April 29, 2014

"I got my feelings hurt and I picked a fight with my husband... The police called it disorderly. Thank God it's orderly now."

Says Edie Brickell, 47, married to Paul Simon, 72.

Both got arrested. Both seem to be colluding to smooth over the whole dismal matter now. Brickell is cracking jokes. "The police called it disorderly. Thank God it's orderly now." Does she write her own domestic-dispute jokes?

Do we need to revisit the old Battered Woman Person Syndrome checklist?
The syndrome develops in response to a three-stage cycle.... First, tension builds in the relationship. Second, the abusive partner releases tension via violence while blaming the victim for having caused the violence. Third, the violent partner makes gestures of contrition. However, the partner does not find solutions to avoid another phase of tension building and release so the cycle repeats.
What's more orderly than a cycle that repeats in a 3-stage order? But who knows whether there's a syndrome in the Edie-and-Paul situation? I thought her statement sounded like what supposedly typifies the victim in a syndrome, but I can also see how her statement resembles the typical contrition of the violent partner. I note that she is considerably younger than he is and considerably larger. He snapped her up when she was in her early 20s and he was a long-established pop star. She'd just had a big hit. It's worth noting that her mother was present for the fight, and her mother called the cops.

ADDED: At the first link, to the Daily News, someone named Allan Cramer is quoted. (He's not identified, but Googling, I found out he's the lawyer for both of them. Conflict of interest?) Cramer described the fight as a "discussion" that Edie wanted to have and Paul tried to walk out on: "He tried to leave and she kind of locked the door." I don't know how one "kind of" locks a door, and in the article I found that identifies Cramer as "the couple’s attorney" — this article in The Washington Post — Cramer is paraphrased as saying that Edie "tried to block the door." The Daily News said that the kind-of locking of the door left Edie's mother "Alarmed," and that's why she called the police. The Washington Post piece says that the mother called 911 and then hung up and that the judge accepted the story that "One of them pushed the other" — which one was which? — and there was really nothing. The WaPo writer speculates that it could be a PR scheme:
In the wacky world in which we now live, where guerrilla publicity is de rigueur, this could conceivably be considered normal. It’s an actual media strategy that’s routinely deployed when an artist has something to promote: Do something nutty that possibly results in arrest. Get the media talking about it. Agree to interviews. Refuse to talk about the nutty thing you did, and insist you only want to talk about “the work.”
But that seems unlikely in the case of these two.

42 comments:

Rumpletweezer said...

There was video of Paul and Edie in court on Imus this morning. Paul looked better in the turkey suit than he does now.

The Godfather said...

Everybody should leave them alone. It's a private, family matter.

tim maguire said...

He looks like a mean old man and she might be attractive if she pulled her hair back, but in the courtroom picture she looks like a crazy lady.

Paul said...

From the comments:

"What did he do, punch her in the kneecaps?"

lol

traditionalguy said...

Where is a bridge over troubled waters when one is needed?

The Crack Emcee said...

"I picked a fight with my husband..."


Is there anything else that needs to be said?

SGT Ted said...

Women shouldn't pick fights with men when their feelings get hurt and then use the cops to "win".

The escalation of hurt feelings into physical confrontation is what MEN are routinely conditioned to reject and actively suppress. It is EXPECTED of men. It's called "being civilized". Women need to be thus conditioned also.

There is a "karma" part of me that views such, especially women picking physical fights with men, as entirely deserving of any ass kicking they get. But the civilized side of me says that isn't a good thing.

"Battered Woman Syndrome" is excuse making for violent criminality from women towards abusive men. And since an abusive man is a completely unsympathetic character, it has traction, but it is just as awful as the abuse.

Recall the lady who used 'BWS" as the excuse to shotgun murder her s husband for making her wear high heels and slightly slutty dresses in the bedroom. And she walked, when she should have been put to death for a planned, cold blooded murder.

SGT Ted said...

This also showcases these unjust and sexist "must arrest" laws that favor women over men.

sakredkow said...

+1 The Godfather

madAsHell said...

They've been married for 25 years, and have three kids. I did not know that.

Of course, I'm still wondering why he dumped Carrie Fischer, and her smokin' hot leather bikini!!

Anonymous said...

Since her days with New Bohemians, I've always associated Edie Brickell with Popeye.

Darrell said...

Harlene Rosen--Woody Allen's first wife-- had been sexually assaulted outside her apartment and according to Allen, the newspapers reported that she "had been violated". In the interview, Allen said, "Knowing my ex-wife, it probably wasn't a moving violation."

If only every man could be as sensitive as Allen.

MayBee said...

The police should mark their house as a "no go zone". Some people just like to fight, and society has too much to worry about to protect drama queen relationship-wanters.

Ditto Rihanna and anyone she dates. Ditto anyone who chooses to date Tommy Lee or Chris Brown. They are known fighters, and they have made their choices.

Wince said...

Circle

I quit, I give up, nothing's good enough for anybody else,
It seems
And I quit, I give up, nothing's good enough for anybody else,
It seems

And being alone is the best way to be
When I'm by myself it's the best way to be
When I'm all alone it's the best way to be
When I'm by myself, nobody else can say goodbye
Everything is temporary anyway
When the streets are wet, the colors slip into the sky
But I don't know why that means you and I are, that means you and I

MadisonMan said...

Not all events require police intervention. This seems to fit that description.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

I saw Simon & Garfunkel several years ago and was impressed with P. Simon's arm muscles for a guy his age. Also, try locking/blocking the door on an angry woman who stays angry and you're likely to end up with both domestic violence and unlawful restraint charges.

Ann Althouse said...

"He looks like a mean old man and she might be attractive if…"

She looks dominating. Look at the hand-holding in at least 2 of the pictures.

Sydney said...

Sounds like elder abuse. Her statements are typical for the abuser and her attitude in the video seems more like an abuser trying to brush it under the rug - leading him lovingly by the hand, acting a little too jolly. His statement sounded typical for the abused- "We had a discussion that got out of hand, atypical for us" (I paraphrase)

In the long run none of our business, but at least his mother-in-law is looking out for him.

Psota said...

I am having a memory that there was some "call the cops" style arguments between Simon and Carrie Fisher back in the olden days.

MayBee said...

The way Althouse's comments show up first, and then other older comments show up later on but further up the thread, is distracting to the flow of conversation.

I understand the need for moderation, but is there any way to correct that oddity?

mccullough said...

He tried to slip out the back, Jack, but didn't have the key, Lee, when she locked the door.

Mitch H. said...

Of course, I'm still wondering why he dumped Carrie Fischer, and her smokin' hot leather bikini!!

A massive coke habit, wasn't it?

Tyrone Slothrop said...

Come on, who hasn't wanted to beat up Edie Brickell at one time or another?

Jason said...

There must be 50 Ways to Beat Your Lover!!

I'll start!

1. Just pop her in the mouth, Ralph!
2. Slap her in the head, Ted!
3. Yank on her hair, Jer! Just listen to me!




Richard Dolan said...

"Do we need to revisit the old Battered Woman Person Syndrome checklist?"

"But that seems unlikely in the case of these two."

The power of the standard narrative, that ever-useful one-size-fits-all explanatory device, versus the reality that these narratives always distort by imposing their own false structure. Alas, this story is too insignificant to bother much with trying to figure all of that out in this context. It's the sort of thing historians worry about more than journalists. But it's a richer topic than Paul vs. Edie, even with tiresome old Mom-in-Law thrown into the mix, or wondering about the mercenary motives that might have entered into the threesome's weird dynamic.

"[A]nd there was really nothing." Pretty much sums it up.

jacksonjay said...

It's funny because she kicked his ass! Duh!

Mary Beth said...

The first link and the "considerably larger" one are the same. Was one meant to be different?

Anonymous said...

I hand-holding dominating now? I thought it was supportive.

Xmas said...

Man, it must be rough being beaten up by your beard.

Rumpletweezer said...

Note that Paul doesn't do math well. If they married in 1992, they've been married 22 years. Does he get in more trouble or less trouble if he tries to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary prematurely?

Henry said...

A Simon and Garfunkle tag?

Poor Art Garfunkle. How did he get dragged into this?

Just some rando on the interwebz said...

Kind of put "Still Crazy after all these years" in a different light.

Trashhauler said...

She didn't mention her husband in her Grammy acceptance. But then, Steve Martin didn't mention his wife.

Of course, Brickell's spouse is supposed to be a pretty fair lyricist himself. Funny to think there was no influence along the way that might have been mentioned.

But I don't watch the Grammy's so I'm unfamiliar with their protocol.

Trashhauler said...

"...at least his mother-in-law is looking out for him."

Probably has sympathy for someone close to her own age.

Henry said...

Garfunkel, I meant. The guy gets no respect.

Ann Althouse said...

"A Simon and Garfunkle tag? Poor Art Garfunkle. How did he get dragged into this?"

I try to avoid tag proliferation. It's like the way when Ray Davies saved a lady from a robber, it only got a Kinks tag.

Xmas said...

Garfunkel and Oates? (NSFW)

ken in tx said...

"Of course, I'm still wondering why he dumped Carrie Fischer, and her smokin' hot leather bikini!!"

No matter how hot a woman is, there is some guy somewhere who is sick and tired of putting up with her BS. So, you may get your turn with Carrie someday.

David said...

WWMRD?

(What would Mrs. Robinson do?)

Rich B said...

What is Mike Bloomberg doing with her?

BJK said...

Tough to be overly critical of Ms. Brickell. She's not aware of too many things. She knows what she knows, if you know what I mean.


(...and if you do, chances are you know more Edie Brickell songs than I do, because you might know a second one.)

David said...

The police called it disorderly;
Thank God it's orderly now.


would be a great song lyric.