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ART, CRIME AND INJUSTICE
Browsing Archives of Author »spotted couch«
Anthony Bourdain: In Perfect Harmony
It was with a heavy heart that I watched the final episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s TV show, Parts Unknown. I didn’t know him personally, but somehow I knew him. Maybe I just got caught up in his charismatic personality, his curiosity, his love for food, and his honest engagement with fellow travellers, and the inimitable […]
The Nuanced and Polarizing Nature of the Extreme Intoxication Defense for Sexual Assault Cases in Canada
November 29, 2018
This news commentary compares two articles on the recent decision by Ontario Superior Court Justice Nancy Spies in the case of R. v. McCaw, 2018 ONSC 3464 (“McCaw”) in which, s. 33.1 of the Criminal Code “was ruled unconstitutional as it violates a defendant’s right to be presumed innocent and their right to fundamental justice” […]
In a Steel Box Welded Shut Lies My Father. It’s the Law.
August 7, 2018
Death becomes me. My first experience with death was in grade one. A girl from my school was hit by a car outside our school yard. But that’s not where she died. She was a tiny girl, fair haired and sweet. I see her now. A wisp of a girl, dressed in a pink shirt, […]
Guilty Pleasures: Film Noir, Gay Porn and Other Forbidden Flowers
May 2, 2017
“The naming of hidden pleasures is blasphemous.” – Our Lady of the Flowers, Jean Genet Straight porn (in my opinion) has all the emotional intensity of limp fish on Quaaludes. Gay male porn, on the other hand, is an animalistic orchestra of groaning, grunting and spurting amidst heated entanglements of hard bodies, boners and beautiful […]
Long Noses and the Jian Ghomeshi Trial
February 12, 2016
Like many people in Canada, I have been following the Jian Ghomeshi case since it broke in 2014. Since starting my blog, I have on occasion cited a personal experience to contextualize my position, but have never written a post that focuses entirely on my personal experiences to make a point. Today, however, is a […]
Art as a Murderous Act
January 17, 2016
“I’ve got a peculiar weakness for criminals and artists – neither takes life as it is. Any tragic story has to be in conflict with things as they are.” – Stanley Kubrick What makes one person choose art and another one murder? One controversial theory suggests that artists and criminals do have something in common: […]
House of Mirrors and Hidden Truths: The Wrongful Conviction of David Thorne
November 5, 2014
“Over time, hidden truths morph in the dark soil of deceit into something much worse.” ― Patti Callahan Henry, Between the Tides David Thorne is an innocent man who is serving a life sentence without parole for allegedly hiring an acquaintance, Joe Wilkes, to kill the mother of his son, Yvonne Layne. In January 2000, after five […]
March 9, 2019
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