FelicityLemon
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I guess in all the cases I've followed (and there have been a lot over the years), I've never before seen interest in the thoughts and feelings of the killer. Interest in the cases, yes. Interest in the various players in the case, yes. Interest in the family and the victim(s), yes. Interest in the circus surrounding the big cases, yes.
But this is the first time I've seen such intense focus on the killer, specifically wondering what she's feeling, thinking, how she perceives things, what her opinion might be, and I find that an interesting phenomenon from a sociological standpoint. There's also energy on waiting or hoping the killer will feel something specific (as defined by whoever is wishing it), will feel remorse, will see her own circumstances in the way that her spectators want her to see them. Usually the killer is just seen sort of as a blob -- a monster who did something evil and took one or more lives -- and what the killer thinks or what their opinion might be is not considered much, if at all. This changes somewhat if the killer is someone who was famous before their criminal case.
To me, as someone who looks at & studies sociological aspects to criminal cases, this is an indication of how important Arias really is to a base of case followers and it's an indication she (an otherwise fairly uninteresting killer) has managed to capture a high level of attention and get under people's skin who have never met her and never will. It's something new and different, and it's interesting to work out if it's the killer who is somehow different or something else entirely.
This is it's own circus within the larger circus and it's a subject I find interesting. I question it because I'm trying to understand what's underneath it, as it's an area of study I'm pursuing.
I think most of us are interested in what goes on in her mind just like you are interested in the thoughts, feelings and motives of people who are following the case. I think that's interesting, too. LOL, it never occurred to me to follow any case for any other reason other than wanting to know what's in the murderer's mind! But, that's my specific interest! To me, people's minds are fascinating beyond belief! Even though I know different people may have different thoughts, it still surprises me that there are people who couldn't care less about what goes on in someone else's mind.
I think this is the way it will be from here on out as long as people continue to put every little thought on social media. We've never had this opportunity before the internet and now it's even more information for us if criminals are communicating publicly from jail and prison.
This is a case where the murderer is prolific in putting everything in writing about herself - some true, some false, and some of it unintentionally true because of the manner and content in which she writes or speaks about herself. I hope I'm saying that right - that all of us reveal more about ourselves than we sometimes realize. Jodi Arias tells us what SHE wants us to know, but what comes across is what's behind her words. Argh, I'm not expressing myself as clearly as I want to.
Example: her continued attempts at telling us how superior or brilliant she is. Some people take things at face value and those are the people who will believe cmja and laviolette until they die. Others will see desperate attempts to try and convince us and conclude that she might have low self-esteem. "The lady doth protest too much, methinks".
If she had never written a word in a journal or letter, if she had not testified for herself, if we hadn't known anything about her thoughts via twitter and numerous tv interviews - we wouldn't have the riches to be curious about.
There are hundreds (or thousands?) of murderers who have never uttered a peep to the public, haven't written journals or left a trail of thousands of text messages and texts, so we have nothing to be interested in.
Other cases have generated the same interest, we just haven't had as much to work with. She has big mouth and an even bigger ego. Great combination!