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Vox
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Vox
The missing piece of Hulu's strange new Amanda Knox docudrama
writes about pop culture, media, and ethics. Before joining Vox in 2016, they were a staff reporter at the Daily Dot. A 2019 fellow of the National Critics Institute, they're considered an authority on fandom, the internet, and the culture wars. If ever true crime had a 'household name,' that name might be Amanda Knox. Forever immortalized as an inadvertent yet infamous media darling, Knox has weathered the storm of being tried, convicted, imprisoned, freed, retried, and ultimately found innocent of the 2007 murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher. Knox, a Seattle native, was just 20 when she briefly lived with Kercher and two other roommates in the idyllic cliffside house in Perugia, Italy, where Kercher was murdered. Despite a glaring lack of evidence against her from the start (and overwhelming evidence against the man who actually did it), Knox became a publicly reviled figure who still generates suspicion across two continents. Since her exoneration, she's chosen to meet that suspicion head-on, participating in a documentary, writing memoirs, and speaking out about how the media demonized her and how the justice system nearly failed her. All of this has led to her newest project, The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, an eight-episode Hulu docudrama created by K.J. Steinberg (This Is Us) and co-produced by Knox, retelling her story from her perspective. While true crime biopics are everywhere these days, there's something particularly strange about this one, which sees Grace van Patten as a wide-eyed, winsome, fourth-wall-breaking Amanda. The show's director, Michael Uppendahl, deliberately plays with tonal shifts, seesawing between the quirky, twee aesthetic of Amelie, the film Knox and her boyfriend were watching the night of the murder, and the claustrophobia of interrogation rooms and grief of tearful family meltdowns. The result is something that feels almost unholy — like The Staircase meets Fleabag, two things that should probably never meet! As with Hulu's other recent true crime-ish docudrama about Natalia Grace, Twisted Tale takes a granular approach to its storytelling, canvassing a huge amount of detail even as the narrative spans years. It also takes on a very close point of view through Knox's perspective — which may explain why the narrative glosses over one of the most well-known aspects of this case: If this tale is twisted, who exactly twisted it? Whatever you think you know about this case, you don't know the half Because we rarely shift out of Knox's viewpoint in Twisted Tale, many of the more famous aspects of the case become offstage concerns. The media's obsession with 'Foxy Knoxy' — the main lens through which most Americans would have absorbed the Amanda Knox story — gets reduced to a passing remark between unnamed journalists. The public's obsession with the case is also kept firmly at arm's length; fictional Amanda doesn't even open the hordes of fan mail she receives in prison. The elevation of so many personal details and relationships inevitably leads to the fast-tracking of many other details about the case, including years of pretty bonkers information about the investigation, prosecution, and ongoing media frenzy. The result is that casual viewers, and even viewers who think they already know where this is headed, might be left frantically Googling case facts to convince themselves they just heard that correctly. Spoiler: You did. Yes, the prosecutor, Mignini, decided a woman must have killed Meredith Kercher because her body had been covered with a blanket. Yes, he, the investigators, the public, and the press all decided from the outset that Knox was guilty because she kissed her boyfriend while standing outside the crime scene. Yes, Mignini also pursued an occult conspiracy theory in the case of the 'Monster of Florence.' After accusing 20 people of being involved in occult acts related to those murders, Mignini was reprimanded by the courts and convicted of abusing his office by improperly wiretapping some of the suspects. That conviction, however, was overturned on a technicality, so Mignini continued to investigate and prosecute cases — including the murder of Meredith Kercher. Yes, Knox claims she really was coaxed into doing yoga poses at the police station. Yes, the police really interrogated her for five days while barely allowing her to sleep, hitting her when she gave answers they disliked. This went on until she coughed up a false confession that was then successfully used to convict her of slandering the innocent man the police had pressured her to implicate. Yes, authorities really lied to her and told her she had contracted HIV in order to get her to give them information about her sexual history. Yes, several of Knox's friends really testified about her awkward behavior at her 2009 trial. 'Sometimes she had unusual attitudes, like she would start doing yoga while we were speaking, or she would play guitar while we were watching TV,' her roommate Filomena Romanelli testified. While Mignini's occult theory was barred from trial, the Satanic Panic of it all continued to influence the media, the public, and the prosecution. Italian lawyers were allowed to refer to Knox in court as 'Luciferina,' 'enchanting witch,' and 'she-devil.' The list of tabloid nicknames for her was much longer and just as absurd. Fortunately for Knox and Sollecito, the actual evidence that they did it was almost nonexistent, and the prosecution's DNA evidence fell completely apart due to evidence contamination and a botched handling of the crime scene. Guede, meanwhile, left his DNA everywhere. Because there was so much legal wrangling that happened offscreen and out of sight, you might understandably be confused about whether Knox and Sollecito actually got exonerated or not. Yes, and no. After Knox's first trial in 2009, she was sentenced to 26 years in prison, Sollecito to 25. In 2011, they won a successful appeal — the decision that freed them both — but that appeal was overturned in 2013 and a new hearing found them guilty again. In that verdict, the court actually increased Knox's sentence to 28 years. Neither were required to return to Italy to serve this time, however, and in 2015, the case was appealed to the Italian supreme court, which overturned this conviction and acquitted them both once and for all, citing 'glaring errors' and 'investigative amnesia' among other reasons. This overturned conviction often gets framed as an exoneration. However, she still stands guilty of slandering her former boss, Patrick Lumumba, as a result of her false confession. Guede was initially sentenced to 30 years, but ultimately served just 13 years before his release. He still claims he was innocent and that Amanda Knox was the culprit — and for years, many Italians and British citizens believed him. Even today, despite the general shift in public sentiment in the US, many people still argue fiercely that Knox was guilty, based on little more than vibes. The problem of centering Amanda Knox One side effect of this dramatization is that like many true crime dramas, it reduces real people into characters in ways that feel uneven and unsatisfying. The intermittent attempts to return to talking about Meredith feel shallow; after all, Amanda only knew her for a few weeks. This series argues unequivocally that Meredith and Amanda were both victims — but while centering the victim has become a true crime watchword, centering Meredith in Amanda's story is easier said than done. Then there's the 'character' of Amanda herself. On the one hand, the decision not to water down her tendency to be flippant, glib, or socially awkward at the worst times is a smart one, since this is exactly what the media attacked her for to begin with. On the other hand, she's a frustrating ingénue. Her knowing looks at the camera start out annoying and have diminishing returns. Her family members ultimately seem more fazed by her imprisonment than she does. By the time she finds herself on a mystical visit to the Innocence Project, where an encounter with fellow exoneree Antoine Day leads to her awakening as a justice advocate, you can be forgiven if, while wallowing in sympathy, you are just a little tired of this girl. The decision to present Amanda directly to the viewer without the filter of a damning media lens is arguably a smart choice — but it creates a gap in Amanda's version of the story. After all, the way the press chose to cover the case at home and abroad may have played a bigger role than anything else in putting Amanda in prison. The biggest absence in Knox's narrative are, perhaps, the people who put her there To understand the real impact the media had on the trial of Amanda Knox, it's crucial to understand that Italian juries aren't sequestered during the trial proceedings. That means that both before and during the trial, they have access to the media's coverage of the case. Experts close to the case have argued that this media exposure was the single biggest reason for Knox and Sollecito being convicted. We do see one such journalist in action, but only after Knox has finally been cleared of guilt — when she sits down for a 2013 CNN interview with Chris Cuomo, who proceeds to challenge her innocence and hound her about why Italian investigators were so convinced she'd been involved in sex games. Because this comes after Knox is free, it doesn't speak to the real role of the media; it fails as a clue to how we got here. Contrast this with the 2016 Netflix documentary Amanda Knox, in which prolific Daily Mail journalist Nick Pisa proudly gave a master class in villainy. Pisa was the one who coined the nickname 'Foxy Knoxy'; in the doc, he compared his front-page bylines about her to having sex. He was blithe about never fact-checking the things he wrote about her before sending articles off to his editors, and gave quotes on the record that would leave any reputable journalist open-mouthed. 'I think now, looking back, some of the information that came out was just crazy really, it's just completely made up,' Pisa stated at one point. In one interview years after her first trial, Pisa brought up a purely innocent incident on Knox's part — she wore a Beatles T-shirt to trial — as a reason why prosecutors and 'the media' painted her as suspicious. He failed to mention that he had been the one writing about the T-shirt to begin with. By keeping all of that irresponsible scheming at bay, we miss a vital piece of the convoluted puzzle that led to Knox and Sollecito becoming such easy targets. It wasn't just that Mignini was 'prey to delirium' or that the police had an anti-American bias. It was that Amanda herself was vulnerable to a media that craved a villainess. She was 'creepy,' 'weird,' 'inappropriate.' Above all, she was the one thing an innocent girl is never allowed to be: easy. 'It wasn't the crime itself,' Frank Bruni wrote for the New York Times in 2013. 'It was the supposed conspiracy of her libido, cast as proof that she was out of control, up to no good, lost, wicked, dangerous. A girl this intent on randy fun was a girl who couldn't be trusted and got what was coming to her, even if it was prison.' It's understandable that the media might have been squarely in the periphery of Amanda's perspective as she experienced the events that unfolded in Perugia, and that this might shape her version of the story. But if she wasn't focused on them, they were certainly focused on her. Without their influence, this Twisted Tale might have untangled itself much sooner.
Scottish Sun
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Patrick Schwarzenegger steps out with fellow nepo baby as the hunks show their toned arms – but can you guess his pal?
He tried to keep low-key in a baseball cap and vest top SUMMER SONS Patrick Schwarzenegger steps out with fellow nepo baby as the hunks show their toned arms – but can you guess his pal? Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) PATRICK Schwarzenegger stepped out with a fellow nepo baby as the hunks show off their toned arms. The actor was all smiles as he cut a casual figure whilst out and about in Los Angeles. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 6 Patrick Schwarzenegger was all smiles when he was spotted out and about in LA Credit: BackGrid 6 He was spotted alongside his famous friend, John Owen Lowe Credit: BackGrid 6 The actor was all smiles as he flaunted his bulky physique in a vest and baggy tracksuit Credit: BackGrid Patrick Schwarzenegger, 31, is an actor who is the son of The Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger and his high-profile ex-wife Maria Shriver. He's best known for his starring roles in the likes of huge TV series The Staircase and American Sports Story. The actor shot to superstardom when he played the role of Saxon Ratliff in The White Lotus earlier this year. In the series, his character stunned viewers in a full frontal scene where his bum is in full view. He also left fans completely gobsmacked by a controversial incest storyline, to which he said he felt somewhat 'blindsided' by. Now, he was spotted out and about in the City of Angels as he showed off his muscles. He flaunted his toned arms and bulky physique in a light vest and navy baggy tracksuit bottoms as he stepped out. Patrick also wore white trainers, a snazzy high-tech watch on his left arm as he attempted to keep low-key in a beige baseball cap. He clutched what looked like an large ipad as he exited from a luxury Land Rover Defender. He was beaming from ear to ear as he was accompanied by his pal, fellow actor John Owen Lowe. Patrick Schwarzenegger goes naked while fiancee Abby Champion rocks see-through lace underwear in steamy Skims shoot John, 29, is known as the son of Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy nominated actor and TV presenter Rob Lowe. The roles in series such as The Grinder, and series such as Netfix's Unstable and The Lowe Files which he made alongside his father. He also kept a casual figure as he was dressed in a royal blue coloured t-shirt and grey bottoms. The star kept one step behind his pal in grey trainers as he was seen clutching white headphones. 6 Patrick kept a casual figure as he attempted to keep a low-key figure in a baseball cap Credit: BackGrid 6 He was accompanied by the son of actor and TV personality, Rob Lowe Credit: BackGrid
The Irish Sun
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Patrick Schwarzenegger steps out with fellow nepo baby as the hunks show their toned arms – but can you guess his pal?
PATRICK Schwarzenegger stepped out with a fellow nepo baby as the hunks show off their toned arms. The actor was all smiles as he cut a casual figure whilst out and about in Los Angeles. Advertisement 6 Patrick Schwarzenegger was all smiles when he was spotted out and about in LA Credit: BackGrid 6 He was spotted alongside his famous friend, John Owen Lowe Credit: BackGrid 6 The actor was all smiles as he flaunted his bulky physique in a vest and baggy tracksuit Credit: BackGrid He's best known for his starring roles in the likes of huge TV series The Staircase and American Sports Story. The actor shot to superstardom when he played the role of Saxon Ratliff in The White Lotus earlier this year. In the series, Advertisement He also left fans completely gobsmacked by a Now, he was spotted out and about in the City of Angels as he showed off his muscles. He flaunted his toned arms and bulky physique in a light vest and navy baggy tracksuit bottoms as he stepped out. Patrick also wore white trainers, a snazzy high-tech watch on his left arm as he attempted to keep low-key in a beige baseball cap. Advertisement Most read in Celebrity Breaking He clutched what looked like an large ipad as he exited from a luxury Land Rover Defender. He was beaming from ear to ear as he was accompanied by his pal, fellow actor Patrick Schwarzenegger goes naked while fiancee Abby Champion rocks see-through lace underwear in steamy Skims shoot John, 29, is known as the son of Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy nominated actor and TV presenter Rob Lowe. The roles in series such as The Grinder, and series such as Netfix's Advertisement He also kept a casual figure as he was dressed in a royal blue coloured t-shirt and grey bottoms. The star kept one step behind his pal in grey trainers as he was seen clutching white headphones. 6 Patrick kept a casual figure as he attempted to keep a low-key figure in a baseball cap Credit: BackGrid 6 He was accompanied by the son of actor and TV personality, Rob Lowe Credit: BackGrid Advertisement 6 His toned arms were on show as he enjoyed the summer heat Credit: BackGrid
Los Angeles Times
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
South Coast Repertory gets an assist after losing NEA funding for ‘The Staircase'
South Coast Repertory found itself in a bind last month, when officials learned on opening day for the final production of the 2024-25 season, 'The Staircase,' it would be losing $20,000 in promised federal funding. But with a little help from a philanthropic organization started by a Newport Beach family, whose founder heard about the loss and stepped up to replace the lost grant money, the show and the season went off without a hitch. Although the National Endowment of the Arts had initially awarded the grant to SCR in November, the agency informed the Costa Mesa theater company in a May 2 email the funding had been withdrawn, due to the updating of grant-making priorities to projects that aligned with missions prioritized by the Trump administration. A list of fundable projects, the email explained, included those that elevate historically Black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions, celebrate the 250th anniversary of American independence, foster AI competency, empower houses of worship to service communities, foster skilled trade jobs and support the military and veterans, among others. The loss in funding, far from the total cost of the project, helped support the work of several skilled technicians and was a 'meaningful amount of money,' SCR Managing Director Suzanne Appel told City News Service in May. So when officials learned a short time later that the OneRoot Foundation, which had never before worked with South Coast Repertory, had offered to fill the budgetary gap left by the NEA's withdrawal, they were a little stunned and deeply touched. 'It was incredibly generous and life-affirming support that says something about what they stand for,' SCR Artistic Director David Ivers said of the foundation's gift Tuesday. 'We cannot say thanks enough.' Founded in 2021 by the Pyle family of Newport Beach, the OneRoot Foundation supports a number of causes through private grantmaking and volunteerism. Trustee David A. Pyle, also founder and chief executive of American Career College, said the gift was made in honor of his father, actor Denver Pyle, who portrayed 'Uncle Jesse' Duke in the TV series 'The Dukes of Hazzard' and racked up more than 200 film and television credits throughout a 50-year career. Robert May, the executive director overseeing OneRoot Foundation's philanthropic efforts, said the organization was proud to support SCR, where he and his family have attended annual productions of 'A Christmas Carol' for more than 25 years. 'We believe in doing what is right, so seeing the NEA pull its funding the day of the opening with no warning was disappointing, to say the least,' May said in a June 11 news release. 'We wanted to make it right and assure that South Coast Repertory had the funding required to complete 'The Staircase.' We support the vision of SCR to engage and enrich our community with outstanding programs.' Just as OneRoot Foundation pledged its support, SCR filed an appeal to the National Endowment for the Arts to reinstate the withdrawn award. Officials maintain 'The Staircase' meets the administration's guidelines favoring projects that benefit skilled laborers and tribal communities. Written by native Hawaiian playwright Noa Gardner, 'The Staircase' told the story of a Hawaiian family and celebrated culture through ancestral myths, legends and music, exploring the relationship between Hawaii and the mainland U.S. Its cast and crew featured three native Hawaiian actors and music director and dramatist Mehanaoakala Hind. 'It's astonishing to me we're presenting the world premiere of a play that takes place in one of our 50 states, from a community that's been largely ignored as it relates to three-dimensional art on the stage,' Ivers said of the funding withdrawal decision. 'That's as un-American as you can get.' South Coast Repertory as of Tuesday had not yet learned whether a decision had been made on the theater company's appeal to the NEA.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Arnold Schwarzenegger Grills Son Patrick on Why He Thinks His Last Name Was an 'Obstacle' in Hollywood
In the past few years, the 'nepo baby' debate has been all the rage. And while some celebrity kids have been candid about the opportunities they've been given because of just who they are, others have insisted that being a 'nepo baby' isn't quite as luxurious as it seems. For Patrick Schwarzenegger, who recently made a name for himself in the third season of The White Lotus, his journey has been a mixed bag – and dad Arnold Schwarzenegger is ready to grill him on it. More from SheKnows The Most Popular Celebrity Teen Is Worth a Staggering $250 Million, According to a New Study In their new 'Actors on Actors' for Variety, Arnold asked his son about a quote of his from the past, claiming that having their famous last name was 'difficult.' 'Explain that to me, because to me, the name Schwarzenegger always meant a big plus,' Arnold said. 'And then all of a sudden you were talking about [how] it can be an obstacle.' For his answer, Patrick, who's also starred in other known projects like The Staircase and Gen V, talked about his audition process with White Lotus creator Mike White. 'I feel it in multiple different ways,' he told his dad. 'Mike White said that it comes with baggage, the idea that when you have successful parents like I do with you and Mom [Maria Shriver], there's an added level of what other people think.' As fans of the show know, Patrick was eventually cast as Saxson Ratliff, the older and most know-it-all son of Victoria (Parker Posey) and Timothy Ratliff (Jason Isaacs). 'Mike was worried about if he cast me, what other people would think,' Patrick continued. 'Which they did — they did care about that; people said I got the role because of you and Mom.' Patrick then revealed that he once considered changing his last name. 'There were times earlier in my career where I was wondering, does it make sense to go under an alias?' he said. 'It took a while for me to get to a point where I was less worried about living in your shadow versus wanting to do it the way I thought I should do it.' Luckily, it seems Patrick never addressed the thought to his dad, who might've been hurt by name change. 'I'm glad you kept the name, because now I can take credit,' Arnold joked. 'You joined a very short list of people: You know, Jamie Lee Curtis — I think she's one of the greatest actors in history. If you show you have the substance, you can get rid of the whole idea of nepotism.' Patrick then finished the thought by expressing his gratitude for all the opportunities his parents have given him over the years. 'I understand how hard you and Mom have worked throughout your life to give me the opportunities that I've had,' he said. The biggest advice you gave us kids is to work hard. I've tried to honor that.' Whether you're a fan of the generation of 'nepo babies' or not, honoring your parents is surely something most of us can relate to. Before you go, click to see more celebrity kids following in their parents' acting footsteps. Best of SheKnows 27 Celebrity Moms Who've Opened Up About Their Plastic Surgery 16 of the Steamiest Movie Sex Scenes With Older Women & Younger Men All the Men Marilyn Monroe Reportedly Had Relationships With Throughout Her Short Life
