Customer Reviews

American Justice - The John Lennon Assassination

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a very interesting documentary detailing the life of Mark David Chapman and the events building up to his murder of John Lennon in 1980. The 50 minute documentary features interviews with the policeman who first arrived on the scene, the doctor that operated on Lennon, and one of Lennon's best friends.

The details of Chapman's psychosis and his disturbing childhood are discussed at great length as well as his obsession with Catcher in the Rye and John Lennon himself. It's an eye-opening documentary and if you've ever been intereted in John Lennon's assasination, you will definitely enjoy it.

the film is about why chapman killed lennon and about chapman's life just before he killed him. if you admire lennon and want to know the facts about the person who killed him this doc. will tell you. i found it facinating.

This 1998 episode of A&E's American Justice focuses on the background and incarcerated life of Mark David Chapman--John Lennon's murderer. The documentary begins with Chapman's step-by-step plan to kill Lennon. One thing that has always bothered me about the story was that the doorman allegedly grabbed Chapman after the shooting, saw the gun fall to the ground, and told Chapman to leave. Why would he tell him to leave? Did he want a killer out on the loose? That detail is mentioned in the documentary but not elaborated upon as if it were something anyone would say under the circumstances. The efforts to save the former Beatle and the reactions to his death including the dedication of Strawberry Fields are briefly described (curiously, no mention of the Monday Night Football announcement). Those featured in interview clips include medical staff, police officers, Chapman's defense attorneys, and Lennon's friends Elliot Mintz and Bob Gruen.

Greater detail is given to Chapman's background. Stories of his mother's obsession with him are quite disturbing. Although Chapman grew up a Beatles fan, he rejected the band after a bad experience with LSD caused him to become a born again Christian. He condemned Lennon's "bigger than Jesus" quote and the verse in his song "Imagine" about there being no heaven. The main influence on Chapman, however, was the J.D. Salinger novel The Catcher In The Rye whose protagonist Holden Caulfield sees an adult world full of "phonies." Chapman began to believe Lennon was the biggest phony of them all.

After pleading guilty to his crime, Chapman was sent to Attica Correctional Facility which was the site of the bloodiest prison riot in U.S. history. Ironically, John Lennon wrote the song "Attica State" and appeared at a benefit concert for the families of the victims of the riot or, more specifically, the police retaliation during the riot soon after he emigrated to New York. The documentary includes some recordings of Chapman in prison explaining his actions. It also describes his life while incarcerated--filing his hate mail, having conjugal visits with his wife four times a year, and producing Christian videos. The film does a decent job getting into the troubled mind of Chapman to shed some light on why he murdered Lennon--as bizarre as the explanations are. It is very well-done as are all the American Justice episodes I've seen but I would have liked another episode included on this disc as it is only 45-minutes.

more about the murderer than expected, including, in particular, facts about his mother's disturbed relationship with him, not disclosed in the immediate aftermath of the crime. Still, it would require more than one viewing if one is attempting to make sense of the intermixed illiteracy-based mental problems, and rationalizations. Prominent in that mix is the literalist, oversimplified fundamentalist "Christian" "religion" which was his confused pseudo-escape from his other confusions.

So he figured killing "the world's biggest somebody" would end his being "the world's biggest nobody". And now he's a "Christian" (again) who -- conveniently -- believes "God" has forgiven him for committing the murder. So "God," too, is another of his self-justifying delusions.

Only three stars (four stars are "liked," five are "loved") because I was as devastated as many millions of others by the religionut assassination which, even with the extensive information in this presentation, then made and still makes no sense.