movie underscores the ways in which all of our problems intersect with one another. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; we are all connected. What we do as individuals has an effect on all those around us. It’s up to us all to try and make those effects positive ones.