When the movie "Splendor In The Grass" first came out, back in 1961, its tag line was "If you are an adult, you have lived this story!" That was not quite true with me, darlings, because, while I could, to a degree, relate to Natalie Wood as Deanie, there was no Warren Beatty to toy with me, there was no bathtub scene between my mother and I, nor was I ever taken out of school.
But someone I knew was. My mysterious classmate, "Roxanne," who, in a sense, was our class' real life Deanie Loomis.
I think it is a tale worth telling. But I have no dramatic arc, and fiction and reality blur. I know that something did happen to her, when we were very young. I know she was taken out of school, hospitalized, and was never the same, afterwards. I know she was friends with the Killer Kays. I know her family lived on Karsey Street, and was Greek, and that around 2007, they moved from Highland Park, NJ, to Lincoln, Maine. But that is not enough for a story.
I don't think there was any boy involved, though, if you ask me, the Kays, dominated then, by their repressive mother, were as repressed as Mrs. Loomis (played by Audrey Christie, in the movie!!!!) and may have projected this, or tried to, onto Roxanne!
I believe the portrait I have found is of the mysterious Roxanne. When I look directly at the features, they are recognizable. And, there is still that haunting vulnerability.
I can't get this out of my head, till I set it down on paper, but I don't have enough to go on. Maybe something will strike me. Or I will glean some information. In any case, I am keeping my options open!
If I am right about the person in the portrait, whose haunting, vulnerable beauty is still present, I feel almost as sad for her as I did for Tyler Clementi.
But, what can be said for Roxanne, is, despite her having some more breakdowns, she is still with us, and obviously takes care of herself. She is a survivor.
She still has a chance. Unlike poor Tyler!
Go, Roxanne!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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