The Tragedy of 1970 is Charles Grady killing his wife and 8 and 10 year old daughters.
I call it this, over and over again, because we experience a 1920’s (which would be in Prohibition Era) party where a Delbert Grady talks about his daughters. The brain assumes these two things are the same, but they aren’t.
Whether this is to show Jack’s slipping mental state or to pull the rug from under the viewer, delivering a message around a Charles Grady in 1970 and showing the Grady’s in 1920’s styling creates quite the disconnect.
Having a party take place in July 4 (as per No.91) knowing that there’s a caretaker over the winter also feeds into the logical disconnect.
In this image · No.5
Jack’s reaction to The Tragedy of 1970.
Abuse
The Tragedy of 1970, with Charles Grady and his girls, “about 8 and 10.”
The way Ullman talks about this tragedy: mitigating speech.