Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Why the Yale murder is like Dirty Dancing


As of this writing, 9-15-9, the mystery surrounding the death of the Yale student lies more with motivation than with the alleged killer.

It is a tragedy and it is an Ivy League school and people will argue that her death is important because of that. I am not writing to disagree with how it is more tragic when pretty people die or how bad things shouldn't happen to rich or famous people. I am just pointing out how topical it is.

Patrick Swayze died a mere two or three days ago, depending on what time it is. Patrick Swayze is famous for the classic and timeless Dirty Dancing. While Dirty Dancing (DD) may seem like a vehicle for Patrick's incredible dancing, it is foremost a statement on class struggle and family summer camp culture in the middle of the previous century. It is hard to know what century it is because it is always ahead of the actual calendar date..

The alleged killer of the Yale Victim (YV) could be the janitor at the lab where YV studied. Imagine a boy growing up in the sooty factory town on the outskirts of Yale, whatever city or state that may be.
He is smart and studious and gets great grades. Unfortunately, his family, although settled in this country since the previous century, never realized the American Dream because of the color of their skin or the red hair and freckles or whatever. They can't send him to the Yale he dreams of. Alleged Killer ends up going to Junior College where he is taken advantage of by a teacher's assistant in exchange for a grilled cheese sandwich.
The teacher's assistant (t.a.) gets pregnant and the alleged killer (AK) has to quit school to pay child support. AK gets a job at the Yale lab as a janitor and sees YV come in to study, night after night, like he would have if he had half a chance.
He learns that her family is first generation American, but because her family has connections and she was so pretty and petite, she got the scholarship and the nice pocketbook and the open doors. And here is where it is just like DD and just the opposite. Like Patrick Swayze, AK is constantly being seduced by the rich girls, just because he is "dangerous." But when the season is over, those girls go back to their rich, girly-sweatered boys.
Here is where it is different. Patrick Swayze says that nobody puts Baby in the corner. AK puts Baby in the wall.