A serious note

I'm feeling serious. Not like me I know, but stick with me on this one.

I just watched 'Murder in the Outback', which was a TV dramatisation of the Peter Falconio murder in 2001. It really scared me, even though I have no intention of EVER going travelling around the Australian bush. It's a long time since I've watched anything that scared me that much, and the last thing was, ironically, the film 'Wolf Creek', which was along the same lines. I think the worst thing about it, wasn't even the events themselves, though lord knows they were horrific, it was the way Joanne Lees was treated by the media. I can't even begin to imagine how horrendous it must be to go through something like that and then have to contend with people pointing the finger at you. What possesses one person to question another person's reaction to such a tragedy? Who jumps to a conclusion of guilt because someone's recollection of events isn't clear and concise enough, or because they're not crying as much as they 'should' be. The way the media manipulated the story into something it wasn't just to sell papers is thoroughly disgusting. It's no wonder evidence got missed, or lost, or not dealt with properly. Perhaps if the focus had been in the right place, they'd have caught the murderer sooner, and maybe even recovered Peter's body. I guess we'll never know.

One of my friends is Joanne's friend, and he actually went to the trial with her last December. At the time, it was just a novelty to see him on the front covers of newspapers and websites, but now, it has registered with me what a good friend he must be. I don't think she has too many close friends, and who can blame her, it can't be easy. How do you move on from something like this? It's no wonder she went through different jobs and lived in numerous houses due to the attention she, unintentionally, attracted. I think my mate is one in a million, there can't be many who'd fly out to Australia and sit through a trial like that if they didn't genuinely care about her. I'd love to tell him this, but I probably never will. It's not a topic I'd ever want to bring up in conversation, after all, I don't know Joanne myself, so it's none of my business, even if half the world thinks it's theirs. It's this semi-close connection though, that is what, I think, has made this story so important to me.

I'm sure people will always have their own opinions on this, and not everyone will believe Joanne's version of events, thanks to the media. I know that one evening during the trial, a woman went up to Joanne in a bar and asked if she'd murdered anyone lately. It's instances like that that make me think there really is no hope for the human race sometimes.

I've been pretty moved by the whole thing anyway, and have just ordered her book. I hope she manages to live out the rest of her life with some kind of normality, and that one day, Peter Falconio's body is found. It's given me a new-found appreciation for what I've got, and puts all the stupid things I worry about in perspective.

So there. That's me being deep. It's not often I feel this strongly about something but hey, what are blogs for.

iP