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The cases of disappeared celebrities always astonish and horrify the world community with the help of mass media traditionally prettifying and dramatizing the reality. However, the stories of the ordinary people becoming famous after their disappearance contain even more mysteries. The relatives find themselves in a center of paparazzis attention while their own stories gradually become completed with details that are not certain to be truthful or fictional. All these tendencies produce a logical question: why do some of the cases have perpetual resonance in the media space while the others remain unknown? The case of Natalee Holloways disappearance in 2005 is still the object of investigation with many details fudged. This essay offers the analysis of strange major consequences of Natalees mysterious vanishing.
Natalee Holloways vanishing in terms of the Missing White Woman Syndrome
The occasion of Natalee Holloways disappearance that took place a decade ago during an unofficial graduation journey is still an unsolved puzzle since a story of an ordinary female student rarely makes the national headlines with thousands of children and young people yearly vanishing worldwide. In fact, the reasons for this case becoming a sensation have rather psychological than factual roots. The media researchers have developed the theory of Missing White Woman Syndrome that affects numerous TV addicted minds across the world, especially in the USA. The theory is built around the image of an attractive young woman who fits the model of the Ideal Woman for an average American (Liebler, 2010). The aim of broadcasting agencies is to increase the number of viewers and reach the highest possible ratings. It is obvious that an ordinary, mediocre woman will not attract a significant number of viewers, but Natalee Holloways appearance is totally different. She is a young blonde pleasantly looking woman who captured editors and viewers attention. One cannot continue channel surfing after seeing and hearing such woman disappeared, and that is the first crucial reason for the resonance of the given case.
The Reaction of Natalees Parents and the Media
Naturally, the media interest could not have found a better target than Natalees parents. Beth and Dave Holloway were repeatedly interviewed by numerous TV programs and printed media. Beth originally insisted on the importance of preventative work concerning the issue of the personal safety during the international trips and, suddenly, she became a celebrity since the story of a mother who lost her daughter could not have left the society apathetic. Undoubtedly, her intentions seem to be nothing except socially useful and honorable labor, although there are those who claim that it was just the reason for Holloways getting a solid profit for their books and a movie dedicated to the story of their childs disappearance. It is very hard to clarify the real goals that Natalees parents were pursuing. Abusing them for greediness might be too rude and intolerant because the case of girls disappearance means serious sufferings and emotional shock for her relatives. Moreover, everybody knows how sticky and intrusive mass media can be, thus, I do not deny that Dave and Beth Holloways could have become the victims of press and TV. Thompson claims that this case had many of the elements for a story to break out, especially mysterious characters (Thompson as cited in Velez-Mitchell, 2007). The less fact is known, the more will be dreamed up and published by journalists that do not care about the feelings of the people they are slandering, they just want their story to cause an explosion in the minds of the population. Consequently, the perpetual public pronouncements and appearances of Natalees parents could have been the way to protect daughters reputation. There is no doubt that the girl might not be a saint but adding disgusting facts that do not reflect the reality is a rude disregard to the dead persons memory. Thus, I would abuse rather media than Beth and Dave Holloway for breaking moral. Furthermore, there are some websites that put Natalees last photos from the party for an open discussion. Of course, there are some shots that are the evidence for the enormous number of alcohol present at the party, but Natalee does not look like totally drunken; she is almost the same as on her family photos.
The Most Mysterious and Contradictive Details
There are many discrepancies concerning Natalee Holloways addictions and behavior. The island of Aruba, where the story happened, is considered to be one of the preferred places for American students celebrations and trips since the local legal drinking age is only 18 years (Schorn, 2006). The feeling of unlimited freedom and the happiness of having finished the study is a strong impetus for youth to lose their minds there. Natalees friends do not deny her excessive alcohol drinking, so this fact could have been the reason for her inadequate behavior and decisions that predetermined her destiny. In addition, police have also made a more serious and provocative assumption claiming that Natalee might have drugs. However, her friends do not confirm the facts of her both purchasing and taking drugs, and police fail to provide the version with any evidence (Schorn, 2006). These details have highlighted the total inconsistency of the story since the rumors might be not very far from the words of Natalees friends that could easily fudge or prettify something as well. Alcohol inebriation seems to be the most reasonable explanation of Natalee getting into a car with three young men from Aruba. Natalees uncle claims that she was very naïve, did not date and have a party a lot (Ala. Girl Missing in Aruba Called ‘Dependable’ by Friends, 2005). Tragically, a single sidestep from the principles predetermined girls destiny.
Comparison with Sarai Sierras disappearance
The case of Natalee Holloway is a classic illustration of the Missing White Woman Syndrome. There were many other occasions of the American women missing in foreign countries, but none of them has received the same nationwide attention. Sarai Sierra was a 33-year-old American photographer who got lost in Istanbul during her vacation in 2013 (Durante, 2013). The appearance of this woman would not be able to compete with Natalee Holloways, that is why Sierra only made headlines in some of the newspaper articles instead of disturbing the whole American society. Her disappearance was also connected with the local population, although Sarais body and murderer were found less than in a week after the vanishing (Durante, 2013), thus, a fast-flowing investigation might have prevented this case from becoming a sensation. Moreover, Sierra did not have as enthusiastic and notorious relatives as Natalee Holloways, although Sierras claimed they would reward anyone who will help to find Sarai. It is one of the numerous similar cases, but there is hardly a one that could receive so much attention.
To sum up, the case of Natalee Holloway was doomed to become a nationwide sensation. The sticky media interest was caused both by the behavior of Natalees parents and the number of unclear details that prevented the investigation from proceeding. Moreover, the Missing White Woman Syndrome has caused the national interest that was not observed in the similar cases.
References
Ala. Girl Missing in Aruba Called ‘Dependable’ by Friends. (2005). Web.
Durante, T. (2013). Revealed: Moment Homeless Man Accused of Bludgeoning New York Mother to Death in Istanbul. Daily Mail. Web.
Liebler, C. M. (2010). Me(di)a Culpa?: The “Missing White Woman Syndrome” and Media Self-Critique. Communication, Culture & Critique, 3(4), 549-565.
Schorn, D. (2006). Natalee Holloway: New Clues. Web.
Velez-Mitchell, J. (2007). Secrets Can Be Murder: What America’s Most Sensational Trials Tell Us About Ourselves. New York: Touchstone/Simon & Schuster.
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