Page 66 - Sonoma County Gazette MARCH 2020

Killer Inside:
The Mind of Aaron Hernandez
K
The Super Bowl has passed into history and all the plays and players have been analyzed and scrutinized ad nauseum. The half time show has been has been either praised or panned as too sexy and even the
We lived history last month when “Parasite” won best picture at the Academy Awards. It was the first time a foreign film won in that category. As you remember, I predicted “1917” would win best picture. I'm rarely wrong. I was right on all acting categories. I was very happy Brad Pitt won his first acting Oscar for “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood”. I was definitely happy that Joaquin Phoenix won his first Oscar for “Joker”. I also predicted that Renee Zellweger would win for “Judy” and Laura Dern would win for “Marriage Story”. For those of you who haven't seen” Parasite” yet you have a chance to see it at the Reading Theaters in Rohnert Park. It is still showing there.
It's a Fun Month to go to the Movies. Opening March 6th is Pixar's new
movie, “Onward” starring the voices
of Chris Pratt and Tom Holland. Set in
a suburban fantasy world, the movie introduces two teenage brothers who embark on an extraordinary quest to discover if there is still a little magic out there. Also opening March 6th is “Spenser Confidential” starring one of my favorite actors, Mark Wahlberg. It's about an ex- felon who returns to Boston's criminal underworld to unravel a twisted murder conspiracy. Also opening March 6th is
“The Way Back” starring Ben Affleck.
Jack Cunningham (Affleck) once had a life filled with promise. In high school, he was a basketball phenom with a full university scholarship when suddenly he walked away from the game. This one can bring Affleck back to A list films.
Opening March 13th is “Big Time Adolescence” starring my favorite actor from “Saturday Night Live”, Pete Davidson. It's about a suburban teenager who comes of age under the destructive guidance of his best friend, an aimless college dropout. Opening March 18th is “A Quiet Place 2” starring Emily Blunt. Following the deadly events at home, the Abbott family must now face the terrors of the outside world as they continue their fight for survival in silence. Opening March 25th is “Mulan” starring Jet Li and Jason Scott Lee. When the emperor of China issues a decree that one man per family must serve in the Imperial Army to defend the country from Northern invaders. Mulan, the eldest daughter of an honored warrior, steps in to take the place of her ailing father.
runs from March 25 to March 29. Movies to look out for are “She’s in Portland” starring Tommy Dewey and Francois Arnaud. Showing March 26th at the Sebastiani Theater at 6:30pm and “The Artist’s Wife” starring Bruce Dern,
Lena Olin and icon Stefanie Powers who hasn’t appeared in a studio film since “Herbie Rides Again” in 1974! She is a young 77 years old and I can’t wait to see her in this movie. Showing at the Sebastiani Theater March 28th at 7:15pm. Go to sonomafilmfest.org for more information. You will thank me when you do.
For my live theater fans there is “Sweeney Todd” at 6th Street Playhouse. For you Johnny Depp fans out there, you will have seen the movie version. The theater version is much better. It runs from March 6 to April 5. Go to 6thstreetplayhouse.com for more information. On March 5 is International Women’s Day 2020, The Majesty of Women. It celebrates 100 years since the ratification of women’s right to vote. It’s only $25 for the chance to meet some incredible speakers including Lynell Green and Debra Shine. It will be held at the Foxtail Golf Club in Rohnert Park. Call 707 244 3077 for tickets.
commercials have been ranked in order of cleverness. The hyper buzz and hoopla have
diminished. d
Have you ever speculated what kind of lives H
these super athletes have in off season?
What are their concerns when they are not on the field.
Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez is an examination of just that. This Netflix three part limited documentary series presents the viewer with
a biography of a prominent player, his childhood, his rise to fame and his fall from grace. Intimately the viewer is able to see that the forces that make a great player do not necessarily make a great human being. Making touchdowns does not translate into success in one’s personal life.
Aaron Hernandez was born
into a middle class family in Connecticut. His Latino father who was macho and demanding was known around the neighborhood as “The King”.
“why” is frustrating. Is it possible that he killed two people because one had spilled a drink on him? Could he have killed another because he was aware of Aaron’s bisexuality? Could his deed have been in self-defense before a known thug would have taken him out? Was is because of a bad drug deal?
My favorite film festival, Sonoma International Film Festival,
No one really knows what snapped in Aaron’s mind. In his jail cell
after he commits suicide his brain is excised and examined. It obviously
had anomalies consistent with CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a neurogenerative disease that can cause, among other things, serious errors in judgment. Aaron’s case was very advanced. The probable cause was the many concussions he had experienced on the field. Football is a brutal sport not too far removed from the ancient gladiatorial contests. It is a simulated, sanctioned war. The owner of the Patriots, Robert Kraft, comes off poorly when he testifies at Aaron’s trial. He is smug and pompous. Football is a multi-billion dollar enterprise.
Aaron’s story includes interviews with his friends, video clips and photographs. Most poignant are his jailhouse phone conversations. They are sometimes pathetic and sad and ironic especially when he asks his fiancee to bring him copies of the Harry Potter books, hardly the reading material request that one would expect from a killer.
Aaron grew into a charismatic athlete first at the University
of Florida and later with the legendary New England Patriots with whom he signed a forty million dollar contract. He lived in a palatial home, had a beautiful fiancee and an adorable daughter.
What’s more Aaron was extraordinarily handsome, he even had dimples! Some may say that he had it all. Then he went out
and killed three people(allegedly). Not since O.J. has a football player achieved such notoriety. The documentary leaves some things murky. The “Who done it” part
is stronger than the “Why”. The
66 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 3/20