The documentary, ‘The Diary of Jack the Ripper Beyond Reasonable Doubt (1993)’ is a documentary about a diary/journal that was discovered in 1992 by Michael Barrett. It is mentioned at the beginning of this documentary that although the author was not named, the evidence clearly suggests the writer of this journal was the‘Liverpudlian cotton merchant’ James Maybrick. At the time when this journal emerged, many questions arose; surrounding the new identity of Jack the Ripper who some historians began to consider was in fact Maybrick. The documentary attempts to analyse the contents, origin and authencity of this journal as it takes the viewers through the contents of the journal and deconstructs the points that are made whilst attempting to
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The introduction of the documentary opens with a clear outline surrounding the unsolved mystery around the ‘legend ‘of Jack the Ripper and lists all the suspects that were accused at one point in time. It is noted in the documentary that although many people would say that the murderer shouldn’t be focused upon, it has become a huge area of interest for many historians even after nearly an entire century has passed. It particularly focuses on the cartoon type image that was created in the media during that period of time, which emphasises the mystery and sensationalism of this mystery figure in Victorian London. It continues by introducing the journal that was discovered in 1992 and shows the newspaper articles that were published during the time that this document had been discovered. The main words highlighted in these newspaper articles are ‘hoax’ ([1993] The Diary of Jack the Ripper - Beyond Reasonable Doubt)and the headline, ‘Ripper Diary not a fake’ ([1993] The Diary of Jack the Ripper - Beyond Reasonable Doubt). As the emphasis on these words are shown repeatedly in different articles it may have been used to help develop the viewers’ understanding …show more content…
Through the use of images and headlines shown in newspaper articles published in 1888 and the reconstruction of a character showing Maybrick around a crime scene acted out whilst the narration of extracts from the journal are being read, it is able to provide a different aspect of understanding about the real identity of the killer. As mentioned in the documentary, ‘more detailed research had been done on this document than has ever been done on any discovery connected with Jack the Ripper’ ([1993] The Diary of Jack the Ripper - Beyond Reasonable Doubt), in many ways this demonstrates the emphasis that was placed on this journal during the early 1990’s and can strongly suggest that this source would have been used as an example of popular history about the murders. In addition to this, the documentary shares details of Maybrick’s life through official records whilst attempting to understand how this can be used to either support the claims that this is a genuine ‘confession’ or a ‘cleverly constructed hoax’ ([1993] The Diary of Jack the Ripper - Beyond Reasonable Doubt). It can be suggested that as the documentary covers many different aspects in relation to the discovery of this journal, it can be viewed as a useful source for increasing your knowledge
The introduction of the documentary opens with a clear outline surrounding the unsolved mystery around the ‘legend ‘of Jack the Ripper and lists all the suspects that were accused at one point in time. It is noted in the documentary that although many people would say that the murderer shouldn’t be focused upon, it has become a huge area of interest for many historians even after nearly an entire century has passed. It particularly focuses on the cartoon type image that was created in the media during that period of time, which emphasises the mystery and sensationalism of this mystery figure in Victorian London. It continues by introducing the journal that was discovered in 1992 and shows the newspaper articles that were published during the time that this document had been discovered. The main words highlighted in these newspaper articles are ‘hoax’ ([1993] The Diary of Jack the Ripper - Beyond Reasonable Doubt)and the headline, ‘Ripper Diary not a fake’ ([1993] The Diary of Jack the Ripper - Beyond Reasonable Doubt). As the emphasis on these words are shown repeatedly in different articles it may have been used to help develop the viewers’ understanding …show more content…
Through the use of images and headlines shown in newspaper articles published in 1888 and the reconstruction of a character showing Maybrick around a crime scene acted out whilst the narration of extracts from the journal are being read, it is able to provide a different aspect of understanding about the real identity of the killer. As mentioned in the documentary, ‘more detailed research had been done on this document than has ever been done on any discovery connected with Jack the Ripper’ ([1993] The Diary of Jack the Ripper - Beyond Reasonable Doubt), in many ways this demonstrates the emphasis that was placed on this journal during the early 1990’s and can strongly suggest that this source would have been used as an example of popular history about the murders. In addition to this, the documentary shares details of Maybrick’s life through official records whilst attempting to understand how this can be used to either support the claims that this is a genuine ‘confession’ or a ‘cleverly constructed hoax’ ([1993] The Diary of Jack the Ripper - Beyond Reasonable Doubt). It can be suggested that as the documentary covers many different aspects in relation to the discovery of this journal, it can be viewed as a useful source for increasing your knowledge