WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE

I hadn't seen this movie in over 2 decades.

When the opening credits began, I felt a deep since of sadness and darkness. I could say it was my sparse memory of the plot and the overall somber mood from the imagery. 

I know it was something else. It wasn't until the movie truly began that I was able to identify the source of the sadness. 

This being a "cult" film, I knew there would be some disappointments in plot continuity and special effects partially due to the "wholesome" expectations of the time. 

Overall it wasn't too disappointing. The story itself is so compelling that no one really cared about the following:

1. How well folded and "pressed" that note looked after Blanche had crumpled it all to hell and threw it out a window when Jane returned it to her. 

2. How Blanche had no idea that Jane was stealing money from her until she started serving her dead animals from around the house. 

It could be that this plot hole is an artistic reference to the greed and arrogance of Blanche's character. 

3. How Blanche was rich enough to own a mansion but had never considered acquiring a way to get down the stairs on her own. 

Anyway, there was one inconsistency that helped me to pinpoint where the sadness was coming from. 

When Edwin strikes a deal with Jane to help her revamp her career and she offers him 100 dollars per week for his piano accompaniment. 

Meanwhile they were paying Elvira 15 dollars a day (for an undisclosed number of days a week) to clean their house. This woman had access to all they business yet Jane was willing to pay a complete stranger 5 dollars more a day to play the damn piano for a few hours. 

In addition, the nosey ass neighbor wanted to hire Elvira on for a few days a week. That tells me that Elvira wasn't working for Blanche a full work week. 

I'm not saying this movie is racist AT ALL. The fact that Jane is sniffed out based upon a report of the finding of a black character's body alone is testament to that. 

The pay difference illuminates the discrimination which led me to pay attention to the time period of the film. 

This film goes from the 19 teens into the 1960s. The audience is moved from $3.25 porcelain dolls to $20 a day piano men. It glosses over the Great Depression like a master cake decorator laying fondant on a wedding cake. 

I often wondered why so many films from this time period (specifically the horror genre) are so disturbingly dark. 

The success of horror films is dependent on the fears of the audience, what is at the core of human behavior. 

The target audience of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane" would be an older crowd seeing as how the co-stars where in their mid 50's at the time the film was made. 

Such an audience experienced the Great Depression in their youth when their brains were most impressionable. 

I can only imagine the horrors and atrocities they witnessed when the country was experiencing a financial collapse. I would think that things got pretty "competitive."

Maybe that is why Jane AND BLANCHE were so fucking nuts. Yes, I'm calling Blanche crazy too. 

I really don't want to spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it but, yeah that hoe is crazy.

To get back to my point, I believe my initial sadness was a form of grieving. I was specifically grieving for those who were grossly under represented in the film. 

The one black character dies trying to do the most noble thing. Of course, this goes along with the horror genre stereotype of : "sacrifice the black person to the god of survival first."

More importantly, I think of the people paying to see this movie in theaters. I think about the few black patrons and them having to see the "white folks" problems playing out on screen. 

Did they get comfort in seeing them eat their own? Did they feel sympathy for Elvira or did they think she was a coon?

Or did they realize how viscious, ungrateful, and insane their enemy was?