…so I’ll be honest with you, this little rabbit-hole stumbled upon me.
While drafting a rant about my thoughts on spiritual usury, this little doozy of a connection took my ‘conspiracy brain’ by surprise. I was researching mainstream history, looking for an event that could solidify my point about how a sh*tty seed sowed (even in secret) will reap a similar, and fair harvest.
And then…I remembered hearing Owen Benjamin, during one of his live streams, mention that the identity of Jack the Ripper had finally been solved.
And then my imagination was like…
Hey, you should use that!
So I did.
I used it, and midway through, the draft just sorta turned into this interesting little thought experiment about Art imitating Life…or the other way around.
Anyways…for this rant to work the way I want it to, the way it was originally intended…I will need you to forget that I mentioned anything about Jack the Ripper. Okay?
Forget it, like completely. Okay?
Instead…just pretend we were discussing how–from a much more rational perspective–Peter Pan was in fact the Villain. Because, let’s face it, he was. An ageless child vampire (or super-slow-aging predator) harboring young boys on an abandoned island surrounded by horny fireflies, pirates, and boy-crazy mermaids.
Also there’s a tribe of Indians who worship Peter as “the Great White Father.” And apparently Tiger Lily, described as the most beautiful of dusky Dianas and the Belle of the Piccaninnies, wants to bonk Peter and only Peter, fighting off all other suitors.
But for what reason? Why are they there? Was it a cult? Were the Lost Boys a Jonestown style cult secluded from the rest of the world? Were they crash-landing survivors like in Lord of the Flies?
Something stinks, I tell ya.
What I do know, and know for certain, is that Tink definitely wore the pants in that unusual mini-cougar-flying-child situation-ship and was most definitely a jezebel spirit of some kind (allegedly).
*looks around, then whispers*
The 2nd to final line of Chapter 6 in “Peter and Wendy” reveals a very, very, interesting, dare I say, carnal aspect of the fairy universe.
And without further ado…
OUR FEATURE PRESENTATION
Who was…Aaron Kosminski?
Now, I realize some of you are probably thinking…”uh, I’ve never heard of this guy.”
Yes, you have.
“Uh, I’m pretty positive I haven’t.” — still you (or that dark figure standing behind you)
Ha, made you look…but seriously, let’s be serious about this. It’s a serious topic.
Okay…grow up, guys.
Aaron Kosminski is…
(drum roll)
…Jack the Ripper
According to DNA evidence as well as a Science.org article from 2019 (located below) and British Heritage (also below; Jan 2024).
“A shawl found by the body of Catherine Eddowes that contains ‘forensic stains’ has been used to identify the killer as Aaron Kosminski, a 23-year-old barber from Poland. The analysis also suggests the killer had brown eyes and hair, a description that Kosminski fit. The Jewish immigrant has long been linked with the crimes, but this is the first piece of forensic evidence that gives any sort of clear proof as to the killer’s identity. The Journal of Forensic Sciences published the study, who used DNA from a living relative of Kosminski. Kosminksi would go on to be put in an asylum following the alleged murders, where he died young.”
BHT Staff, (British Heritage Travel) Jan 31, 2024
https://britishheritage.com/history/jack-the-ripper-true-identity
After all the destruction this man caused, he was thrown into an asylum, and died young. Finally after centuries of investigation, theorizing and speculation, films and documentaries, we all finally have a nose to wag our index fingers at.
Aaron Kosminski was the infamous Jack the Ripper.
*some theater kid in the back of the lecture hall throws up his hand.
“Uh, so,” he says, “when Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street premiered at the Uris Theater in New York City in 1979, led by Len Cariou and Angela Lansbury, did anyone think to themselves…’well, this looks awfully familiar?’”
*crickets*
“Maybe Stephen Sondheim was trying to tell us something…that most of us failed to see.”
WELCOME TO MUSICAL THEATER 101
So the story revolves around Benjamin Barker, a morose and vengeful barber who, after 15 years of unjustified incarceration, returns to London (under the name Sweeney Todd) to kill the man who raped his wife, Lucy, and later sent him away.
Barker/Todd meets Mrs. Lovett, a widow (and the worst baker in London, yes, I know she blames it on the sh*t economy and the price of meat, yet for some reason, never thought to use fruit? Really?). She tells him that after he was sent away, his wife, Lucy, ingested arsenic, and their then-infant, Johanna, became the ward of Judge Turpin (the guy who raped Lucy).
Lovett suggests Todd return to his old profession, shaving his faces with straight blades. He does, then comes face to face with Adolfo Pirelli, a super flamboyant, super Italian barber scamming the public with bottles of piss disguised as Rogaine. Todd challenges him to a “shave-off,” and humiliates the man. The flimflam salesman later admits to being Todd’s old assistant, then blackmails him and asks for half of his income…FOR-E-VER! FOR-E-VER!
Todd is like “f*ck that” (I’m paraphrasing) and kills him. And it just gets bloodier.
Near the end of Act 1, Todd lets his love of theatrics get in the way of some perfectly good murders…and the perfect chance for vengeance slips through his fingers. Todd’s wrath gets the better of him, so much so that he decides to start “practicing on less honorable throats,” ridding London of it’s ‘filth’ and getting close to the ones who wronged him.
SPOILER ALERT: Todd kills a ton of people. Like. A. Lot.
And not just the bad guys, mind you. It is…pretty dark, quite the bloodbath for an insanely beautiful piece of musical theater. (Goin’ strong more than 4 decades).
And now that this, Aaron Kosminski fella, this immigrant barber living in London, has been officially tied to the infamous slaying of eleven prostitutes between 1888 and 1891, could it be…?
Is there a chance that, maybe, Stephen Sondheim (in his own genius way) was trying to tell us something when he adapted Christopher Bond’s original play to the Broadway stage?
Was that pesky Demon Barber of Fleet Street the artistic representation of Jack the Ripper?
Here is what we know…
- The Setting
- Both are set in 19th century Victorian London, capturing the grim atmosphere of that time. Narrow streets, poverty, societal decay, etc.
- Gruesome Murders
- Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who murders clients in his barber shop.
- Jack the Ripper was a real-life serial killer who targeted prostitutes in the Whitechapel district of London.
- Profession
- Benjamin Barker was a barber.
- Aaron Kosminski was a barber.
- Atmosphere of Paranoia.
- In “Sweeney Todd,” there was a general unease surrounding the disappearances of his victims.
- Jack the Ripper evoked a similar fear of the populace.
- Motives.
- Todd’s motivation stems from revenge.
- Jack’s motives remain unclear but are often speculated to involve some form of revenge or psychological issues.
However…
- Criminal Nature.
- Sweeney Todd’s murders are depicted as calculated, deliberate acts driven by revenge.
- Jack the Ripper’s killings were seemingly random and carried out with a degree of sadism.
- Characterization
- Todd is portrayed as a complex anti-hero with a tragic backstory.
- Jack the Ripper still remains a mysterious and enigmatic figure even though his identity has been revealed to be Aaron Kosminski.
- Narrative
- “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” is primarily a work of fiction with elements of dark comedy and social commentary.
- Jack the Ripper is a real-life historical mystery that remains to perplex and fascinate people to this day.
Final Verdict: I’m about 70/30 in favor of Todd being a retelling of the famous Ripper. There’s no way I will ever know for certain, but it is just too interesting to just hock up to coincidence. Writers, especially good writers, write about what is happening in front of them. They write about their own experiences, about things they see coming, about truth.
George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945) has been said to be a ‘fairy tale’ retelling of the Russian Revolution and the rise of Stalin just like Stephen King based Pennywise in IT (1986) on his fear of clowns. Bret Easton Ellis used his experiences with uber-status-hungry Wall Street guys to help mold American Psycho (1991). Good stories speak to people on some level, and that usually involves pulling ideas from the real-life.
A nonsense story without a realistic setting or believable foundation is just that…nonsense. It will make “No Sense” to the people reading it, that’s why I’d argue, the most effective stories come from real life.
I think Rod Serling said it best when asked “where do ideas come from?”
“Where do they come from? Ideas come from the earth, they come from every human experience that you either witness or have heard about, translated into your brain, into your own sense of dialogue, in your own language form. Ideas are born from what is smelled, heard, seen, experienced, felt, emotionalized. Ideas are probably in the air, like little, tiny items of ozone. That’s the easiest thing on earth, is to come up with an idea, then the second thing, is the hardest thing on earth, is to put it down.”
Rod Serling, Youtube Clip: Rod Serling on Writing,
So…final, final verdict…70/30, Jack Sweeney the Todd Ripper seems creepily connected, but I could be totally wrong.
Extra Bibilography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweeney_Todd:_The_Demon_Barber_of_Fleet_Street
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweeney_Todd
Cody Wayne Heuer: A RantRealm 
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