Fatty Arbuckle was a highly successful silent film era actor. He was reknown for his impressive comedic talent and singing abilities, as well as his incredible size. In his era, the early 20th century, a man of Arbuckle’s size was not common at all. He attracted all sorts of attention, often negative, for his body mass. Still, he was known to be an extremely kind man, soft spoken and very much a gentleman. Despite his addiction to morphine and alcohol, he was happily married to a woman he met a few years before his talent was put on display by the burgeoning Hollywood theatrical scene. Despite his popularity, kind-hearted nature and impressive wealth, he fell victim to a tragic accusation: rape.
Shortly after signing an unbelievable contract for unprecedented amount of money, Arbuckle and two of his friends decided to travel north to San Francisco and throw a soiree to celebrate Arbuckle’s absolute stardom. Over the course of a Labor Day weekend during the early days of the Prohibition Era, Arbuckle and his friends rented three rooms at the St. Francis hotel in downtown San Francisco. They revelry and merriment began early in the day on Labor Day; the ensuing dance party and socializing was fueled by a large stash of banned liquor.
Virginia Rappe
Around 3 P.M., Arbuckle retired to his room to get changed and travel around the city. At this time, a young woman named Virginia Rappe was in his bathroom, in intense distress from alcohol consumption and her personal medical issues, profusely throwing up. Arbuckle helped her to his bed, as he thought she merely had drank too much. He left the room briefly and came back, only to find her writhing body on the floor. Arbuckle, once again, placed her back on the bed. Rappe was an intensely disturbed and unstable individual. She was born to a single mother and, by some accounts, had already had four abortions by the tender age of sixteen. She had fought bouts of venereal disease, had medical conditions that were worsened by her alcoholism and took to claiming men had harmed or wronged her once she was drunk.
Bambina Delmont
Observing this situation between Arbuckle and Rappe was the manipulative Bambina Delmont. She had a terrible reputation as a serial accuser of misdeeds in order to swindle and blackmail various celebrities in Hollywood. Once she had seen Arbuckle repeatedly leave the room and return the crafty gears in her mind began to turn. Belmont would falsely claim she had to force her way into the room, only to find Rappe nude and bloodied, with Arbuckle’s obese and nude body blocking the door.
In reality, Arbuckle had left to grab a bucket of ice, as to ease the pain she claimed to be emanating from her swollen abdomen. He and some guests began to rub ice on her abdomen and her thighs, trying to calm her insistent cries. At this juncture, Rappe uttered a fatally damning statement to the rapt attention of Belmont: “What did he do to me, Maudie? [Arbuckle] did this to me.” Rappe was placed in an ice bath that calmed her nerves and eased her outbursts. Hotel staff was contacted and she taken to a room to rest. A doctor administered morphine to ease her pain. She eventually was admitted to a hospital a couple days later, where she died of a ruptured bladder.
Arbuckle traveled back to Los Angeles, only find out that within a week, his whole life would crumble before his eyes. An ambitious young prosecutor in San Francisco wanted a blockbuster case and saw this situation as his case. His star witness, the aforementioned Belmont, changed her story significantly every time she recounted the incident to authorities. That did not stop him from pursuing Arbuckle legally.
However, what felled Arbuckle was the machinations of William Randolph Hearst, a calculating man who saw the incredible power of the emerging national press. He was the leading proponent of yellow journalism and actively sought to distort stories and situations in order to further his profits and status.
He published incredibly sensationalistic fare that painted Arbuckle was a serial abuser of Rappe, having not just ruptured her bladder through his great weight that crushed her body, but also assaulted her with a Coke bottle. Hearst played off America’s distrust of Hollywood’s sexual freedom and rampant abuse of substances. Further, painted the obese Arbuckle was a rank glutton, even though Arbuckle had been overweight since childhood – suggesting biological reasons for his weight. Still, this media coverage was absolutely damning and completely ruined Arbuckle’s career. He subsequently was tried three times for his role in the death of the Rappe, with the final trial resulting in acquittal, with the jury issuing an apology—completely unprecedented for a jury.
In the aftermath, he was temporarily banned from Hollywood and had his movies banned as well. He was allowed to return and began to do work under a pseudonym, Will B. Good. Little came of this so he took to abusing alcohol and morphine to ease his anguish. In the summer of 1933, right after signing a new contract to do a new movie, he died of a heart attack in his sleep at age 46.
In the aftermath of this debacle, it is universally recognized that Arbuckle was innocent of the rape accusation. As usual in America, a dogmatic and hateful witch-hunt — usually fueled by the media — results in innocent people having their lives completely ruined, only to have people posthumously issue apologies for their inability to rationally approach accusations of crimes and misdeeds. America, starting with the Salem Witch Trials, has a long and off-putting history of abusing the criminal justice system in order to slake America’s thirst for moral judgmentalism. However, what is most salient about the Arbuckle situation was the role the media played.
Hearst was a pioneer in yellow journalism, a type of reporting that is, essentially, sensationalizing news stories with the aim of increasing profits. Hearst was a master of misleading headlines, manipulating facts to fit a prefabricated narrative and pitting underdogs against allegedly far more powerful forces. This sort of reporting has lead to the wasteland of so-called news sites such as Jezebel, Daily Kos, Fox News and MSNBC. Just about any mainstream news source has strong roots in yellow journalism.
In his greedy and self-absorbed pursuit of control of media, Hearst created a false god of sorts, as he helped establish that the media is the decider of what is or is not a significant story, what the issues to be debated are, the character of the people they report, etc. He established that the media is the ultimate authority in America. His completely negative portrayal of Arbuckle did not just reaffirm the image conservative society held of Hollywood, but inadvertently created the media Leviathan that we have today.
People never complain when the media reports stories in a way that affirms their ideology or sympathies, they don’t speak out when a story is clearly slanted in a way that dishonestly represents an issue they agree with. People only complain when figures in media represent an issue in a way that conflicts with their ideology or sympathies. Take Trayvon Martin. The whole issue was an embarrassingly obvious example of this, as two discrete camps — both created and fueled by the media — emerged, with one camp claiming Zimmerman did not kill Martin out of racism and the other camp asserting Martin was killed because of his race.
The question that never surfaced was whether the state could prove that Zimmerman met the standard of proof necessary to convict a person of a hate crime. That was the sole issue presented, not the deluge of side issues produced by the media in order to drive revenues. I have no doubt most people have a strong opinion on this issue and that is the point — the media wants to decide the arc of issues and what you think. All liberal outlets were distraught at Zimmerman’s acquittal, wondering aloud why the jury got the verdict wrong, while the media got it right. The media gets to be the deciders while people get a public forum in which they prove they aren’t X, Y or Z; in the Zimmerman case, people get a public forum in which they can prove they are not racist.
As was seen with the tragic life of David Reimer, Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle was just a man in the wrong place at the wrong time. His place amongst the stars was aborted by the despicable machinations of a woman possessed with the desire to rip apart men who were more successful than her. On that fateful day in a San Franciscan hotel, Belmont found a perfect target in Arbuckle — a fat, emerging star of the suspiciously-viewed Hollywood who was too kind and nice for his own good. He was just an object, a cog in the games of the self-possessed people around him: Belmont who wanted to sow the seeds of discord, the prosecutor who desired the Californian governorship and William Randolph Hearst who desired to both discredit Hollywood and maximize his profits.
Eventually, Arbuckle’s life was lost to the depressing vices of alcohol and painkillers, but his demise portends greater lessons for America. As Hearst proved, the media Leviathan he helped created wasn’t interested in the pursuit of truth and knowledge, but profits based out of preying on America’s collective social psychology. This Leviathan exists to this day, pretending to provide objective news while shunting said news through the idea that the media is the decider of truth in society.
Whether truth or rationality was the goal of American media at any point is irrelevant because of what America media has become — a massive authoritarian project aimed at maximizing profits through recruiting loyal followers that suborn their own thoughts and interpretations of situations, events and people through the lens of the preferred media provider. The great sleight of hand is media allowing people enough space to believe they are thinking for themselves or coming to realizations when in fact it is spoon-fed to them by media.
Was the information that exonerated Arbuckle readily available to the consumers of media? No. He was treated as guilty from the outset and Hearst actively suppressed any information or evidence that contradicted his narrative that Arbuckle was nothing more than an obese rapist that killed his victim through his weight. Hearst’s supreme desire to control the narrative far outweighed the reporting of facts over interpretations. People thought they were realizing that Arbuckle was a gluttonous rapist – they were told that in a fashion that made them think it was a judgment they made, not made for them.
You should always beware a man that seeks to deny your access to knowledge, for in his heart he seeks to be your master.
Great article, but more important is to note that today, in 2013, thousands of young boys are falsely accused of rape every year, simply because they got drunk and had sex with a drunken teenage girl.
The boys are then charged as adults, but get this, they are charged with “rape of a minor” even if the girl is the SAME AGE as them.
16 year old boy has drunken teenage sex…charged as adult
16 year old girl has drunken sex…she’s a “minor” who was “date raped”.
These charges essentially destroy the boys (and their families) for life, often costing people their houses and retirement plans to defend. Usually the boys are put on sexual predator lists which means, they can never get a job, get an apartment, they are essentially living in homeless camps for THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.
The “war on boys” is in full swing. It ain’t going away, it’s getting much worse and will continue to get worse until somebody actually fights it.
This article rings so true and with good timing, given what I’ve seen has happened to this site in the past week after checking in. Interestingly enough, it proves once more that there is more in common with the religious right and the egalitarian left than you’d imagine- both are authoritarian cults that ultimately are rooted in intolerant puritanism. Interestingly enough, the some of the first newspapers were essentially propaganda pieces for the Parliamentarians in the British Civil Wars that were previously regulated greatly by the Star Chamber.
Now as the media beats the drums of war with Syria, we should all be especially aware of dunce sensationalism.
Great article, timeless topic.
Arbuckle seemed to be a good generous man but that can be a strong weakness. Men today need to develop an efficient screening method to identify dangerous women and adopt preventive and corrective strategies against this kind of enemy. Understand that defamation, reputation attacks and public shaming are the main weapons in the feminine arsenal. Adapt your behavior in social interactions to minimize this risk; avoid making displays or boasting off if you are being successful. Once I read that the reason why oscar winning actors fly out of Hollywood after receiving the prize is to avoid jealous or envious people.
I see a bunch of people already said great article, and I agree. However, here goes, great article!
On top of that, you hit up a topic few would ever look for. If any witch-hunt is deserved, it is witch hunting for the truth of the seedy underbelly of the media elite by a prominent, truthful, hard hitting news station with journalists who enjoy the personal cost of dancing with the devil and the truth in combat.
Unfortunately, sex and lies sell as they appeal to our darker nature often without our knowledge. They lie, and we are too lazy to screen them properly. That is why there are so many Arbuckle’s of the world.
If you found the plight of those men heart-rending, then this should bring you to tears:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Kiszko
“His ordeal was described by one MP as ‘the worst miscarriage of justice of all time’.”
Wow, might do a writeup on that.
The West is a savagely judgmental place, when provided the right circumstances.
I hope you do.
A man cheated that much by that many is worthy of mention.
This may also be, writ large, a reminder that people do not forgive physical unattractiveness. Many claim that they judge on other factors. But even slight flaws — a belly, untrimmed nasal hair, warts — are translated into moral flaws by many. Perhaps it’s only natural.
Believing that men and women are different is a modern heresy. The attractive male may get away with it, but God help you if you aren’t physically attractive AND can’t keep your mouth shut. They will crucify you.
Great article. Prefect points, imo. I’d like you to also write one about Brian Banks. I played football with him at Long Beach Poly. Man did 10 years and was freed after the California Innocence Project got a confession from the accuser. She got millions from the school district, I don’t think he got a dime after the overturn of his conviction. Look him up, it was a pretty big story where I come from.
And sadly, the Falcons cut him this weekend. Hope he gets picked up by another team.
Yeah, the Brian Banks case is especially egregious. University of Montana QB Jordan Johnson was also the victim of a horrible false rape claim.
This article by Jim Goad is both wonderfully written, and includes links to literally dozens of documented rape hoaxes. I have the linked save for immediate reference every time leftists and feminists grab their pitchforks and start campaigning for mob action:
http://takimag.com/article/the_crying_rape_game_jim_goad#axzz2dn9t2HSh
There’s so damn many of these that the problem is not in demonstrating the frequency of rape claim hoaxes, but in not becoming overly fearful that I’ll be the victim of one. As usual, the real world is the complete opposite of Hollywood and the mainstream media.
The tie-in between Arbuckle and Zimmerman is an important one. Both men suffered from the abuse of power via the media.
In today’s world it is important to recognize WHY media always seem to serve the liberals. Government has tools to control or destroy the corporations that own and operate media properties. First, the FCC issues and renews licenses for use of electromagnetic spectra – these can be worth billions each and can be pulled if the FCC so decides. Another example is prior approval of mergers through anti-trust legislation. If Verizon and MetroPCS wanted to merge, the federal government could say yes or NO – more billions at stake.
Another example was following Prop 13 here in California. The liberal Democrat leader of the Assembly, Willie Brown, put out legislature to raise taxes across the board. One proposal was to charge sales tax on newspaper sales which had previously been exempt. Many newspapers had endorsed Prop 13 which aimed to limited taxes. Obviously, all the major newspapers hollered loudly and got their relief – but coverage subtly changed after that.
The government has most of the important media by the short and curlies. They would love to control the internet too.
As long as some can achieve fame and/or fortune by prosecuting and/or harassing others, while talking little to no risk on their own, that’s what they will do. Advantageous risk/reward and all.
About ten years ago Jerry Stahl wrote a good, sad novel about Arbuckle called I, FATTY.
An interesting insight to the history of media in America. I assumed the asshole-sh anti male biased slant we see today was simply a result of third wave feminazi-ism. It’s fascinating to see how fucked up it was back 100+ years ago. I suppose the difference is that at least back then the accused could restart a new life (although not as an actor or public celeb) as opposed to today we now have databases available to the public to follow a wrongly convicted man to be sure he has not a chance in hell to have any kind of peace for the remainder of his living days.
He’s not the only one in Show Biz to face these statutory rape charges/allegations. Charlie Chaplin, Errol Flynn, Jerry Lee Lewis, etc..
You know you live in a crappy society when being a good person is considered a weakness to exploit.
I think this video is quite fitting re: influence media has on its consumers. It’s called State of Mind: The Psychology of Control…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8rCR8r6vmg
The media simply takes advantage of our gullibility and biases. We are a society that makes judgements before we’ve gone through the evidence and checked for possible contradictions. And it gets massively worse every 10 years now. I was just watching the Perot vs. Gore debate on youtube (It’s a crime how right Perot was, and how he’s not even given a public forum to help us with the mess we’re in) and I was shocked that even that level of debate would be considered “too intellectual” by our modern standards.
I agree, the media has its own goals. I stopped taking the news seriously a long time ago. I do watch it from time to time just to see the bullshit that goes on.
For example, when the situation with the NSA came to light, rather than actually inform the public about what the NSA is doing and the significance of the leaked information, they put the whistle blower in a bad light. Not only this but they wouldn’t cover the topic for more than a few minutes before they dragged the Zimmerman case back into the spotlight.
Another reason to be a MGTOW