71 years ago today the bisected and mutilated body of Elizabeth Short was found in an undeveloped lot in Los Angeles. She was only 22 years old.Â
Elizabeth’s death has since become one of L.A.’s most notorious unsolved murders, and history remembers her not by her name, but instead by the moniker “The Black Dahlia”.Â
Beth is remembered not as a person, but as this mythological noir figure. More often than not she is portrayed as a femme fatale, walking the streets luring men into her trap, leading them on to get what she wanted. Literally a figure straight out of noir fiction. Though it’s rare, she is also seen as a pure angel, a beautiful ingenue who came to Los Angeles to find fame in the movies and instead found death. Again, a striking noir heroine.
But she was neither of those. Beth was a 22 year old girl. Twenty-two. She was a human being with strengths and faults and beautiful imperfections. She made good choices and bad choices, and maybe even reckless choices. Like all of us. And she was a good person. She was a loved person. She is somebody whose light was snuffed out before she even had a chance.Â
When you read about this case, don’t forget this. Don’t let any article or author or idiot on a forum make you forget that Beth was a living, breathing person, not just a corpse. Funny, lively, kind, charming. She had a beautiful voice and loved to write letters, and dear God could that girl write. Remember that. And remember her name. Bette. Beth. Elizabeth Short.
