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Jt Roy Analysis

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Laura Albert was at the center of controversy when it came to light that she, along with her boyfriend, Geoffrey Knoop, duped the public into believing that famed author “JT LeRoy” was an actual person. Even after the exposé of Laura Albert and Geoffrey Knoop as the collective brain, and Savannah Knoop as the public face of “JT LeRoy” in 2006, Albert still held on to the claim that “LeRoy” was indeed, a real person. As time went on, Albert’s insistence of “LeRoy’s” personhood, transformed into a claim that “LeRoy” was simply an outlet for her to express her demons from her troubled past. However, unlike her own past, Albert’s elaborate scheme included a faux-backstory of an HIV infected, transgendered, male prostitute. The scheme has been applauded …show more content…

When she started off, Albert worked in tandem with her then significant other, Geoffrey Knoop. Working as the brains behind “JT LeRoy”, the pair acquired the attention of Dennis Cooper, an author noted for his work in gay fiction. According to Journalist Warren St. John, Albert reaped many benefits from “LeRoy’s” relationship with Cooper. Through Cooper, Albert was introduced to many influential individuals in the literary world, who could help expand the reach of “LeRoy’s” work. As a result, Albert and Knoop’s work as “JT LeRoy” became well known for both content and “LeRoy’s” dramatic backstory (St. John, “Figure in JT Leroy Case Says Partner Is Culprit”). Over time, Albert gained the companionship and moral support of many people including Courtney Love, the widow of Nirvana rock star Kurt Cobain, and actress Winona Ryder (St. John, “Jury Finds JT LeRoy Was Fraud”). The support “LeRoy” received from these people largely came in the form of sympathy. According to a Vanity Fair article, Dennis Cooper felt sorry for “JT” and offered moral support—so much so that he began to suspect that he was being “hustled” by “LeRoy” (Handy, “The Boy Who Cried Author”). Even “LeRoy’s” literary agent, Ira Silverberg, commented, "People were generous because they thought they …show more content…

To lie about something so difficult for those who have experienced it, simply as a cry for attention, is offensive if not violent in itself. Laura likely believed those situations and identifications to be so unsavory, unforgiveable, and/or utterly shocking, that she created a story of redemption about people in those situations. Her actions reaffirm what the world believes about those who do not fit in to society’s beliefs about ideal people—that they are moral deviators in need of some tragic road to redemption, and/or a mere spectacle to be used for entertainment purposes only. Such a way of perceiving marginalized people aids in the structure of inequality by telling them that they are morally broken, that they need to be forgiven of their inherent transgressions, that they are not human enough to be treated with respect and not

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