May 2, 2010: Talhotblond:
Continuing with my little blast of documentary films during the Hot Docs festival in Toronto, I saw a midnight screening of “Talhotblond:”. It tells a tale of instant messaging intrigue, detailing human conflicts as old as time itself but now more geographically dispersed due to the wonders of the internet.
Actually, maybe this story isn’t as old as time itself. Didn’t Shakespeare write something about a married middle aged man striking up a romance by correspondence with an 18-year-old girl, then dumping the girl and getting jealous when she takes up with an innocent 21-year-old? And when it turns out that the 18-year-old is actually a 40-something woman using pictures of her own daughter in order to maintain her subterfuge, doesn’t that just cry out “classic literature”?
And then the middle aged man’s jealousy leads him to murder the 21-year-old.
This is a complicated story, with more unbelievable turns than you would think could be possible. You really can’t make this stuff up. A voiceover narration of the film elevates it beyond a plodding procedural recounting of the tragedy, although it was a bit confusing at the start of the story since the narration is from beyond the grave, by the murdered 21-year-old who merely struck up an internet romance with an age-appropriate and apparently very nice girl. His parents are pushing for stricter internet accountability laws, which is a noble cause although it would so complicated that I can’t see any possibility of success.
This is a sad story about people who are sad in many different ways. The particulars are symptomatic of the attitudes and technologies of today, but I think the central themes of jealousy and self-hate and destructive behaviour are timeless.
I wish people could find help.
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