Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret

The 1997 film "Fatal Attraction" was nominated for 6 Academy Awards. This has been called the real life version for the 21st Century; sadly as a TV film it can't win an Oscar, even more sadly is the fact that it "is" the real life version. It probably wouldn't in any case because in spite of the excellent portrayal of "femme fatale" Arias by Tania Raymonde, like "To Catch A Killer" (about John Gacy) this was a film that was made with a higher purpose than mere entertainment.

Although Jodi Arias was convicted of the murder of Travis Alexander only last year, it cannot be said to have been made entirely in indecent haste because the crime happened in June 2008, but it was released only a month after her conviction.

The dialogue aims for realism rather than dramatic effect; the line "dildo with a heartbeat" was in fact used by Travis. As undoubtedly was Jodi's line "delete it and it's gone forever", except that it wasn't. Did she really expect to get away with murder?

She was indeed his dirty little secret, and he could have treated her better, but did a man who had never so much as slapped his lover deserve to die at her hands like this?

The only charge that may be made against this film – apart from the above one of indecent haste – is that it is bad taste to portray a real and recent murder so graphically. Far worse though was the release of the actual crime scene photographs, which could have been avoided even for a trial broadcast live on the Internet. In the UK this would not have been allowed, and Travis would at least have been granted dignity in death.