Fatty Arbuckle Scandal and Trials

Fatty Arbuckle Scandal and Trials At a raucous, three-day party in September 1921, a young starlet became severely ill and died four days later. Newspapers went wild with the story: popular silent-screen comedian Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle had killed Virginia Rappe with his weight while savagely raping her. Though the newspapers of the day reveled in the gory, rumored details, juries found little evidence that Arbuckle was in any way connected with her death. What happened at that party and why was the public so ready to believe Fatty was guilty? Fatty Arbuckle Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle had long been a performer. When he was a teenager, Arbuckle traveled the West Coast on the vaudeville circuit. In 1913, at the age of 26, Arbuckle hit the big time when he signed with Mack Sennetts Keystone Film Company and became one of the Keystone Kops. Arbuckle was heavy- he weighed somewhere between 250 and 300 pounds- and that was part of his comedy. He moved gracefully, threw pies, and humorously tumbled. In 1921, Arbuckle signed a three-year contract with Paramount for $1 million- an unheard-of amount at the time, even in Hollywood. To celebrate just having finished three pictures at the same time and to celebrate his new contract with Paramount, Arbuckle and a couple of friends drove up from Los Angeles to San Francisco on Saturday, September 3, 1921, for some Labor Day weekend revelry. The Party Arbuckle and friends checked into the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. They were on the twelfth floor in a suite that contained rooms 1219, 1220, and 1221 (room 1220 was the sitting room). On Monday, September 5, the party started early. Arbuckle greeted visitors in his pajamas and though this was during Prohibition, large quantities of liquor were  being drunk. Around 3 oclock, Arbuckle retired from the party in order to get dressed to go sight-seeing with a friend. What happened in the following ten minutes is disputed. Delmonts version:Bambina Maude Delmont, who frequently set-up famous people in order to blackmail them, claims that Arbuckle herded 26-year-old Virginia Rappe into his bedroom and said, Ive waited for this a long time, Delmont says that a few minutes later party-goers could hear screams from Rappe coming from the bedroom. Delmont claims she tried to open the door, even kick it in, but couldnt get it open. When Arbuckle opened the door, supposedly Rappe was found naked and bleeding behind him.Arbuckles version:Arbuckle says that when he retired to his room to change clothes, he found Rappe vomiting in his bathroom. He then helped clean her up and led her to a nearby bed to rest. Thinking she was just overly intoxicated, he left her to rejoin the party. When he returned to the room just a few minutes later, he found Rappe on the floor. After putting her back on the bed, he left the room to get help. When others then entered the room, they found Rappe tearing at her clothes (something that has been claimed she did often when she was drunk). Party guests tried a number of strange treatments, including covering Rappe with ice, but she still wasnt getting any better. Eventually, the hotel staff was contacted and Rappe was taken to another room to rest. With others looking after Rappe, Arbuckle left for the sight-seeing tour and then drove back to Los Angeles. Rappe Dies Rappe was not taken to the hospital on that day. And though she didnt improve, she wasnt taken to the hospital for three days because most people who visited her considered her condition to be caused by liquor. On Thursday, Rappe was taken to the Wakefield Sanitorium, a maternity hospital known for giving abortions. Virginia Rappe died the following day from peritonitis, caused by a ruptured bladder. Arbuckle was soon arrested and charged with the murder of Virginia Rappe. Yellow Journalism The papers went wild with the  story. Some articles stated Arbuckle had crushed Rappe with his weight, while others said he had raped her with a foreign object (the papers went into graphic details). In the newspapers, Arbuckle was assumed guilty and Virginia Rappe was an innocent, young girl. The papers excluded reporting that Rappe had a history of numerous abortions, with some evidence stating she might have had another a short time before the party. William Randolph Hearst, the symbol of yellow journalism, had his  San Francisco Examiner  cover the story. According to Buster Keaton, Hearst boasted that Arbuckles story sold more papers than the  sinking of the Lusitania. The public reaction to Arbuckle was fierce. Perhaps even more than the specific charges of rape and murder, Arbuckle became a symbol of Hollywoods immorality. Movie houses across the country almost immediately stopped showing Arbuckles movies. The public was angry and they were using Arbuckle as a target. The Trials With the scandal as front-page news on almost every newspaper, it was difficult to get an unbiased jury. The first Arbuckle trial began on November 1921 and charged Arbuckle with manslaughter. The trial was thorough and Arbuckle took the stand to share his side of the story. The jury was hung with a 10 to 2 vote for acquittal. Because the first trial ended with a hung jury, Arbuckle was tried again. In the second Arbuckle trial, the defense did not present a very thorough case and Arbuckle did not take the stand. The jury saw this as an admission of guilt and deadlocked in a 10 to 2 vote for conviction. In the third trial, which began on March 1922, the defense again became pro-active. Arbuckle testified, repeating his side of the story. The main prosecution witness, Zey Prevon, had escaped house arrest and left the country. For this trial, the jury deliberated for only a couple of minutes and came back with a verdict of not guilty. Additionally, the jury wrote an apology to Arbuckle: Acquittal is not enough for Roscoe Arbuckle. We feel that a great injustice has been done him. We feel also that it was our only plain duty to give him this exoneration. There was not the slightest proof adduced to connect him in any way with the commission of a crime.He was manly throughout the case and told a straightforward story on the witness stand, which we all believed.The happening at the hotel was an unfortunate affair for which Arbuckle, so the evidence shows, was in no way responsible.We wish him success and hope that the American people will take the judgment of fourteen men and women who have sat listening for thirty-one days to the evidence that  Roscoe Arbuckle  is entirely innocent and free from all blame. Fatty Blacklisted Being acquitted was not the end to Roscoe Fatty Arbuckles problems. In response to the Arbuckle scandal, Hollywood established a self-policing organization that was to be known as the Hays Office. On April 18, 1922, Will Hays, the president of the new organization, banned Arbuckle from filmmaking. Though Hays lifted the ban in December of the same year, the damage was done Arbuckles career had been destroyed. A Short Come-Back For years, Arbuckle had trouble finding work. He eventually began directing under the name William B. Goodrich (similar to the name his friend Buster Keaton suggested Will B. Good). Though Arbuckle had begun a come-back and had signed with Warner Brothers in 1933 to act in some comedy shorts, he was never to see his popularity regained. After a small one-year anniversary party with his new wife on June 29, 1933, Arbuckle went to bed and suffered a fatal heart attack in his sleep. He was 46.

150+ Useful Character Quirks (Plus a Few Clichés to Avoid)

150+ Useful Character Quirks (Plus a Few Clichà ©s to Avoid) 150+ Useful Character Quirks (Plus a Few Clichà ©s to Avoid) Writing great characters is a constant balancing act - you want each one to have certain quirks and flaws, but you don’t want them to be SO zany that they’re off-putting to readers. So how can you come up with realistic traits that humanize your characters, without falling into clichà ©?Luckily, this post offers a list of over 150 unique character quirks and traits that avoid clichà © and can help make the people in your story much more relatable! But before we get into that, here are a few notes on what character quirks are in stories and how to use them. Check out this list of over 150 character quirks (that you can steal for your book). What are character quirks? Making sourdough - so quirky! (Photo by  Nathan Dumlao)This section contains suggestions for unique strengths and talents, as well as weaknesses or negative traits one might possess.Strengths/talents:Fantastic cook or bakerSkilled musician (piano, guitar, violin, etc.)Artistic talent (drawing, painting, sculpting, etc.)Model athlete (football, hockey, swimming, etc.)Great at voices/ventriloquyCan do sleight-of-hand - may be a pickpocketSpeaks multiple languages, even obscure onesKnows everything about historyMathematical or scientific geniusBrilliant coder and can hack into any databaseSkilled mechanical inventorCan build or put together anythingSuper-quick logical reasoningExceptional memory/genius IQ (several of the above might fall under this one)Special connection with animalsSuper empathetic and understanding of other peopleExtremely fast runnerContortionist (can twist their body into any shape)Psychic talent (can predict the future)Amazing mechanicSuper strength, flying, in visibility or other superpowersUnusually high tolerance for painSurvival skills like hunting and fishingQuick reflexes, acts fast in a crisisBrave and fearless, not scared of anythingAble to talk their way out of any trouble/invent stories on the flyWeaknesses/negative traits:Awful driverAlways running lateIllegible handwritingTerrible at public speakingSocially awkward - hard for them to make friendsHas tons of credit card debt from online shoppingSelf-destructive and always wants what’s worst for themGets blackout drunk every time they go outExtremely conceited or arrogantCompulsive liarManipulative of friendsGets jealous over nothingOften mean for no reasonUnbelievably self-centeredExtremely passive-aggressiveArachnophobia (irrational fear of spiders)Coulrophobia (irrational fear of clowns)Agoraphobia (irrational fear of leaving the house)Pantophobia (fear of everything)Be careful how you incorporate these strengths and weaknesses, as you don’t want their inclusion to seem unnatural. After all, personality traits tend to reveal themselves on a daily basis, but this may not be true for their special talents and fears.Indeed, sometimes the best way to use quirks like these is to surprise your reader with it at the right moment. Maybe it’s the eleventh hour, and your MC has nowhere else to turn, only for their friend’s special skill to save the day!Also, as you can tell from both lists, there’s quite a range of strengths and weaknesses you can give your characters. Some of those talents require more practice than others, and some of the weaknesses are greater flaws than others - for instance, being a mean or manipulative person is obviously much worse than having bad handwriting. However, it’s good to be familiar with a wide range of both major and minor quirks so you can create more well-rounded characters.MiscellaneousThese are idiosyncrasies that don’t really fit into any of the above categories, but could still be of good use in your story.Dresses all in one colorBedroom is decorated exactly like a Pinterest pictureWon’t drink still water, only sparklingRefuses to use headphones and blasts their music in publicAlways dresses too nicely for the occasionWalks around barefoot, even in stores and other public placesHates being inside, sleeps and goes to the bathroom outdoorsCan’t help but look in every mirror they passWears a small plastic backpack everywherePreps their meals three weeks in advanceDrinks shots of espresso all day longSings opera in the showerMakes their own (terrible) abstract art and hangs it on their wallsGets super excited about Christmas and then really depressed in JanuaryRefuses to wear glasses even though they need themCarries around a secret teddy bearHas been wearing the same friendship bracelet for three yearsFastidiously lint-rolls all their clothingWill a shop or restaurant if someone walks in with a babyExtremely superstitious (knocks on wood, avoids the number 13, etc.)Drops everything other people ask them to holdLikes to go out dancing by themselvesPrefers to have the lights off or dimmed at all timesOnly reads books written before 1900Only watches movies that get really bad reviewsAlways wears multiple sweaters on top of each otherWon’t eat anything that doesn’t have bread (at least on the side)Thinks they’re a time-traveler from the medieval eraGives friends and family excellent homemade presentsLeaves the office last every day so they can push all the chairs inHates jagged numbers (always fills their gas tank to the dollar, sends emails on the hour, etc.)Has an imaginary friend they still talk to, even in adulthoodOwns a lizard that they try and use as a guard dogListens exclusively to Britney SpearsLeaves little notes in library books for future readersUses tissues to hold onto poles on public transportationWears their hair in Princess Leia bunsNever goes a day without talking to their momHums â€Å"In the Hall of the Mountain King† when they get stressedClucks their tongue while walking, so they sound like a horseQuotes Pulp Fiction all the timeLoves hanging out in completely empty placesConvinced they’re going to die in a freak accidentGrows all their own food in their vegetable gardenNever pays for train or bus ticketsCan recite Shakespearean sonnetsRecycles and eats vegetarian, but only out of guiltHas a â€Å"vision board† posted on their ceilingLoves the beach but hates swimmingFlicks people in the forehead when they get annoyedLaughs at everything, even bad jokesCurates a great Instagram feed of street art Sings opera, owns a lizard, plus 50 more original quirks to use in your story 🎠¶Ã°Å¸ ¦Å½ Clichà ©d â€Å"quirks† to avoidGiving your characters interesting tics can cross-over into ham-fisted writing if your quirks are used way too much, like the following:Pale skinCrooked smileâ€Å"Intense† stareRelentless clumsinessArtificial hair colors that are supposedly naturalCharacters thinking they’re unattractive when everyone else thinks they’re beautifulBasically, any archetype that hasn’t been developed enoughWhen readers see these traits on the page, they roll their eyes and think, â€Å"Ugh, not again.† Many of these aren’t even quirks, but fairly common traits that the writer attempts to romanticize. Traits like these signify to the reader that the author has barely put any thought into developing their characters - they’ve just chosen ostensibly quirky features that are actually overused and ineffective. So stay away from them at all costs!As we said, the business of selecting and integrating quirks is more compl icated than it seems. But after reading through this guide, you should have a much better understanding of what they are and how to use them†¦ not to mention a tremendous variety of quirks from which to choose! So will your character be a gum-chewing code genius or a short-tempered contortionist? From here on out, it’s all up to you.What are some of your characters' quirks? Tell us in the comments below!