Exactly how accurate is the I am the Night series to the true story?
By Rachel Roth
The TNT limited series I am the Night focuses on the real-life story of Fauna Hodel but does the series follow the true story or a fictionalized version
The limited series I am the Night is inspired by the true story of Fauna Hodel, a white girl adopted by a black woman and raised to believe she was biracial. Loosely based on Fauna’s autobiography, “One Day She’ll Darken”, it stars India Eisley and Chris Pine and was developed for television by Patty Jenkins with her husband Sam Sheridan.
The six-part miniseries focuses on a teenage girl (Eisley) who sets out to find her real family upon learning she’s adopted. Along the way, she runs into former journalist Jay Singletary (Pine) who is hell-bent on reforming his career. Together they dive deep into the scandalous past of the Hodel family and of their possible connection with the Black Dahlia.
The murder of Elizabeth Short dubbed the Black Dahlia, is probably the most infamously unsolved murder in American history. The 22-year-old aspiring actress was murdered in 1947 and discovered in an empty lot, her mutilated body severed in half and posed in a crude position. Theories of who did it and why has become an obsession for true crime enthusiasts, but it seems as if the case will forever go unsolved.
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Near the end of the LAPD’s investigation, they had six prime suspects, one of which was a renowned doctor named George Hodel. Dr. Hodel had a strange life and a strange daughter named Tamar who gave birth when she was just 15. The baby was quickly named Fauna and given away to a black family after Tamar lied about the race of the father, beginning Fauna’s life as a biracial girl living in Nevada.
The story of the Black Dahlia has been adapted several times for film, but Fauna’s story is one that’s been kept in the dark. A film based on her life called Pretty Hattie’s Baby almost hit the big screen in 1991 but the film was never released, making I am the Night the first-ever adaptation of Fauna Hodel’s life.
In the case of biographical or true crime dramas, the truth is usually exaggerated or carefully omitted. Of course, the series was going to be fictionalized to a point for entertainment purposes but the question is, how accurate is I am the Night?