Why I Don't Care Who Killed Jon-Benet Ramsey

[MrCoffee]

First, it is ALWAYS a horrific thing when a child is murdered. I'm not in favor of the death penalty, but child murderers make me rethink that position.

That being said, this "story" has dominated American media for 10 years. I know people (smart people, informed, educated, aware people) who can name every single person ever related, no matter how tangentially, to this case, and give a full run-down of their involvement. More people know more about this case than they ever did about Watergate, Iran-Contra, the Enron trial...and why is that? It's because there's something dark and perverse about this case. The media had a field day with it. Lurid photos of a 4 year old in make-up and sequined outfits. Unmitigated speculation about the actions of the parents. A local sherrif who clearly sucked ass at his job (which always seemed to be the most underplayed part of the story).

How many hundreds of hours of airtime was this "story" given? How many 55 gallon drums of ink were used in the "reporting of this "story"? This stopped being about the murder of a child after the first week, and turned into something far worse: a cash cow for the media. Slap a "Jon-Benet" banner on the screen and people sat riveted.

Yes, the murder of a child is terrible. How much more terrible to continually murder her memory for 10 years after the fact?

[mike_c]

1. agree 100 percent-- this was the story that sold tabloids...

...in supermarket checkout lines for years. It's right up there with Bat-boy and Clinton consorting with aliens as far as I'm concerned. Sure, at the core of it a child died-- always a tragedy-- but this story dragged on and on because that child was photographed in megacute outfits and objectified with beauty queen makeup. She was made into an wide-eyed American anime tragic heroine of sorts, surrounded by villains.

[greguganus]

3. yeah...what ever happened to Batboy? n/t

[leesa]

2. I agree. Leave it to the police and courts to figure out. People are

murdered and it's tragic...do we have to prey on them further in the news so that we can all get off on speculating about sexual fantasies?

[leveymg]

4. Please, No Jonbenet threads at GD! Even anti.

Even though I agree with you.

This is a Lounge topic, if that. People should take it to the message board at National Enquirer.com.

[Philosoraptor]

5. just hit the ignore button please, it works perfectly

and you won't even see those threads, i do it all the time, i'm doing it right now

[leveymg]

6. Should've done it before you responded. Stop trashing DU

with this idiotic stuff!!!!!

[TlalocW]

7. The thing is

That in the same week that Jon Benet was killed, a black girl of the same age was killed in an abandoned building in a ghetto. I can't remember the name of the girl or even the city she lived because she wasn't a lilly-white child beauty pageant star. The M$M did their job well.

TlalocW