Tango With Murder

Cell Block Tango - Various Artists

Pop, Six, Squish, Uh-Uh, Cicero, Lipschitz
Pop, Six, Squish, Uh-Uh, Cicero, Lipschitz
Pop, Six, Squish, Uh-Uh, Cicero, Lipschitz
Pop, Six, Squish, Uh-Uh, Cicero, Lipschitz

Pop, Six, Squish, Uh-Uh, Cicero, Lipschitz
Pop, Six, Squish, Uh-Uh, Cicero, Lipschitz

He had it coming, He had it coming
He only had himself to blame
If you had been there
If you had seen it
I bet ya you would've done the same

You know I need to be doing my speed novel this month. But Hemingway on to the topic at hand.

What is it about the "six merry murderesses of Cook County" that have me so fascinated? We'll get to that answer soon enough.

Anyone that knows me knows that I love the movie Chicago. I wanted to see the show in the theatre when Jasmine Guy headlined it. I never got around to doing so. And how's this for a Half & Half connection? The lovely, mulit-faceted and talented Valarie Pettiford also played Velma Kelly in the theatrical version of the show. Valarie's character Big Dee Dee even shouted out in an episode that Zeta-Jones stole her Oscar. That was the one that guest starred Shemar Moore. Remember now? *LOL*.

I would've loved to have seen Valarie's version too. It's not too shabby that I live in the Chicago area too...*LOL*. But that's just extraneous information that is pure coincidence.

Everytime I go to Midway airport (which isn't often as I'm an O'Hare type of guy), I have to drive into Cicero. And when I reach Cicero Avenue, I say to myself in the same breathy tone as the lovely Catherine Zeta-Jones (did she play Velma to the hilt or what)..'Cicero'. Zeta-Jones was so sexy in the shots where they show her mouthing the word. I especially liked the part where she says the word 'Cicero' while smoke comes out of her mouth. In the words of bimbo Paris Hilton, that was hot!

It's obvious from the get-go that my favorite scene in the movie Chicago is the Cell Block Tango. The set-up to the grand crescendo is really cool. You start off with the leaky faucet that drips two drops at a time. Then there's the guard with the hard boots stomping. It leads to a crescendo of finger nails snapping on the jail cell. Then each merry murderess (including the poor innocent Hunyak) says her word over and over and over, getting louder each time. It makes one wonder (at least it did me), what's behind each of their stories? Roxie apparently is curious too as she takes a seat and listens in.

So again, what is it about the "six merry murderesses of Cook County" that have me so fascinated? There was a great debate at the time the movie first aired how the film seems to be glorifying murder. In the tiniest of ways, I can see the point.

But put yourself in those women's shoes. Listen to these words:
"If you had been there
If you had seen it
I bet ya you would've done the same"

How many times have we been wronged by people in our lives? How many of you have seen your friends getting fucked over by someone and you want so desperately to get your friend to wake up and smell the coffee? Some people fuck with you so bad that thoughts of revenge fester like dandelions on an innocent green lawn.

I think back to my high school days and the number of times I was ridiculed by my so-called peers. Between my thoughts of suicide, you best believe I thought numerous times about getting a gun and shooting those M.F.'s down.

But these little things called conscious and fear streams in and prevents most people from taking that drastic of a measure. Obviously I didn't want to rot in jail for a brief moment of satisfaction. And the satisfaction would be the briefest of feelings, since I'd quickly be remorseful and then feel sadness as I realize the effect it would have on my parents & sisters.

The "six merry murderesses", no matter how trivial some of their reasons were (I mean, shooting someone over popping gum loud? Really!), overcame such notions and had their revenge. Granted a lot of it was spur of the moment and perhaps they may have thought about the consequences afterwards, but nonetheless they got their revenge. And on some deep seeded level, those of us that wanted revenge on someone in the worst way but didn't go through with such plans, got the pleasure of seeing these ladies get their justice, no matter how twisted and trivial (he ran into my knife ten times...I remember the theatre getting a good laugh out of that line, myself included). Ultimately that feeling of pleasure is translated to the main murderesses Roxie and Velma.

That's my reasoning behind my enjoyment of the "Cell Block Tango" and of the movie Chicago. I bet that's why a lot of people like the movie. In fact, I love the "Cell Block Tango" scene so much that I have to play, rewind, and repeat several times (to this day). And each time, I notice something different since there's so much going on during that dream sequence.

So to all you wrong doers out there that cross me and my friends, watch out! One day you may get what's coming. Word to the mutha!