From: fafhrd@jessica.stanford.edu (<Name goes here>)
Subject: Re: Basic Instinct Ending...hmmmmm (SPOILERS)
Summary: Yet another theory....
Organization: C.H.A.O.S.
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 92 18:45:27 GMT

In article <1992Aug12.021440.18681@usenet.ins.cwru.edu> bf911@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (David J Mulligan Jr) writes:

>In a previous article, jherbers@bnr.ca (Joseph Herbers P210) says:
>
>>New theory, just forming in my head.........  
>>Stone killed the rocker, Beth killed the IA guy - he had to have been
>>blackmailing her, most likely because of Stone - and then killed Gus
>>because Douglas and he were figuring it out.  Hmmm...I think this works
>>better than the other theories, but it's stretching.  Opinions???
>>
>>Joe Herbers
>
>Even though Stone said no, it seems to me that her "roomie" would have
>killed the rocker out of jealousy.
 	Quite possible.  I did think it kind of weird when SS says, "she
never got jealous before..."  In fact, I wondered for a minute or two if
maybe SS hadn't been in on her lover's plan to run down Douglas, but then
I thought, "Nah.  It wouldn't have fit in her book."

>I'm not so sure Beth killed the IA guy because he was blackmailing her
>(although it could play a part, I guess).  It seems more like she loved 
>Douglas so much that she wanted to ease his anger
	
        I'm not positive Beth killed ANYONE... remember the problem with
the lock on her door?  I think it's a least possible that all that
"incriminating evidence" was planted there.  (As an aside, one of my favorite
lines in the movie came when everyone was back at the police station after
finding Gus's body, and some detective comes up to Douglas, remarking
grimly, "We checked.  It was her size." (referring to the SFPD slicker)  Like
that just put the *clincher* on the case :-> )
	And as for Beth's killing Gus:  I don't think so.  Don't forget the
printout of SS's latest draft of her novel, "The Shooter."  When Douglas is 
checking it over, there is a second or so where the text was clearly visible.
I made out at least "...he pushes the button...finds his partners legs sticking
out of the elevator."  So this seems like a *big* clue that, yes, SS is a 
murdering psycopath who writes books "stranger than fiction." 
	
	Basically, I was never able to shake the feeling that SS's character 
was EVIL. (Admittedly, this was certainly the intent of the movie-makers: keep
the audience *sure* that's she's gonna off him, right up 'till the credits
roll.  And they milked that expectation for everything it was worth at the end:
the second time she "reaches back and falls forward with... NOTHING in her 
hands!", and also the phony fade-to-black.)  But still, I believe she did kill
the rock star, or at _least_ knew Roxie's mind well enough to guess that
Roxie would kill him after watching her with him.
	Now, as for Nielson's death, what have we got: he was shot with a
.38, the same *kind* of revolver used to kill the doctor (I know this sounds
inane at this point in the discussion, but that doctor was Beth's former
husband, right?  I was kinda dozing for a minute there...)  This does _not_
mean that it is necessarily the *exact same* gun, though.  If you want to
think that SS was a briallant evil-doer, then it's not too hard to imagine
that she knew this piece of Beth's past and so arranged for Nielson to be
shot with a .38, and the weapon placed in Beth's apartment.  (And the taped
message asking Beth to meet Gus at the hotel was erased while the plant was
being done.)  
	The only piece of truth I think was in SS's story was that it was
Beth who was infatuated with her, and I think that the evidence in that
police report was the pressure Nielson used to get Douglas's file from Beth.
I don't think it's *too* wild a leap to suppose that SS started setting this
whole thing up a year ago, and contacted Nielson with the info about the
police report, knowing how much he disliked Douglas, so that she could use
him as a link to see Douglas' file.

	Well, that's enough rambling for now... I don't expect anyone to be
convinced by this post.  I think you pretty much have to pick who you *want*
your heroes/villians to be, cuz you can pretty easily shape the evidence
to support whatever scenario you want.  
 
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			fafhrd@jessica.stanford.edu
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