After seeing the real Capote interview (in class) and then seeing this depiction of him, where do you suspect his bias is most apparent in the book? Does his bias make for better storytelling, or does it bother you that the "true account" may not be entirely true?
Describe how Nelle (Harper) Lee is depicted as a foil for Truman.
Why did the director choose to incorporate the "interview" scenes with the members of New York's high society? What did these characters add to our understanding of Truman?
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
"Infamous" questions
You have until 9 p.m., Sunday, October 23, to respond to two of the following questions. Each response should be roughly 150-200 words and must be posted here on this blog. Please do not send them to my email account.
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Describe how Nelle (Harper) Lee is depicted as a foil for Truman.
Harper Lee is, in a way, like Capote’s older sibling. Although they’re not related by blood, Lee is depicted as more mature and plain than Truman. Whereas Capote goes to a lot of extravagant parties and gossips on the things he hears/sees, Lee is the more casual individual who lays back and enjoy smoking a cigarette. She doesn’t diminish other people of society nor does she consider herself of high class. When Capote and Lee are together at the same scene, their differences are noticeable. Capote wears expensive clothing material such, but Lee wears more casual, sensible clothes that don’t seem as extravagant as her friend’s. The way she behaves is also more appropriate than Capote’s; there was this one scene when Capote was asking around town about the Clutter murder, but Lee suggested him not to use a word such as “gruesome” when talking to others. She knows her way with middle class people while Capote seems to only be accustomed with the people of high society.
Why did the director choose to incorporate the "interview" scenes with the members of New York's high society? What did these characters add to our understanding of Truman?
My first reaction to this question: I thought the director decided to include these “interview” scenes because it adds to the artificial feel of the film. Douglas McGrath (the director) wants the film to feel both like a documentary and a film at the same time. It’s as though…it’s following Capote’s idea of inventing the “nonfiction novel” while McGrath is (maybe unintentionally) adding the feel of the film with a twist of documentary.
Second reaction: What’s interesting about the characters in the interviews is that they directly characterize Capote while the other scenes, excluding the interviews, reveal his personality through his words and actions. The interviewers do mention that Capote himself is flamboyant, gossipy, and diminutive. They even mentioned that he was a homosexual out loud. It’s clear that Capote has made friends and enemies, but his personality shows that it can make an impact with the people around him.
Describe how Nelle (Harper) Lee is depicted as a foil for Truman.
It’s evident that Lee and Capote are two different people, due to how both are treated differently in the village of Holcomb, as portrayed in the movie “Infamous”. They both possess a different personality. Truman Capote is very flamboyant, extraordinary, and a blabbermouth unlike Nell (Harper) Lee, whom is more of a chill and relaxed gal, who once in a while is silently working on her book or peacefully smoking a cigarette. In the movie, Capote seems to be neglected for his way of being, while Nell is accepted and regarded as a member of the village. It could be that Holcomb was very conservative, and did not appreciate of homosexuals like Capote, or he was just too unusual and diverse from everyone else, including Lee. Nell (Harper) Lee in fact was very adult-like and respectful, unlike Capote. She knew how to treat others, in a respectful manner. There’s one scene where she and Capote show up to the Dewey’s house, on Christmas and she brings along some cooked food, although she wasn’t obligated to. She did it out of kindness and also just because she was grown in a family that taught her how to be deferential. She was the one who was able to balance out the odds, between the people of Holcomb and Truman Capote. Without Lee, Capote wouldn’t be successful at writing a reportage on the Clutter’s murder case.
After seeing the real Capote interview (in class) and then seeing this depiction of him, where do you suspect his bias is most apparent in the book? Does his bias make for better storytelling, or does it bother you that the "true account" may not be entirely true?
I believe his bias is most apparent whenever he talks about Perry Smith, due to how in the movie it portrays how their acquaintance developed and grew into something more serious. In the book, Capote portrays Perry as a sentimental and sensitive killer, while the movie portrays Perry as a strong, serious, and furious killer. Truman loved him. He had feelings for him. Perry Smith actually didn’t apologize for what he committed, but in the book, Capote decides to add extra information, a lie, to characterize him as a human being, whom was penitent and remorseful of his actions. I am bothered that the “true account” wasn’t entirely true. He lied, just to convince the audience that Perry actually had a heart. He wanted the audience to feel sympathetic for a criminal, the criminal he was in love with. I personally, don’t feel bad for Perry. He deserved his punishment, because he killed innocent people.
After seeing the real Capote interview (in class) and then seeing this depiction of him, where do you suspect his bias is most apparent in the book? Does his bias make for better storytelling, or does it bother you that the "true account" may not be entirely true?
I find his story very bias. It is frustrating towards me because you can see the bias in the way he talks about the two killers. But it is good to see a change in the way the book was written because you know how most books about murders all about the victims this was something different and I found it interesting. I think he includes the bias for a better storytelling and unsciencely because he was around the killers a lot and the townspeople were telling him probably how bad the killers were, so he probably was trying to do something different and controversial just like how he is himself. It bothers me a little that this might not be the “true account” but Capote had a purpose in writing the story this way, so I do not a serious problem the way he wrote it because it was the way that he wanted to.
Describe how Nelle (Harper) Lee is depicted as a foil for Truman.
Harper Lee and Truman Capote are as similar as black and white. Truman is an outgoing and gregarious person just by the way he carries himself. Lee is more laid back and chilled. Lee is not just throwing herself out there; she is more conservative compared to Truman because he is out there. These two people have two complete different views without the town’s people Lee is seen as humble and caring, when Truman is seen as annoying and heartless. And Capote being a homosexual with in a conservative town makes it seem like a slap in the face to the townspeople because he is so FLAMBOYANT with and when he see him, like you can just spot he is a homosexual. Lee is more accepted in the community and people are willing to them her and one her to her about the Clutter’s. So in other words, if Lee never went up to there with Truman then the book would have never been written probably and he would have landed into some type of trouble.
Why did the director choose to incorporate the "interview" scenes with the members of New York's high society? What did these characters add to our understanding of Truman?
The director chose to incorporate these scenes to reveal the true personality of Truman. This revealed how he enjoyed gossiping about others even if he promised them otherwise. He may have merely wanted to keep his status and friends in high society. He did this by showing off how much he new of the investigation of the Clutter family and how much he knew about the two murders. He wanted to keep them interested. His revealings are similar to how he got the Dewey’s interested in him when he revealed the several celeberties that he has met over the years. He seems to only care for himself more then others. By only doing what he wants it shows how he neglets others. Even the man who he fell in love with: Perry. He loved Perry with all his heart but even then, the stories which Perry revealed to him and made Truman promise to never speak of, he went out spoke of Perry’s stories. Truman is quite the liar.
Describe how Nelle (Harper) Lee is depicted as a foil for Truman.
Nelle Lee acted as the mature person in th relationaship between her and Truman. Throughout the movie Truman acted as a child. He was extremely inconsiderate of others and only wanted to do things his way. Nelle Lee gave him advice on how to approach the people of the town but Truman still went about doing things his way. When first arriving he immediately referred to the murders as “gruesome.” Right away Nelle told him, once again, that it may be best to not refer to the murders in that manner to the towns people. Nelle was acting as an older sibling to him. Whenever she noticed that Truman was making assuptions about why Mrs. Clutter acted the way she did, she scolded at him for it. If he was making book about the truth, she was doing her best to assure that he kept it that way. However, Truman threw a fit about it and the argument ended quickly. They both bring out each others true feelings.
Describe how Nelle (Harper) Lee is depicted as a foil for Truman.
She, Harper Lee, is the main opposite of Truman Capote. Of course, everyone is very different from Capote but his attributes are highlighted when they both went to investigate the murders. As Capote interacted with the characters his notable accent and body language threw them off but Lee’s did not throw them off. Going more in depth into this, more of those situations happened throughout the entire movie. Both were bouncing opposite attributes off of each other to allow how Capote and Lee are as a character. His body language countered who she was and metaphorically that is how everything was for the both of them. As one has a positive the other has a negative. And that is not to say that one person is better than the other, just how their opposites interact with each other and highlight each other. Lee becomes the perfect foil for Capote and who he is as a person.
Why did the director choose to incorporate the "interview" scenes with the members of New York's high society? What did these characters add to our understanding of Truman?
I strongly believe that the director of, Infamous, chose to integrate the interviews in the movie as a way of making the movie without a bias aspect to it. As if the director was trying to do exactly what Capote was doing in his book, In Cold Blood, the movie and book were parallel with each other. It was also giving every view of how Capote attacked his investigation instead of showing what supposedly happen. All of the characters who interviewed made Capote not only more interesting, but more understanding of why he did what he did and how his personality made him feel for Perry. Each interview was a different camera view of how Capote was thinking throughout this entire session. If only one view of Capote was giving to the viewers and there were no interviews in the movie, bias would be the most talked about theme in the movie.
The last comment was by me, Gabriel S. M.
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