Brow Beat: Slate's Culture Blog

Ripped From Which Headlines? "Boy Gone Astray" and "Doped"

We all know that Law & Order rips its stories from the headlines—but which headlines? Every week, Brow Beat matches L&O's plot points to the events that inspired them.

Nov. 6, 2009:

"Boy Gone Astray"

These Are Their Stories
In the first act, a female drug dealer is murdered by two 14-year-old American boys who learned how to use firearms at a training camp in Mexico.

This Is the Real Story
According to an April 2008 story in the Dallas Morning News, Mexican drug cartels operate military-style camps "to train cartel recruits—ranging from Mexican army deserters to American teenagers—who then carry out killings and other cartel assignments on both sides of the border." A June 2009 New York Times story described how Mexican cartels recruit American teens "with promises of high pay, fancy cars and sexy women."

These Are Their Stories
One of the teenage assassins seems completely unmoved by his actions; he laughs about the victim and sings a song about "la gringa brava" to his parents when they come to visit. The detectives discover that the song is a narcocorrido tribute to a Mexican gang so badass it has "hot Yankee blonds" selling its dope. On the day of the murder, a group associated with a rival cartel releases another song about la gringa brava's death, mentioning details the police had not released.

This Is the Real Story
Elijah Wald's 2002 book Narcocorrido: A Journey Into the Music of Guns, Drugs, and Guerrillas recounts the history of corridos from anti-colonial ballads to a sort of musical newspaper educating listeners about the drug world. In a 1999 New York Times story, an accused trafficker explained the purpose of the songs: "[T]hrough the corridos comes the philosophy, how the members of the cartel have to behave. They tell you what they did wrong. Why they were killed. You learn what you have to do so they won't kill you."

"Doped"

These Are Their Stories
Brenda Sawyer is driving four children—two of her own and two nieces—to a weekend getaway when she becomes disoriented. She drives erratically and enters the highway in the wrong direction, where she crashes head-on into an oncoming vehicle. Only her son survives.

This Is the Real Story
On July 26, 2009, Diane Schuler drove her minivan the wrong way onto an exit ramp and rammed into an SUV. She was killed, along with her daughter and three nieces; the three men in the other vehicle also died. Only her son survived. According to the New York Daily News, tests revealed that Schuler had smoked pot and drunk at least 10 ounces of liquor during the 90-minute drive.

These Are Their Stories
The detectives find alcohol in Brenda's system and in her car and assume she was drinking, but then they realize that her allergy medicine had been spiked with Propofol, a powerful anesthetic. They discover that Brenda and her boss, Zack Marshall (Mad Men's Harry Crane, looking just as ineffectual in a straight tie), had gathered evidence proving that a highly profitable but medically ineffective drug manufactured by the pharmaceutical company they worked for was being marketed illegally. Whistleblowers can receive a slice of settlements, and Brenda was threatening to donate their cut to charity, so Marshall poisoned her nasal spray and slipped booze into her smoothie. He had no idea there would be children in the vehicle.

This Is the Real Story
Under the False Claims Act, whistleblowers are entitled to between 15 percent and 30 percent of recovered damages, and according to a Gannett story from Nov. 4, 2009, "Of the top 20 False Claims Act cases, measured by the amount of money recovered, 12 involved judgments or settlements against pharmaceutical companies, accounting for billions of dollars in recoveries." In September, a whistleblower earned $51.5 million from Pfizer as a result of a suit alleging the company had promoted pain drug Bextra and 12 other drugs for unapproved uses and doses.

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Ripped From Which Headlines? "Human Flesh Search Engine"

We all know that Law & Order rips its stories from the headlines, but which headlines? Every week, Brow Beat matches L&O's plot points to the events that inspired them.

Oct. 30, 2009: "Human Flesh Search Engine"

These Are Their Stories
The first act of the episode, co-written by Slate contributor Matthew McGough, focuses on the murder of Sid Maxwell, the founder and CEO of Skintight Apparel, a company that "sells $5 T-shirts for $40." In the early stages of the investigation, the detectives suspect a former employee who sued for sexual harassment. (The company's lawyers countered that she should have understood she was working in "a highly sexualized work environment.")

This Is the Real Story
Sid Maxwell bears more than a passing resemblance to Dov Charney, founder and CEO of American Apparel, a purveyor of sweatshop-free skintight apparel. According to the New York Times Magazine, in 2005, "three former employees and an independent contractor filed three sexual-harassment lawsuits against Charney and American Apparel." Workers are now required to sign a document that acknowledges, "Employees working in the design, sales, marketing and other creative areas of the company will come into contact with sexually charged language and visual images."


These Are Their Stories
The detectives soon discover that a photograph of Maxwell texting while driving had been posted to Flashposse.net, a Web "forum for corrective social action," along with exhortations that he should be killed before he kills someone else. Flashposse community members identified the make and model of the car from the photo and hacked into DMV records to find the owner; Maxwell's address and his building's security entry code were also posted on the site. A schizophrenic Flashposse.net member used the information to enter the apartment and kill Maxwell.

This Is the Real Story
The episode's title is a reference to the Chinese nickname for "virtual mobs" that strike back at corrupt officials by bringing online attention to cases censored by Communist Party officials. According to a June 16, 2009, New York Times story, in several recent cases, "the Internet has cracked open a channel for citizens to voice mass displeasure with official conduct, demonstrating its potential as a catalyst for social change." As the article notes, some online vigilantes have posted personal information about alleged offenders.

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Ripped From Which Headlines? "Dignity"

We all know that Law & Order rips its stories from the headlines, but which headlines? Every week, Brow Beat matches L&O's plot points to the events that inspired them.

Oct. 23, 2009: "Dignity"

These Are Their Stories:
Dr. Walter Benning is shot and killed in church. As one of the few doctors who performs legal late-term abortions in New York, Benning had been shot before and was wearing a bulletproof vest. The man who shot him is a loner unaffiliated with any pro-life groups.

This Is the Real Story:
On May 31, 2009, Dr. George Tiller, described by the Washington Post as "the nation's most prominent provider of controversial late-term abortions," was shot and killed while attending church in Wichita, Kan. He had been shot in both arms in 1993 and sometimes wore a bulletproof vest. Scott Roeder, the man accused of shooting him, is an unaffiliated loner. (Roeder's trial is set to begin in January 2010.)

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Ripped From Which Headlines?

We all know that Law & Order rips its stories from the headlines—but which headlines? Every week, Brow Beat matches L&O's plot points to the events that inspired them.

Oct. 16, 2009: "Reality Bites"

These Are Their Stories:
Larry Johnson, the father of 10 adopted special-needs kids, comes home to discover his wife, Joy, dead in the living room. On the afternoon of the murder, a "bouncy Hispanic woman" was seen leaving the house; she is Belinda Alvarez, the mother of 10 children—three singles and a set of septuplets—and the Johnsons' main rival in the competition to star in a reality TV series about large families. Helped by the publicity surrounding the murder, Johnson gets the show, Larry Plus 8. But after the police discover that Larry was having an affair with one of his babysitters and that Joy had refused to sign the TV release forms, he becomes a suspect in the murder case.

This Is the Real Story:
If you need to be told what inspired this episode, your television, if you own one, must be stuck on C-SPAN. Indeed, America's most famous megaparents were name-checked in the episode. Belinda Alvarez (Nina Lisandrello), who bears a striking physical resemblance to Nadya Suleman, says the show she hopes to star in will be "like Jon and Kate, you know, only less depressing." She also confesses, "I was hoping for octuplets, but God decided to bestow that blessing on Nadya Suleman."

As of this writing, Jon and Kate Gosselin are both alive and well, though after revelations about extramarital affairs, their marriage is coming to an end. On Sept. 29, the Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Jon & Kate Plus 8 was also a thing of the past, to be replaced by Kate Plus 8. Late last week, however, the New York Times reported that Jon had "banned the camera crews from his property, effectively halting production."

Unlike the fictional Belinda Alvarez, Suleman got her reality show (check out the promotional materials for My Life as the OctoMom), though filming is currently on hold, pending court approval of the contracts.

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Ripped From Which Headlines?

We all know that Law & Order rips its stories from the headlines—but which headlines? Today Brow Beat launches a recurring feature that matches L&O's plot points to the events that inspired them.

Oct. 9, 2009: "Great Satan"

These Are Their Stories:
The first act involves "virtual kidnapping," in which extortionists steal cell phones from well-dressed young people, then call up the parents and claim their beloved children are tied up in a basement. Next step: Demand a speedy ransom.

This Is the Real Story:
On April 29, 2008, the New York Times reported that "virtual kidnapping" was Mexico's "latest crime craze." One day in November 2007, "more than a dozen members of Mexico's Congress received calls saying that their children had been taken." (Stealing the victim's cell phone so that parents see their child's caller ID seems to be a smart L&O flourish.)

These Are Their Stories:
When detectives Bernard and Lupo interrogate one of the virtual kidnappers, they discover he has links to a possible terrorist organization. The perp, Sameer Ahmed, agrees to help the police gather evidence against a group of Muslims who are planning to bomb a synagogue in Queens. But after the sting operation, the authorities wonder if Ahmed egged on the conspirators rather than simply passing along information about their plans.

This Is the Real Story:
In May, four men were arrested after they parked cars that they believed contained explosives outside synagogues in the Bronx. As in the Law & Order version, the bomb-making materials, which the FBI had supplied via the informant, were fake. The Associated Press later reported that the alleged plotters claim they were "lured into the conspiracy with gifts including cash and fried chicken."

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