Image: supplied
Several years ago, ABC’s John Safran found a true crime book in a bookstore and decided he wanted to write one. Meanwhile, Richard Barrett, a Mississippian white supremacist Safran had come across on his journeys through his Race Relations series, was murdered and his black neighbour, Vincent McGee, charged. Then some juicier aspects of the story emerged, including the possibility that a bumbled sexual advance from Barrett had triggered McGee’s violence. Safran applied for some grants and got on a plane to Mississippi for the trial. The resulting book, Murder in Mississippi, was published in 2013, and Safran has arrived at Fringe World to tell us more.
In Murder in Mississippi, Safran describes himself as “a bit of a Race Trekkie,” which is “like a sci-fi Trekki, but with race instead of space.” A story about a potentially gay white supremacist, who Safran has met, being murdered by a black man after a failed sexual pass was just too perfect. In the book, he immediately delves into the backstory, which includes that time he acquired some of Barrett’s saliva, conducted a covert DNA test, and proved the white supremacist’s African ancestry. Barrett promptly sued the ABC, who instructed Safran not to use the footage anywhere, ever.
Safran includes its description within the first few pages of Murder in Mississippi, and the forbidden footage itself in his Fringe World show. Also included are recordings from Safran’s conversations with Barrett’s killer, relevant clips from both John Safran Vs God and Race Relations, and Q and A session at the end. For those who have read the book, the show is a very interesting addendum that fills in some gaps and allows the reader to view footage described in the book. For those who haven’t, the story itself is so intriguing, and Safran such an unconventionally compelling storyteller, that it makes for a very engaging hour of Fringe.
One of the questions asked on opening night was about how Safran’s fear-o-metre functioned. There aren’t many of us willing to piss off white supremacists for good footage, or call up murders in prison, let alone have an exorcism performed on them, be crucified, or attempt to join the KKK, as he did in John Safran Vs God. Safran said the lead-up is always so substantial, that by the time these events arrive, it’s too late. He’s in too deep. He’s more frightened of the shame his editors will heap upon him if he doesn’t come up with the goods.
Murder in Mississippi is essentially a culmination of him coming up with the goods a bunch of times, until a series of coincidences lead him to a bonus story. At the podium at Noodle Palace, he is revealed as a curious being in the middle of a weird, weird world. All he has to do is show up, poke at the hive a bit, and then point at it.
Rating 3.5 out of 5 stars
John Safran – Muder in Mississpi
Noodle Palace, Northbridge; Victoria Hall, Fremantle
Fringe World, Perth
www.fringeworld.com.au
5-8 February
