Where the ‘70s brought a political and sexual revolution and a heightened interest in drugs, the ‘80s brought consumption in a different way. There was an expansion to cable television, allowing children to watch cartoons or sports fans to watch ESPN all day long; televangelists started broadcasting their beliefs to thousands; MTV redefined the music industry; and success was no longer defined as having a good education, job, or loving family, it was defined by your appearances, how elegant your home was, or what clubs you belonged to. This shift in our culture resulted in greed being rewarded which became deadly for thousands.
Amongst those lives lost due to greed was Betty Gore, an American suburban housewife living in Wylie, Texas. She was married, a school teacher, and a mother of two. Many of us would have never heard of her, unless we were alive in June 1980, but thanks to our collective obsession with true crime, her story has been brought into our lives in Hulu’s limited series, “Candy” (read our review).
The story, which made national headlines at the time, stars Jessica Biel as Candace ‘Candy’ Montgomery, another Texas housewife, and mother, who shakes the community that loves her when she is charged with the brutal axe murder of her friend Betty, played by Melanie Lynskey.
Beginning with Candy and Betty’s deadly encounter, the series attempts to explain exactly what led to it, and the story is remarkable. What may be even more remarkable, though, is the way the story is told; from the costumes – Biel and co-stars Pablo Schreiber and Justin Timberlake are barely recognizable – to the odd for this day-and-age release schedule where the five episodes were released nightly. (Did you notice that the last episode of the series and the murder both happened on Friday the 13th?)
The good news is that viewers don’t have to wait for their friends to catch up on their “to-be-watched” lists to talk about the elements of storytelling that are making “Candy” so intriguing. Instead, we get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look straight from the creators of the show in the featurette below.
