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2011, 07-13:
Review of film: “TABLOID = A VERY SPECIAL LOVE STORY”
American ERROL MORRIS has directed a number of documentaries (such as “GATES OF HEAVEN”), & this is his latest...
... JOYCE BERNANN McKINNEY was born in August, 1949. She became a beauty queen when still a child, and, after moving out West, she won the title of Miss Wyoming World in 1973...
... In nearby Utah, she met a handsome Mormon guy named KIRK ANDERSON, & fell in love with him. Altho he was her boyfriend, his mother didn’t like her, & he decided to become a Missionary for his Church of Latter Day Saints & without notice LEFT Joyce & the area to do work elsewhere...
... Joyce didn’t like that situation, &, on her own, hired people to find out what had “HAPPENED” to him. Once she learned he was working for the LDS Church in ENGLAND, she hired a PILOT to fly her, a male friend K.J. & a “bodyguard” to London in the late 1970’s & pursued Kirk there...
... As told by the PILOT, while Kirk was working at an LDS Meeting House, she talked to him, found he’d been sort of “BRAINWASHED” by the LDS Church, & finally convinced him to go with them to a quiet place in the countryside around Devon (SW of London)...
... JOYCE herself speaks at length, & tells how she worked to try to get Kirk interested in going to BED with her at a cabin she’d rented...
... Once Kirk was back in London, in Joyce’s opinion, he was in-effect “warned” by bigshots in the LDS Church about his “TRANSGRESSIONS” from Church teachings in his dealings with her...
... So, she surmises that, to protect his “reputation”, he followed the “orders” of the CHURCH elders & started claiming to the Police that he’d supposedly been “KIDNAPPED” by her...
... Further, he’d claimed she’d “chained” him to a bed (with handcuffs lined in mink), & that she’d tried to convince him to leave the Church, & reportedly “FORCED” him to have SEX with her...
... Joyce -- as she’d done at the time -- DENIES Kirk’s claims, pointing how he’d been a willing participant in their trip & all...
... TABLOIDS in England naturally “ran” with the weird story, & -- in part since there was at the time no laws on the books that a woman could rape a man --, she was charged with ABDUCTION...
... At the time, she’d eventually sold her somewhat “explicit” story of the event to the British tabloid newspaper “The DAILY EXPRESS”... In this documentary, a man who’d worked at that paper told how she’d been PAID for her in-person words & photos...
... Joyce strongly DISPUTED the charges against her, including by holding up a sign (while going to a court hearing) which said, “Kirk left with me willingly!”...
... But, before she could be formally sentenced on the charges from Kirk, she SKIPPED BAIL & LEFT the country...
... In this documentary, director Errol continues allowing Joyce to tell her own “STORY” about things, before & after the event described above...
... The British court eventually sentenced her in absentia, to 1 year in prison-- which she NEVER really served there (since the British court never asked for her extradition)...
... After the kidnapping (described as “THE CASE OF THE MANACLED MORMON”), Kirk went back to Utah & MARRIED another woman & had children...
... But, in 1984, a new police action was instituted charging Joyce with trying to STALK Kirk...
... At one point, the British tabloids started “RESURRECTING” the old scandalous charges concerning her. The “DAILY EXPRESS” (which had paid her for HER version of events) started fighting with their competitor tabloid, “The DAILY MIRROR”...
... As detailed in this film, the “MIRROR” (as told by one of its reporters) found someone who was a California friend of Joyce’s named STEVEN MARKOWITZ (or some name like that), & paid him to provide “DIRT” he knew about her...
... Thus, while the “EXPRESS” was in-effect “defending” Joyce, the “MIRROR” published a sensationalized series of stories claiming she’d been a SEX-for-hire type of woman in California, specializing in “S&M” & similar activites (& always taking a DOG named “Millie” along with her)!...
... Joyce DENIES their charges ,& speaks of how supposedly disreputable that publication is & the like... In any case, the British police NEVER “followed-thru” on any efforts to arrest her...
... As one of the publishers who’d dealt with her comments, she’s sort of “BARKING mad” as a person...
... There were OTHER unusual incidents in the life of Joyce:
... In 2004, it’s been reported that she wanted to ride thru the streets as “Lady Godiva” in a parade. But, although she owned a horse, it had only 3 legs...
... Joyce felt she needed to have a 4th leg for the horse, & purportedly tried to convince a 15-year-old boy to steal money from a house to allow her to buy a FALSE leg for the mount (so she could have a successful ride)...
... “Strangely” enough, she was ARRESTED for that attempt in Tennessee!... But, this situation is (for some reason) NOT mentioned in the film...
... Her “fame” doesn’t end there:
... As detailed IN the film, in 2008, she became the 1st person in the world to have their dog CLONED. She flew to South Korea (where she’d sent a portion of her pet pitbull named Booger), & paid a company $ 100,000 to have 5 COPIES cloned of the dog (as shown below)!...
... But, she initially tried to claim she WASN’T Joyce McKinney who’d been involved in the “MANACLED MORMON” case in England, using her middle name Bernann...
... Will Joyce ADMIT in this documentary that she WAS the woman who’d gotten the cloned pups?... What will she say she’s “WORKING” on as a “project” for the future?...
... It’s been reported that Kirk (now a real estate agent) avoids any publicity (& he in-effect DECLINED being interviewed for this film)... Joyce allegedly uses a wheelchair to get around nowadays...
... If Joyce doesn’t sound like your “everyday” person, you’re certainly CORRECT!...
... This “true-life” film (seemingly opening July 22nd) is a FASCINATING & often quite FUNNY glimpse into the life of a most “UNUSUAL” woman. I enjoyed it, & am rating it at 7.5 out of 10 stars...
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