Will We Get to See The Babushka Lady?

I'm getting kind of tired of how this is just a bunch of men in dark rooms. And then the women are pretty lame mostly, having seemingly little to do with the bigger picture and mostly just existing as accessories to their men who are the ones who actually do important things. Sure you could argue that women just had nothing to do with the JFK assassination but I just don't think that's true! First of all, DeLillo leaves out the woman Oswald was seen with in Mexico. That whole affair leaves serious room for conspiracy. And what about the BABUSHKA LADY? The Babushka Lady is fascinating because she had filmed the whole assassination from a great angle and then disappeared afterward even though the FBI thought her footage would have been really valuable to their investigation. She was conspicuous because of the headscarf she wore about her hair that was similar to the ones worn by elderly Russian women, hence the nickname, "the Babushka Lady."

It gets weirder.

In 1970, a woman named Beverly Oliver comes forward claiming to be the Babushka Lady. She says that she thought she had given the footage to the FBI. Who were the two men that contacted her at work and told her they wanted to develop her film and would return it within ten days? And they never did return the film to her, either.

But then none of this adds up either because Beverly Oliver would have only been 17 at the time of the assassination which does not match up with the reports of her being a stout, older woman. Also Oliver claimed to have used a camera which did not even exist at that time period.

Anyway, I definitely think DeLillo could have included more women in the conspiracy, and the Babushka Lady is just one great suggestion I have. And the mysterious woman Oswald was seen with in Mexico is another.

Pieces of the Puzzle

While reading Libra, I've begun to wonder about the details of my life that would be scrutinized if I were suddenly in Oswald's place. A million pieces of my existence holding very little significance would suddenly be considered "pieces of the puzzle," and my quirks and mannerisms would be analyzed over and over in an attempt to create a coherent narrative of my life up until that specific event that brought me into the public's attention. But the reality is, we don't necessarily live our lives with a particular fate in mind, every movement taking us one step closer to our defining moment. 

Nicholas Branch's notes on me might hone in on a number of "abnormalities" in my life, aiming to sketch the bigger picture. I spent three years living in the Middle East after 9/11, which is somewhat similar to how Oswald defected to Russia during the Cold War. It would be easy to shape this into something that might have developed in me "anti-American" perspective, or a multitude of other conspiracies which I couldn't possibly imagine. But Branch was even going through Oswald's floor plans, home movies, dreams, and photos, to name a few. How easy it would be to selectively arrange a few dreams and quotes and photos to create a person with whatever slant you have in mind. Everything DeLillo has said so far seems legit enough, but I have to remind myself how complicated every person's life is and that it can't be simply shaped into a specific character. Win Everett knows this and Nicholas Branch knows this, and so it's DeLillo himself who seems to plant the idea in our heads, confusing us all the more with his conspiracy theories.