Mangione, the killer who will be a movie star
Everything that happens from now on, including the trial, will have to be viewed as a prequel to a work of fiction
When a poor, ugly boy kills someone, people cry, “Guilty!” When a rich, handsome boy kills someone, people cry, “Netflix!” Just look at Luigi Mangione, who has the name of a movie star (and does the things that movie stars do when they are working). Mangione even has a cause, and not even a minor one, just like the Unabomber. He murdered the CEO of the largest private health insurance company in the United States, which in fact has more corpses on its record than Mangione, although all (or almost all) of those corpses fall within the bounds of the Constitution.
A few photographs of Mangione and a bit of information about his family fortune were enough to eclipse the life of someone who is almost never of interest: the dead man, even when the dead man is more famous than him. When he commits murder, the murderer steals the victim’s fame, sometimes even the name given to the case. It always goes back to French historian Ivan Jablonka: “I don’t know of a crime story that doesn’t value the murderer at the expense of the victim. The murderer is there to narrate, to express his regret or to show off.”
And we return to the substantial narrative behind it all: beauty and money can distort everything (with our eager help and that of the clickbait-happy media) to the point that the people involved in the crime are only interested in its recreation: everything that happens from now on, including the trial, will have to be viewed as a prequel to a work of fiction; first comes reality, then comes what will actually go down in history. And the silly little question, rattling around in our heads: why would someone with so many resources and opportunities and a seemingly happy life decide to kill someone else? He had it all! Oh, why do they rape, why do they kill, why do they kidnap, these beautiful, accursed people? Every time someone asks that question in front of me, I pray that they will never lack for anything.
Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition
Tu suscripción se está usando en otro dispositivo
¿Quieres añadir otro usuario a tu suscripción?
Si continúas leyendo en este dispositivo, no se podrá leer en el otro.
FlechaTu suscripción se está usando en otro dispositivo y solo puedes acceder a EL PAÍS desde un dispositivo a la vez.
Si quieres compartir tu cuenta, cambia tu suscripción a la modalidad Premium, así podrás añadir otro usuario. Cada uno accederá con su propia cuenta de email, lo que os permitirá personalizar vuestra experiencia en EL PAÍS.
¿Tienes una suscripción de empresa? Accede aquí para contratar más cuentas.
En el caso de no saber quién está usando tu cuenta, te recomendamos cambiar tu contraseña aquí.
Si decides continuar compartiendo tu cuenta, este mensaje se mostrará en tu dispositivo y en el de la otra persona que está usando tu cuenta de forma indefinida, afectando a tu experiencia de lectura. Puedes consultar aquí los términos y condiciones de la suscripción digital.
