When
the film first began, it portrayed Truman Capote as a flamboyant New
York literary socialite that would do anything to get a great story.
However, by the end of the movie, he was only a shell of his
former-self due to the life changing experience of researching and
writing his novel, In Cold Blood. After coming across an
article about a mass murder of a Kansas family, Capote became
obsessed with turing the story into his greatest work. He used
manipulative and ruthless tactics to get what he wanted out of
people. That behavior eventually caught up with him and negatively
impacted his life. His boyfriend Jack had even warned him when he
started to get into to deep and said, "Careful what you do to
get what you want"(Capote 2005). As he began interviewing
the murderers, Truman developed a close relationship with Perry Smith
that led to his demise. It was if Truman felt a bond with Smith due
to the fact that both had a difficult childhood. If not for his
literary talents, Capote realized that he could have ended up like
Smith and was quoted as saying, "It's as if Perry and I grew up
in the same house. And one day he stood up and went out the back
door, while I went out the front" (Capote 2005).
Since
he felt a connection and wanted his story, so he did the bare minimum
to appear to help the Perry and Dick in order to gain their trust. He
was horrified to learn Perry was the actual killer of the family and
it shattered the illusion that he could distance himself while
writing the book. However, he needed the executions to make the
perfect ending for his book. So when the killers were eventually
hung, Capote's guilt and regret caused him to spiral into a deep
depression that lasted for the rest of his life. He was able to write
his his greatest novel, but at a very high price: he never finished
another book and basically drank himself to death.
Works Cited
Capote.
Dir. Bennett Miller. Perf. Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Catherine
Keener. Sony Picture Classics, 2005. Film.
good points 25/25
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