Madeleine McCann: Blown Out Of All Proportion
MADELEINE McCann is on the beach at Praia da Luz. Or at least her likeness is.
As the Mail reports, Chris Lennox and Les Harley, have driven 2,200 miles from Scotland. They have brought along a 800 sq ft giant inflatable billboard appealing for Madeleine’s safe return.
The Mail doesn’t say anything about Chris Lennox and Les Harle nor why they should choose to display Madeleine’s image in such a fashion. Is this not a little unusual, creepy even?
At least the BBC bothers to speak with campaigners. It hears Mr Lennox tell us: “My heartstrings have been pulled on this and I want to help. I have a family with small kids and my wife has been following this from day one. She told me to come out here and do what I could. I am clearly here to help raise awareness.”
Such is the way of public spectacles, like the Madeleine McCann mystery, that many feel involved. They want to do their bit. But what can they do? Put themselves in the public eye? Make a huge inflatable and show the world how much they care?
Lennox and Hale plan to tour the area with their massive inflatable sign. And surely it will keep Madeleine’s name in the public eye. People will be reminded that Madeleine McCann has gone missing. Parents on holiday will be made aware that children can be taken. They will anxiously hug their children closer. And, if they’ve read some of the over the top media coverage, they will worry over holidaying in Portugal.
Meanwhile, back in the UK, Sun readers can go online and watch a video of Madeleine. It’s called “Maddie on Mobile”. The Mail has stills of Madeleine McCann at the airport, excitedly climbing the airplane’s steps.
The two films, one of 13 seconds and another of nine, were taken on camera phones. “Somewhere in the background there’s even the sound of her voice,” says the Mail. Ghouls will love it.
And they can see it on the Sun’s website. Right after an advert for a film called Paradise Lost, featuring lot of babes in bikinis, and before “Sex in the City, a video showing a couple shagging on a London rooftop, there’s Madeleine on the airport shuttle bus.
So we look. But what does it teach us? Only that the media owns the story of Madeleine McCann. And that she is just another form of entertainment to pass the time before the next show…
Posted: 29th, May 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (262) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
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June 4th, 2007 at 10:39 am
Speak for yousefl Ross. I care very much if she is never seen again. So do millions of people.
This is not about mass hysteria, simply about a bit of compassion for a suffering child and her suffering family.
I appreciate that she has received an unprecendented amount of media attention and that this seems to have pissed a lot of people off.
This isnt Madeleines fault is it? Surely she doesnt deserve this suffering and for you to write her off as ‘insignificant’ is quite disgusting to me.
Nobodys suffering is insignificant. Perhaps under-reported, but never insigificant. Just because the tabloids are winding you up, I cannot understand how you can turn that into a slur against the poor child. I strongly suggest you take a look at yourself. Maybe just *try* and find soem compassion for the people who are actually suffering, instead of looking for someone to slag off.
June 2nd, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Oh, and crazy raver, your name suits you.
June 2nd, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Ha! You yellow ribbon-wearing sheep are hilarious! Wahh wahh wahh “OUR Maddie!” Those “poor parents” are idiots. Leaving 3 babies alone with the door open is clearly safer than leaving them with a babysitter and cheaper too! You know 2 doctors don’t earn much and they needed the money for a bottle of wine with dinner!
And the child molesting nazi pope will surely bring their baby back! And the Tour McCann being undertaken by Team McCann to exotic locales around Europe and Africa will be the perfect back-up when the pope fails to deliver. Who cares about the 2 kids they’re leaving behind, yet again. All that free money pouring in has to be spent before you sheep wake up and smell the coffee.
May 31st, 2007 at 9:56 pm
to spidermanic-
the American comments are ubsurd. Talk about a simple brain, you can’t come up with a better attempt to insult the “Anourmouse” A-Hole.
This story is sad, and should be an awakening for all parents. I don’t know how culturally different locations really are, but children under 4 years of age need to be tended to 24hours everyday. Not until they are much older (12+) should an alternative be considered, and even then, any alternative should be very carefully considered. If the McCanns are ever give the opportunity to leave their children alone, I doubt they will take it, and I hope other parents will as well.
May 31st, 2007 at 9:58 am
I can’t believe this rubbish is still going on!!!! All of you are going on about views and opions, but does that make a difference to this terrible, heartbreaking news. To be frank, anything other than pathetic is the only way that i would describe some of the comments on here. A little girl has gone missing, nobody is to blame, and some people should have a heart. To say that it can’t effect you is so hard to believe. Anyone with a little humanity must surely of been touched by the support and encouragement of the public towards the family. Why, as a nation, do we have to judge. Im a parent of a 3 yr old, and no, I wouldn’t leave me son, but that doesn’t make them bad parents. The children were in eye sight of the family, and in all honesty who expected this to happen. Some of the comments about the father selling or killing his own daughter, WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE THINKING!!!!!!! What pure hatred can come from somone to even write these words. If people can right words like this, then god only knows what animals we are breeding. My only worry is that people who make these comments are either very young and don’t really understand the situation, or very very very very EVIL!!!! Sorry my views are so strong, but I feel that we should be concentrating on this little girl, and finding her, and to Madeleine and her Family-MAY AN ANGEL ALWAYS BE BY YOURSIDE
May 31st, 2007 at 8:37 am
well then YAS lets hope a child of yours never goes missing and everyone doesn’t think like you huh?
May 31st, 2007 at 1:17 am
Mass Histeria (not sure is histeria is spelt correctly) I think The parents are twats for leavin a 4 year old girl in a apartment, alone in a foreign contry, dumbass!! I think the publicity there getting is down to either luck or they have a publisist . I think This is a stupid “news” story and it should disappear. completely should just end….. of course this aint gonna happen because people get sucked in when they see other people crying about a girl they never met. How many people go missing a year ??? comon! I hope the story dies. funny thread.
May 31st, 2007 at 1:04 am
Thank you Liz…………..
May 30th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
For what it’s worth (a) yes I am a parent and (b) you know nothing about me, or my family, or my experiences so maybe I actually DO know what I’m talking about. And (c) I was under the impression that this was somewhere people could post responses to the article. That’s what I did, and if you are offended by what I wrote, then by all means say you disagree, and why. But really, why wish bad things on my family? I didn’t wish anything bad on the McCanns, in fact I said I hoped that Madeleine is found safe and well. What I did say was that they brought it on themselves.
As far as I know, it’s not yet a crime to express a different opinion to anyone else’s. If you express yours, and it’s different to mine, then as far as I’m concerned you have as much right to express it as I have.
May 30th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
yes and He took all the humanity with him I think !
May 30th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
God left town a long time ago.
May 30th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
You think this is a Sun forum?
May 30th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
Everyone needs to learn to have a heart and a little humanity, if the comments on these forums show a equal cross section of the people in the world. then god help this world
May 30th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
I can’t believe some of the comments on this forum. Thankfully I gave up reading the s*n many moons ago like most people from merseyside and only followed a link to this story.
This is a little girl who has gone missing. Doesn’t matter if there parents are to blame or not.
God help the children of the world if s*n readers are anything to go by.
May 30th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
We’ll miss you Edwina - enjoying dancing, enjoy living!
May 30th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
See you Edwina, nice to be able to read someone who can argue a point rationally.
May 30th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Thanks Jane, but I’m going again now - was just passing through.
Getting bored with all the comments, and the he said, she said, you said routine. I’m new to all of this, thought I would give it a go because of all the interest in poor Madeleine’s case. But it’s not for me, it all gets too personal (and, yes I know, I’ve been getting personal with people too) and everybody has their own entrenched views and opinions, and there’s nothing anybody can do to change that.
It becomes a frustrating experience after a while. None of it is really helping to find Madeleine, and I’m getting so depressed with the whole thing.
Anyway, there’s too much living and dancing to be done to spend so much time on these websites! I had no idea how addictive it can be!
So I don’t think you’ll be hearing much more from me.
It was nice to meet some nice people on here, with whom I could debate sensibly and reasonably (well perhaps I wasn’t always reasonable!) I have enjoyed reading all the comments, and will miss reading them, even those I didn’t agree with.
So goodbye Jane, Ross, Kath, Bernardine, Terry, The Usual Suspect, Dogstar, anonymous the psyhic sister, and some others whose names I forget just at the moment. Oh yes, and even PM too. Do try and join in the debate more dear. It’s not nice to just stick your head over the parapet, take a pot shot at somebody, and then disappear!
Love, Edwina
May 30th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
What I don’t get is….how has this kid got an Aunt called Phil?
Mind you, I’ve seen her on telly, and she looks like a Phil.
May 30th, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Nice to have you back Edwina!
May 30th, 2007 at 11:23 am
Hi Jane - just seen PM’s post and your reply, and you obviously remember his/her’s to me.
PM Says:
May 29th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Hi Jane, Anourmouse,
How are things out there on the sink estate?
Jane Says:
May 29th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
Thanks for asking PM. Life here is just absolutaly fabulous darling. Just having my first Vodka Wicked of the night before meeting up on the street corner with me mates Edwina and Ben. We may take in a game of bingo, followed by another late session at the Nag’s Head. Then it’s off to ‘kick somebody’s head in’ - metaphorically speak of course.
——————————————————————————————
Jane - wanna come down the pub wiv me Saturday then? We cud get absolutely rat-arsed and then we cud have a fab time wiv some of them builder blokes, you know you’d love it. Nothing I like better on a Saturday night than a good shag while eating me fish n chips.
Is PM a bloke then? If so we cud invite him too, and when he’s given us a good seein to on the back seat we cud kick the prat out and make him walk home. Lorra fun!!
LOL, Edwina
May 30th, 2007 at 10:58 am
I have no objection to people disagreeing and thinking the Mccanns are wrong. It’s the sheer spiteful sarcasm and venom, making jokes and light out of a serious discussion that gets me?
May 30th, 2007 at 9:15 am
The money in the fund, if not used as reward, will go into a charity to help find missing children in UK and Portugal. This has already been stated.
The McCann’s themselves have no access to ANY of the money donated and the fund was NOT set up by them…. it is being managed independently under Charity Commission rules and regs.
.
Right now the McCann’s are in headless chicken mode (understandably) and clutching at anything that might help. Just remember, the media has its own axe to grind and stories to make up to get the readers!
May 30th, 2007 at 9:09 am
Er, can I ask a serious question? About the company set up by the McCanns to - um - finance their search? If their daughter is found safe, what happens to all that dosh? Is it returned or handed to some childrens’ charities? Or will it then go to finance the McCanns Thanksgiving World Tour - to Rome (again) to hug the Pope, to LA to thank Posh ‘n Becks, to South Africa to see Nelson Mandela, to the USA to thank Bush, to … you get the picture. And, while on that subject, why was it a company they set up and not a charity?
May 29th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Well I think you anourmouse speak a lot of sense, and GG? yeh a circus it is, no one did answer GG’s question of why the family should recieve financial assistance, why should they? Aren’t they professional people? A Heart surgeon and a GP need money? Yeh right, they need everyone else to foot the bill! They should stick their hands in their pockets to pay for PI’s and the Maddie fund should be used for location of other children from sick paedo’s!
Everyone knows that child is a gonner and because it’s a friggin commercial noone seems to care about the hundreds of children that have gone missing since Maddie did.. Is it because they are irrelevant and their pictures aint plastered everywhere? This media has done damage in my opinion as if Maddie were alive with that crowd they’ll be so afraid of being caught that she’s now done for, probably weeks ago thanx to shit like this! All it comes down to now is parents gulit, f**k them! I have two children and it is against the law to leave children unattended, they are to blame for whatever happened to Maddie as they must know what a sick world we live in? If not, why the feck are they in the proffession they are, I mean, don’t you need at least 1/2 a brain cell to be a doctor? Gerry McCann? I’d rather die a horrible death than have that creep operate on me.. I agree anourmouse, he probably did sell her and now this is his way of feeling less gulity.. say what you want about me, I really don’t care but this just sux.. catholics don’t do IVF!! p.s. not apologising for my spelling as I’m just lazy *bleh*
May 29th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
a state funded working and well organised missing child organisation hmmm well to have that you’d first need a working and well organised government…lmao.
ooh, how about a foundation for the advancement of good parenting and basic common sense? Seems like we could do with one of those…
May 29th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Agree Ross, shall we start with Darfur………..
May 29th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
i disagree,
i would rather the money went to REAL causes.
May 29th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
If there were to be an increase on income tax, I would prefer it be for a just cause - lets say, a working and well organised missing child organisation rather than funding the unemployed or re-homing immigrants … surely?!
Fool!
May 29th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Hey, why don’t we just add 1p on to Income Tax for the fund? Don’t know why I didn’t think of that sooner, or have they already ask Gordon…???
May 29th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Jeff, the fact that only 40 people have signed this petition, compared to almost 2 million in favour of scrapping toll charges, 60,000 to keep the Red Arrows funding and 40,000 in favour of a repeal of the fox hunting ban, I think the answer is no.