Independent Research 2

Exploration of Psychology / True Crime)

I am fascinated in understanding what makes people kill? I felt it would be appropriate to delve into the topic, through my independent research. To help gage an understanding of why the two 'hunters' within our sequence, are driven to kill. 

I studied the case of Jennifer Pan, a Vietnamese Canadian woman who was convicted of a 2010 kill-for-hire attack targeting both her parents, killing her mother and seriously injuring her father. She alleged the crime was response to their 'tiger-parenting'. Her parents always had high expectations of Jennifer, that she didn't feel she could uphold any longer. This relates to our sequence, as the two 'hunters' are driven to do this due to complications within their family dynamic. Taking heavy inspiration from 'Ready or Not'. 

I studied the 991 call. To gage an understanding of the perspective of a coldblooded killer. When listening to the call, it is genuinely terrifying how impeccable her lying is. It seems as if she believes everything she's saying. She acts distressed & unknowing of what's happening. 

During the interrogation, is where Jennifer makes her first mistake. Initially, she mentions that the assailants she hired. Tied her up to the bannister of her home, in which she then made the 991 call. But how could've she made the call, if her hands were tied? The interrogator asks her this questions & we see a moment of genuine panic. She is not acting anymore. She then changes her story, and this gives police the evidence they need to officially charged her. 

The reason this case interests me, is the motive behind why she did what she did. What drives a killer, to kill? In this case, Jennifer had always upheld high expectations from her successful family. Similar to our sequence, where the 'hunters' family are very wealthy and pressure them to kill. You could argue that Jennifer was pushed to kill, but does upholding expectation justify murder? That's for you to answer.   

I began research into renowned successful families within TV / film, that obtain similar themes to real life. Jennifer's family, as well as Fallon's family in 'Dynasty' have high expectations of the lead girl. In this case, Jennifer is playing the lead. However, Fallon can cope with the weight of the pressure. Jennifer could not. I find this dynamic interesting to study and think this understanding of 'motive' within film & real life will benefit to our realism within our sequence.