Le Newsletter | A Developing Essay + Cultural Critique
with news on California fire relief especially curated for the fashion professionals among us.
The draft began on the last day of Capricorn season.
two days after the death of David Lynch.
Sunday morning.
Today is Wednesday.
There are pitches scheduled & an afternoon meeting on creative strategy with an amazing natural skincare brand. There’s a promise to myself to get in a dedicated workout, & the satisfaction of having completed an early AM meditation - proof that I can keep it up for the rest of the month.
& there’s this. Writing made possible through inspiration & the urge to use what may very well be the only thing I’m good at (or was it the only good thing about me?1) to share resources, information, & a bit of the story of my here & now, as well as the very beginnings of something I feel called to write & share as it comes together. Here. Now.
A Developing Story
The premise: an examination of the medium of television & genre of True Crime through a rewatch of the limited series Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.
Why? First, I think episodes 1, 5, & 6 of Monsters are exceptionally well done. Through the use of nuance - the only true lens for an authentic look at life - as well as dedicated & researched performances, humanity is lent to humans in a way denied to them in a court of both law & public opinion. Those humans, to be clear, are Erik, Lyle, Kitty, & Jose Menendez.
Second:
At one point, it would have been hard to imagine looking at the true crime genre as a catalyst for nuanced analysis of or conversations about wider culture2. Many modern-day objections to the genre, however, feel more strongly tied to the genre as it is presented through the visual medium of televison in general than as objections to the current material we as audiences have to engage with.
We (society) miss out on important perspectives on everything from ethical journalism to the criminal justice system when this happens. A way to make sure the work is not for naught, is to facilitate a conversation based on true engagement with the work (Monsters, in this case). To make them real. Because of this, I’m pondering objections, analyzing the mode of storytelling, & sharing my thoughts on perfect victims, who’s entitled to what under the US criminal justice system, & what we mean when we strip the title of “human” from an individual dubbed "victim”, "criminals, or “monster” - because what we do to one of these types of relabeled individuals, we are often doing to the others.
Notes on Episode 1 | Blame It On The Rain, written by Ryan Murphy & Ian Brennan
Blame It on the Rain does something very specific. It makes sure that what we are shown before anything else is brutality. There is no argument to be made for this series as a portrayal of the case that serves the purpose of absolution for murderers.
It also moves quickly to show us the nature of the Menendez brothers, before, leading up to, & during their crimes. It takes us into their lives. Showing us their imperfections as well as their lived reality - before that reality is called into question & before the entire truth is laid bare (& subsequently deemed inadmissible for telling to a jury of impartial peers. To see into the lives of the Menendez Brothers is to look into how prolonged abuse in a home setting affects us. This is best illustrated, in episode one, through Erik’s confession as well as through what we later learn is a flattering depiction of Kitty’s character (via Erik) in the opening funeral scene.
A specific critique I’ve heard about this series is that people are only relating to it because of the attractiveness of the actors, or the wardrobe styling, or other compelling visual elements. I do believe that these elements are used to tell what feels like a more complete story - but not as points for centering connection with the material.
Beyond style & aesthetics, many of us have heard the Jose Menendez style tennis match yelling from a parent to child (no matter the age of said child) in a public space. Or at least I’m willing to bet we have.
Many of us have, perhaps, covered for someone who harmed us through flattering portrayals & refusals to tell the truth of their harm. Whether this feels like protecting them or ourselves.
I hope a lot fewer of us have found ourselves at a family therapy session where we realized the weight of knowing we couldn’t truly talk about it. Whatever it may be.
I know this to be a part of the human experience, & most parts are less unique than we want to think.
That said, as this essay & cultural critique develops, it feels necessary to look into what the experts know about the disconnect that is realizing the abnormality of normalized abuse in whatever form. What do we know about that sense of disconnect from self & the world around you - born of processing the true nature of our experiences with abuse as something that will never be explainable - even if we don’t care about keeping it secret. A disconnect that registers, probably, like the family therapy session described above.
The last thing I can say in this sort of publically unfolding rough draft is that we feel connected to the story, the show & what is being presented to us, because it is a human story. This makes the humanization of these Monsters a non-negotiable.
We may not want to relate, but none of us are separate from what humans do to each other.
This is why carefully crafted visual storytelling like this second installment of the biographical true crime anthology series (Monsters) stirs something in us on an emotional level - & not just on the level of having found summer style inspo or whatever else deep, critical interest might be reduced to.
The next place I’ll be fleshing out this idea is in Shapes of Stories, my next newsletter to be published without a collaborator. For now, find my writing on true crime as a depiction of real life horror (& the responsibilities held by those who make it) for Bloody Women below3. It is one of my favorite things I have ever written. The editing process was so extremely affirmative, & I first began to construct the sorts of thinking I’m fine-tuning here, there.
Walk With Me.
Now that I’ve used this edition of the newsletter to do something completely new, I’m going to follow a flow that has been emerging. Some personal insights laced throughout public resources.
So if you’re still in for this ride, get ready for tips on how to be the helpers, a workshop I’m sharing from Chris Corsini (the full moon was last week, but the energy lingers…), & a recommended reading from Cameron Steele that touches on birth, death, & the creation process of a writing practice through the lens of The Artist’s Way4.
In reading about everything from rescue efforts by the Cajun Navy to major names in institutional art (names like LACMA, the Andy Warhol Foundation, & Qatar Museums) coming together to create a $12 M emergency artist fund, it feels evident that people & entities from all walks of life & the art world are moved to meet this tragic moment. To help those who have lost everything from homes to loved ones in the LA fires.
While it is important to know how the businesses & organizations you engage with on a monetary or maybe even professionally creative level respond when the world is in need, it feels perhaps more important to find out how we can personally respond. It occurs to me that there are readers of this newsletter who are designers, stylists, & retailers of both vintage & new apparel. If the news about some of the most direct responses to the fires says anything, it is that you are a segment of Le Newsletter with a lot of power to do something that serves to bring comfort & sense of self to people who have suddenly found themselves with nothing.
Whether in the context of a newsletter, a shared link, or a chat thread - this space will continue to provide information for those in need as well as those who can help meet those needs, as well as attempting to help us all better understand (on both a cultural & environmental level - exactly what’s happening & why. But for now, here’s how to engage with what’s already making a difference on a grass-roots level.
Images via Steve Schapiro’s Andy Warhol & Friends. A new imprint from TASCHEN.
I’d also like to extend an invitation to anyone working in arts or centering the environment in their professions (be you a park ranger or an artist using elements of the world around you) to reach out. I’d love to speak with you, especially if you’re already using your platform to educate on the environmental impact & causes of the fires.
During the first wave of Covid “lockdowns” in the US, sales of designer luxury pieces went up. During times of recession such as war, red lipstick is always a top purchased product for women, a phenomenon first studied by economics & sociology professor Juliet Schor in 1998. With that said, I’ll ask a question here that’s actually a statement. If expressing ourselves through personal style is an understood & well-documented method of settling the human psyche & making us feel rooted in instances of turmoil, why should anyone have to argue for the importance of it?
If organizations such as the Altadena Girls are proving anything, it’s that we maybe don’t. That maybe we’ve moved on from moralizing to people about what should be important to them & instead meeting them where they are.
Can your retail location serve as drop-off center for one of the many LA clothing drives that have already been organized?
Can you fundraise for organizations such as the Altadena Girls, who are providing new garments that give girls & guys the chance to step back out into the world feeling like a version of themselves who wasn’t just lucky enough to be clothed at all?
Can you organize your own clothing drive?
LA - Altadena, Pasadena, & the Palisades, have been wiped of everything from childhood homes to elementary schools (or so I was told when first hearing about the fires), & major stylists, designers, & boutiques have teamed up for events such as the LA Clothing Drive to stock “free-shops” with premium quality vintage, new pieces, & cash donations. This Harper’s article is the most complete listing of what’s being done & how you can get in touch with those who are already doing the work that I’ve found. It even lists a few mutual aid lists for the unhoused.
This is where we start.
Workshop & Reading | A Gift Before You Go
As long as we’re paying it forward, let’s end with a share of some things that have helped me in mindfulness, introspection, & creative connectivity?
Linked below for your pleasure, & maybe a little help with remaining intentional - is a full moon workshop from tarot-strologer (a term I just coined) Chris Corsini. There’s a meditation & short writing exercise to help you look to the future in a way that informs today.
Chris’ workshop is also a great primer for an amazing read from writer Cameron Steele’s interruptions. Inspired by the Artist’s Way, Steele gets outwardly introspective about the writing process & creative practice in an honest way that does not include gratuitous disclosure.
It could be of tremendous help when it comes to writing your Morning Pages. Or examining why you’re writing at all.
Until next time. xo, Ashley J.
I’m paraphrasing my stalker - who I mentioned briefly in the last newsletter, & who will now proceed to use this space to continue a years long campaign of online harassment. For as long as the law allows.
1988’s The Thin Blue Line is an exemplary exception that led to the release of an innocent man while exploring bias in policing in a small Texas town.
Ashley C. Jones, ‘The Responsibility in Depicting Real Life Horror’, The Final Girls [website] https://www.thefinalgirls.co.uk/bloody-women/real-life-horror
The Artist’s Way, particularly the practice of The Artist Date, was a topic in the last newsletter. I hope you’ll find something applicable to your life & artistic practice from a reading of it.