AL Teen Missing in Aruba - Page 13

DrPhil · #1 11-23-2010, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Animate

As someone from Birmingham I will say that so many people are tired of the media coverage of this story. We wish for closure for her family but to have the wound opened up every few months is annoying to me.

You complain about how people that don't know here are saying this and that yet you didn't know her but claim that she is "normal, incredibly nice girl". How do you know this? She could have been whooping Joran's ass for whatever reason and he pushed back. NO ONE KNOWS; and frankly I'm tired of hearing about it. To put it harshly I don't care. It doesn't affect me at all. I just hope others learn from this story.

Now...when did being Greek mean that you can't have an opinion on issues?

Yep and even typing "normal, incredibly nice girl" has so many connotations that take us back to my very first post on victimology. What's "normal" and whose opinion of "incredibly nice" matters when it comes to garnering attention and sympathy for some victims over others.

Alumiyum · #2 11-23-2010, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrPhil

Yep and even typing "normal, incredibly nice girl" has so many connotations that take us back to my very first post on victimology. What's "normal" and whose opinion of "incredibly nice" matters when it comes to garnering attention and sympathy for some victims over others.

But again, the issue should (well, ok IMO) be made separate from Natalee and her family, as she was a victim, and they (again IMO, since I do not know them) have just done what they could to keep her from being forgotten. And, of course, she is by no means the only example of a media obsession when a pretty young white girl goes missing. (Elizabeth Smart, Jon Benet Ramsay, Chandra Levy, Laci Peterson, Lori Hacking, etc. come to mind). ETA: I think it has a lot to do with "damsel in distress"...especially for the two who were abducted/murdered in childhood and Laci Peterson as she was pregnant...we want to protect them and get caught up in the stories, because they seem helpless or innocent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Animate

As someone from Birmingham I will say that so many people are tired of the media coverage of this story. We wish for closure for her family but to have the wound opened up every few months is annoying to me.

You complain about how people that don't know here are saying this and that yet you didn't know her but claim that she is "normal, incredibly nice girl". How do you know this? She could have been whooping Joran's ass for whatever reason and he pushed back. NO ONE KNOWS; and frankly I'm tired of hearing about it. To put it harshly I don't care. It doesn't affect me at all. I just hope others learn from this story.

Now...when did being Greek mean that you can't have an opinion on issues?

Just a point, but that's not a general consensus for the residents of Birmingham. Also, she was 5'4" and 110 pounds, while Joran is well over 6 feet, 6'3" IIRC and obviously was much heavier and stronger than she. There's no way she ever came close to "whooping his ass". IMO, the story he told on hidden camera about her seizing and him throwing her in the ocean with the help of a friend (even though he wasn't SURE she was dead) is the closest to the truth.

knight_shadow · #3 11-23-2010, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alumiyum

But again, the issue should (well, ok IMO) be made separate from Natalee and her family, as she was a victim, and they (again IMO, since I do not know them) have just done what they could to keep her from being forgotten. And, of course, she is by no means the only example of a media obsession when a pretty young white girl goes missing. (Elizabeth Smart, Jon Benet Ramsay, Chandra Levy, Laci Peterson, Lori Hacking, etc. come to mind). ETA: I think it has a lot to do with "damsel in distress"...especially for the two who were abducted/murdered in childhood and Laci Peterson as she was pregnant...we want to protect them and get caught up in the stories, because they seem helpless or innocent.

I don't think anyone is faulting her family for continuing the search. The point is that the media is focusing on her because she was a pretty young white girl.

Quote:

Just a point, but that's not a general consensus for the residents of Birmingham. Also, she was 5'4" and 110 pounds, while Joran is well over 6 feet, 6'3" IIRC and obviously was much heavier and stronger than she. There's no way she ever came close to "whooping his ass". IMO, the story he told on hidden camera about her seizing and him throwing her in the ocean with the help of a friend (even though he wasn't SURE she was dead) is the closest to the truth.

I'm sure this was just an example. The point is that we don't know what happened.

DrPhil · #4 11-23-2010, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alumiyum

But again, the issue should (well, ok IMO) be made separate from Natalee and her family, as she was a victim, and they (again IMO, since I do not know them) have just done what they could to keep her from being forgotten.

No, that's not how such discussions work. Everyone has already agreed that what happened to Holloway is tragic and sad. My posts will not be prefaced with that which has been stated over and over again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alumiyum

And, of course, she is by no means the only example of a media obsession when a pretty young white girl goes missing. (Elizabeth Smart, Jon Benet Ramsay, Chandra Levy, Laci Peterson, Lori Hacking, etc. come to mind).

Yes, as many readers have already figured out, this topic is a general topic in which Holloway is used as one of the many examples of a larger point.

DeltaZeta09 · #5 11-23-2010, 06:20 PM

!

knight_shadow · #6 11-23-2010, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeltaZeta09

Oh wow, so offended. I would say you're "real cool" for being an adult and swearing off on a chat board, but let's be real, you realized in junior high no one was ever going to consider any of you cool. It IS embarrassing that you all spoke of NH that way, and the fact that you can't even respond to the content of the criticism shows your lack of character further.

"Real cool" as opposed to "fake cool," eh?

Look -- this thread has been around for 5 years. If you'd actually read it, you'd see people saying "Wow, this is terrible, BUT _____." You can only be sympathetic for so long (considering most of us don't know her). At some point this DISCUSSION BOARD must become a vehicle for DISCUSSION.

And the whole "you should be ashamed to be Greek!" tirade is played. If you had been Greek for longer than a year (judging by the '09), you'd realize that being a part of an organization doesn't make you a drone who's incapable of engaging in conversations, discussions, or arguments.

So, again -- please shut the hell up.

DrPhil · #7 11-23-2010, 06:39 PM

DeltaZeta09 isn't smart enough to grasp anything in this thread so explaining this thread to her is a waste. She claims to have read it and her brain could only come up with what she typed.

KillarneyRose · #8 11-23-2010, 06:41 PM

Be nice, or no Panera for you!

KillarneyRose · #9 11-23-2010, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeltaZeta09

Oh wow, so offended. I would say you're "real cool" for being an adult and swearing off on a chat board, but let's be real, you realized in junior high no one was ever going to consider any of you cool. It IS embarrassing that you all spoke of NH that way, and the fact that you can't even respond to the content of the criticism shows your lack of character further.

Honestly, it isn't like that at all. I've read this thread on and off since it started and although people have expressed frustration at a perceived abundance of media attention when someone like Natalee disappears versus when someone of less means disappears, no one wishes ill will toward her. I can't imagine anyone would argue, even posters who doubted the wisdom of Natalee going off with The Sociopath, that it is a terrible tragedy.

That said, I am sad that it wasn't Natalee's jawbone that was found. Partly because that means that there is yet another young woman out there who is unaccounted for and partly because I want her poor mother to have closure. What an unimaginable burden it must be to wake up every morning and know your child is missing and most likely dead, but you don't know for sure.

Alumiyum · #10 11-23-2010, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KillarneyRose

Honestly, it isn't like that at all. I've read this thread on and off since it started and although people have expressed frustration at a perceived abundance of media attention when someone like Natalee disappears versus when someone of less means disappears, no one wishes ill will toward her. I can't imagine anyone would argue, even posters who doubted the wisdom of Natalee going off with The Sociopath, that it is a terrible tragedy.

That said, I am sad that it wasn't Natalee's jawbone that was found. Partly because that means that there is yet another young woman out there who is unaccounted for and partly because I want her poor mother to have closure. What an unimaginable burden it must be to wake up every morning and know your child is missing and most likely dead, but you don't know for sure.

The frustration can sometimes by interpreted differently, if people don't separate it from Natalee. (Frustrating at the system/media/unfairness of it all vs. frustration at her/her family). I think just about everyone does separate the issue from her, it just gets misunderstood.

No, Natalee didn't deserve this, but neither does anyone else who ends up in the hands of someone like Joran. It is IMO important to remember that this could have happened to any girl who left with him that night, and to remember that no matter how safe your surroundings seem, there ARE bad people out there. Her mother points out in her seminars how important it is to pay attention to your surroundings and to use the "buddy system". Lots of people end up in similar situations and are lucky enough to come out with nothing but a few good stories, but it's not worth the risk.

DrPhil · #11 11-23-2010, 06:45 PM

Low blow. Low blow.

knight_shadow · #12 11-23-2010, 07:10 PM

Thankfully, many of us are pro-choice.

KSig RC · #13 11-23-2010, 07:22 PM

It's definitely the board's right to choose.

Drolefille · #14 11-23-2010, 10:04 PM

Quite frankly, no one can take it out on Natalie anymore. She is dead. Her family is not reading this and even if people were trying to blame her it would be stupid because she is deceased and either no longer exists or has more important things to be concerned with.

Many threads on GC deviate from the original topic within hours of posting much less 5 freaking years. The general topics are usually far more interesting and relevant anyway.

Suffice to say no one thinks it was NH's fault that she was a cute missing white girl and got all the attention. But pointing out the sociological reasons doesn't make us callous, just distant.

MysticCat · #15 11-24-2010, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeltaZeta09

Reading through the threads, and how some of you responded to Alumiyum, it's embarrassing that you would associate yourselves with the Greek community.

This holier-than-thou "You are all embarrasments to the Greek community" tirade never comes off well, especially when it comes from a newbie who obviously hasn't read the thread carefully.