MovieChat Forums > Capote (2006) Discussion > What?! He never interviewed Richard Hick...

What?! He never interviewed Richard Hickok??

posted 10 years ago by ebettman-1
8 replies | jump to latest

Perry speaks of "Ricardo" (who ratted him out BTW.) The Book ICB implied he interviewed Him, too. For those who do not know, Perry witnessed domestic violence against his Mother by his Father (She was drunk and "entertaining" sailors at the time) and he needed the aspirin b/c of a motorcycle accident (nowadays they would rob for oxycontin, lol) HIckok was much less sympathetic, not introspective at all, and allegedly ran over at least one dog. HIS excuse was that he had a head injury in a wreck. Good that they portrayed Perry as arrogant and "persecuted" by Kansas when he won his first stay/appeal and that Truman called this "absurd." Also good that TC's female friend said he didn't Want them not to be executed-that would be less of a story. We read "In Cold Blood" in 10th grade, debated the Death Penalty, and saw the documentary movie. Blake had a nervous breakdown after playing Perry back then.

[–] FlyingSaucersAreReal 10 years ago

It's been pretty well documented that Capote just made a lot of stuff up. And I'm not talking about dramatizing things that really happened based on his interviews and other evidence. Just flat out making up entire scenes.

I'm not saying people shouldn't read the book. A lot of it is true, but I look at it like I would a movie version. It's "based on a true story", but not what I'd call true non fiction.

[–] M_Exchange 10 years ago

Well, you're only partly correct.
Capote was a chronic liar. He lied about his I.Q. He lied about his petty Southern origins. He lied about his interactions with celebrities and fellow writers.
When someone asked Gore Vidal about his death he said, "he ran out of lies."

BUT evidently he was 100% correct about the details that he wrote for In Cold Blood. He took an enormous amount of pride in his accuracy about the case, and I think that I remember that he offered a huge sum of money to anyone who could find an inaccuracy in his writing.
I also remember that someone corrected him on one thing, and it was a meaningless detail like some woman walked two miles to the post office, not one...

[–] FlyingSaucersAreReal 10 years ago

100 percent accurate? Lol.

He was a chronic liar but you take him at his word that he was proud of how accurate it was. That's your reasoning. Makes no sense.

Human psychology at work. We don't like to let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Google it. Read some articles about what investigators found when they looked at the police records and even Capote's own notes.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ebettman-1 10 years ago

yup ole "Gonzo" ate his Gun in the end. As for Capote, we read ICB in HIgh School. In "In Cold Blood" Perry says before Kansas kills him "I hope you send me to a better place than I came from" but ICF says he said "I had a lot to contribute." A picture of Nancy Clutter shows her as a homely looking girl in a leather jacket, not like Capote depicted her in the book.

[–] FlyingSaucersAreReal 10 years ago

There's a thousand of those.

In some cases Capote invented entire scenes, like when he has one of the officers visit Hickok's parents alone. At some point the police did talk to the parents, but the dramatic confrontation that the book describes is total fiction.

[–] Degree7 10 years ago

That's fascinating Qoaa, thanks.

Limit of the Willing Suspension of Disbelief: directly proportional to its awesomeness.

[–] sanders_mike25 7 years ago

That's why ICB is classified as a true crime "novel". In movie terms, we would say it was "inspired by true events".