Clara Harris case comes to television: Crime, marriage go hand in hand in ‘Madness’
- Craig Zadan
Trust me on this one, OK? Clara Harris never looked this good. Of course, given the ugly story line, I suppose we shouldn’t blame CBS for wanting to “sex it up” a bit. It’s not as if there’s much of a story line with any redeeming value here.
Why this story needs to be told is beyond me. To paint it as a comment as a comment an American society, American marriage, and morality it to display a total lack of a grip on reality. This story may indeed be a commentary, but only on one woman’s inability to deal with the reality that her life is not what she thought.
There are no lessons to be learned from this tragedy- outside of the fact that repeatedly running over your husband with a Mercedes is a lousy way to settle an argument. Viewers will no doubt see little more than the sensationalized version of what is really a very sad and rather tragic story that is hardly worth retelling.
Suburban Madness, scheduled to air Oct. 3, recalls Harris’ sensational 2002 crime…in the first three minutes of the movie….
Clara Harris’ actions resulted from her husband’s confession that he was cheating on her with his receptionist. He vowed to end the affair, but Clara Harris acted anyway.
In the movie, Clara Harris is depicted working hard to win her husband back, getting a makeover and consulting with plastic surgeons.
To paint this as some sort of morality play would be the height of absurdity. A two-hour, made-for-television movie is designed to do one thing and one thing only- entertain. This has nothing to do with American society, marriage, or morality. You cannot possibly hope to do all of that AND tell the story accurately and adequately in two hours. The best CBS can hope for is to appeal to the lowest common denominator- which makes it like virtually everything else spewed forth by network television these days.
It’s too bad that Suburban Madness is airing on October 3rd. I think that’s when the Home Shopping Channel’s chastity belt marathon is supposed to be on. You know, if you think about, CBS could probably get some monster product tie-ins with Chevrolet. “Suburban Madness, sponsored by Chevrolet”…and I bet Chevrolet would pay beaucoup bucks if Clara Harris plants her husband from behind the wheel of a Suburban. Get it?? Ah, never mind….
