Madeleine McCann Tests The Imagination Of Harry Potter Fans
HAVING stopped scaring children at the cinema, Madeleine McCann is now giving children sleepless nights at the bookshop.
“MADDY POTTER,” says the Mirror’s front page, “JK asks for Madeleine poster in EVERY shop selling her book.”
In this tabloid world where we are all friends on nickname terms, Maddy is being championed by JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter diaries.
Rowling has written to every bookshop selling her tome asking them to place a picture of Madeleine McCann at the till point.
Amid those spontaneous purchases for miniature books on chicken soup, Top Trumps and Nunzilla (the fire breathing nun) will be the face of the world’s most famous missing child since Charles Augustus Lindbergh Junior.
“This is fantastic,” says Gerry McCann, father of the missing child. And it is, but not in the way he thinks.
Says Gerry McCann: “I got her [Madeleine] a DVD and like most kids she is a fan. We look forward to reading the books to all three children.”
Cynics may read an endorsement in these upbeat words, Mr McCann’s clear statement that Madeleine will be found safe and well. But Rowling needs no endorsement.
“I fervently hope that posters displayed prominently in shops all over the world will help find Madeleine McCann and raise the profile of the many other missing children in different countries,” says Rowling.
Surely then the poster should be of those children?
But Rowling can only do so much. She imagines the good the posters will do. And children buying her book can stretch their imaginations beyond Potter’s spells and dark arts to what happens to little girls stolen from their beds.
“In Madeleine Mum’s New Hope”, the Express hears Gerry McCann say: “We’ve jointly come up with this poster. The reach of something like that really will be global.”
But Madeleine McCann went missing in Portugal. Is she likely to be in America, Canada, Brazil?
Or have things moved beyond finding Madeleine McCann, who is no longer a missing child but the face of all missing child the world over?
And what is the likelihood the bookshops will agree to put her by the till?
Posted: 17th, July 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (32) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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July 19th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
For goodness sake, have you people heard yourselves?!
For those of you who think that Kate and Gerry are using the media circus for their own personal enjoyment are obviously mentally unstable. Imagine if it was your daughter who had been abducted from her bed, would you give up? Or would you do exactly the same as them and do absolutely everything possible to find her?
If you didn’t then you are not much of a parent.
To do with JK Rowling, I really don’t think her demographic, fairly young children, would go and buy her book soley for the reason that Madeleine McCann’s face was on a poster next to the book, therefore, I think we can fairly rule out that as an intention.
Has it ever crossed any of your cynical minds that maybe people actually just want to help find an innocent little girl, to whom a terrible thing has been bestowed upon?
I for one will continue believing in her until I hear otherwise, after all, I think people forget that we are dealing with an amazing little 4 year old here.
People’s best wishes really isn’t a lot for a family, whom yes, have made mistakes, but are going through an atrocity that most of you will have not, and hopefully never will experience.
July 18th, 2007 at 1:01 am
Cynic, I’m sure the name is a misnomer for you.
It certainly does fit a few posters here, however.
July 17th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
Well said, and very interesting. I shall be truthfull! I didn’t think too deeply about a name. I chose the first thing that came into my head after seeing the first post. It doesn’t actually describe me very well!
July 17th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
“I’m a freethinker, who thinks deeply and originally about lots of things. I try to see things from another angle, it can help to solve problems and no end of mysteries.”
Hi Cynic. If this is true (and I applaud you if it is), why did you pick the name Cynic?
Cynic: “A person disposed to rail or find fault; now usually: One who shows a disposition to disbelieve in the sincerity or goodness of human motives and actions, and is wont to express this by sneers and sarcasms; a sneering fault-finder. ” _Oxford English Dictionary_.
If you’re “disposed” towards anything, your thinking isn’t really free.
(There is another definition of cynic but I’m guessing you’re not “[o]ne of a sect of philosophers in ancient Greece, founded by Antisthenes, a pupil of Socrates, who were marked by an ostentatious contempt for ease, wealth, and the enjoyments of life; the most famous was Diogenes, a pupil of Antisthenes, who carried the principles of the sect to an extreme of asceticism.” _Oxford English Dicitonary_.)
July 17th, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Great pronoun ambiguity in that last sentence of yours, Truthman. But it doesn’t really matter since both possible readings yield a meaning as ridiculous as the other.
July 17th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
If she’s smart enough to write books that have netted her $1b then she should be smart enough to work out that her request for the posters in store selling her books is a load of rubbish.
I suspect that the McCann’s PR people or the Tabs asked her publishers to enforce this rule, and they dare not risk saying no.
Alternatively she may really want Madeleine McCann found as she is a potential customer of hers in the future.
July 17th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Anonymous, my first instinct when the story broke was that the child had got out of the apartment and gone looking and met someone, or wandered to the beach but apparently the tides there mean her body would have been washed up the following day? now I wonder about her being targeted because she certainly is/was a very pretty child?
Who knows..
On a lighter note…
JKR has become a dollar billionaire this week and that’s before the release of the latest this weekend that half the country seems to be waiting for. Publicity is the last thing she needs! vbg,
Good or bad idea she’s trying to help for the right reasons!
July 17th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
“But Rowling can only do so much. She imagines the good the posters will do. And children buying her book can stretch their imaginations beyond Potter’s spells and dark arts to what happens to little girls stolen from their beds.”
This sort of danger is present in the novels: in _Half-Blood Prince_ we hear of a four-year-old boy who is bitten by a werewolf and dies, a metaphor for children’s vicitimization at the hands of adults in the real world. The series does not shy away from evil and suffering.
July 17th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
My Sincere Apologies Moderation - I do have my moments of rudeness, as I have just ably demonstrated
Generally I much prefer reasoned debate - and need a kick up the backside when I fall off the waggon (so to speak) - so thank you for administering it!
I did completely agree with your post in respect of child abusers living amongst us … respectable married men, loving sons, dutiful son in laws, scout leaders, priests, teachers, youth workers - anywhere where legitimate contact with our children makes them less obvious.
One of my biggest gripes with the kind of media coverage that we have seen in this case is the ‘Stranger Abduction’; ‘Registered Paedophile’ hysteria which inevitably comes with it … it obscures the truth - that Paedophiles are indistinguishable from the rest of us and that the vast majority have never come close to being caught, let alone convicted and placed on a Sex Offenders Register
My own feeling is that Madeleine was probably taken from outside the apartment - having gone looking for her parents … and it is perfectly possible that she knew her abductor (either well or slightly) and therefore walked away quietly with the promise of going to find Mummy. Any one of the staff could have done such a thing, as indeed could another tourist or even one of the McCanns’ party. When it comes to paedophiles there really is no way that we can ever say of anyone “I know” that he is innocent.
Molly
July 17th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
Vikki and Truthman, you actually believe Rowling is doing this because _she_ needs publicity for _Deathly Hallows_? You actually believe that?
I’m sorry, I’ve tried to be polite on these forums, but that is (and this is a big claim) the stupidest, most asinine, most risible, most idiotic opinion I have yet come across on these forums. Worthy of Gilderoy Lockhart.
July 17th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
I don’t think it’s any coincidence that JK Rowling’s husband is a consultant anaesthetist; no doubt this is why they are such staunch supporters of McCann plc. So far, the efforts of this enterprise have achieved very little other than to raise nearly £1m which can be spent in whatever way the family chooses. If the fund was a registered charity, which it isn’t, donors would be able to find out exactly how much was being spent to cover the McCann’s living costs (assuming that the NHS is still paying Gerry’s £100k salary, which I’m sure is the case).
July 17th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
Well said Molly totally agree. Gerry & Kate should have put the children first before leaving them alone to go and dine with friends. Madeline deserves much more than she got.
July 17th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Hi I wonder whether Madeleine is still alive.
I hope that her parents are charged soon, with endangering a child’s life.
It would be a start.
That might give the McCannes the kind of publicity they so obviously need.
July 17th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
Anonymous, I know exactly where the bar / apartment is, I’ve stayed many times in a villa not half a kilometre away so I know the area well.
I was just saying that it is ‘on the premises’ in the eyes of the law. The Tapas bar is on the club premises as are the apartments.
Re: being abducted to be molested….. law of averages (and the local police) says thats most likely although of course no-one know anything for sure.
It fascinates me how so many posters are so rude… what happened to reasoned debate?
July 17th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Everyone! What is wrong with all of you…..
Your critising of the “no stone unturned” campaign is sending the wrong message to those who abduct, exploit and do horrible things to kids. There is more press about how bad and wrong Kate and Gerry are and JK Rowling than the MONSTERS that do this sort of thing. Think about it.
JK Rowling is using her resources to help the innocent children of the world. Gerry and Kate are not only looking for their own child, but raising awareness for other children in the world who are missing, exploited etc.
In the US alone a child goes missing every 40 seconds! That is 800,000 children a year…… now, should we be concerned? I think we should focus on those numbers and not critisize the people who are trying to solve the problem. Dont support Child abuse, child porn, and exploitation by critisizing those who are fighting it!
Now anyone who is going to take the time to critisize this is heartless and cruel. Please search your heart find a way to put your anger in the right place.
Susan USA “Just keep’m close”
July 17th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
Actually Moderation the McCanns were NOT on the premises … the Tapas Bar/Restaurant is indeed part of the Ocean Club Resort premises, but the Apartment is not.
I have been on holiday with my children on frequent occasions and in all honesty, no I haven’t ever left them in a kids club - that’s no reflection on those who choose to do so (a kids club is fine as long as the staff are fully trained, police checked and the place is safe) - it’s just never been something that I have chosen to do.
Yes, yes Louisa - I’m twisted for not believing that the McCanns should be feted as the best parents the world has ever seen, blah, blah, blah …. Have you ever thought about just how insulting that is to all the thousands of parents out there with children with special needs, who struggle day after day to cope with limited resources and no respite and who wouldn’t DREAM of leaving their beloved children to go out and indulge themselves??
I’m fortunate enough to not be among their number but they get my total respect as parents, even if they will never get the praise and adulation that the McCanns get for putting themselves before their kids - Now that’s what I call a sick world! Madeleine deserved so much more.
Molly
July 17th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
I don’t understand. WHO says she was kidnapped to be molested? The media does. THINK for yourselves. Are there other aternatives to what may have happened?
No, I’m not a paedophile, and I had a well brought up, happy, protected childhood and wasn’t abused. I’m 41 yr old female, and don’t like my thoughts to be adapted or washed by the media. I’m a freethinker, who thinks deeply and originally about lots of things. I try to see things from another angle, it can help to solve problems and no end of mysteries. Sorry if my thinking isn’t run of the mill and brain washed as some people on here.
July 17th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
what if he really can see the future or predict things through his dreams, if you can believe all this clap trap that other folk are suggesting then it is worth giving this avenue a place on the front pages.
Yes my 2 year old can draw pictures too, but check the whole web page and see how many of his drawings have related to happenings after he has drawn them.
He says he knows she is alive and being “kept” safe by someone close, the initials RM appear in nearly every drawing, if it were my child missing I would follow every lead how bizzarre it may be
July 17th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
The case of Madeleine Maccann has brought a lot of attention to every missing child in the world. There are so many bitter comments here makes me think these people must be pedophiles themselves, and that’s why they are so bitter about any mention to Maddie.
I thought the saddest thing was Maddie’s abduction, but you guys proved me wrong, the saddest thing is how insensitive humans can be. And so we live in a violent world where a four year girl is kidnapped to be sexually abused.
We, the human race should be wiped out entirely. There is no more hope when there are so many who mock this situation.
July 17th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
what do you think to the psychics take on this, especially brian http://www.briansprediction.com/dd/5441%20page%202.htm
he really has rallied up quite a fan club, but it makes you think and maybe he is right, Just my opinion, puts a whole new light on the situation
July 17th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
when the police were asking for holiday snaps from fellow holidaymakers there were several places listed where the McCanns had been on days out with the children. Hardly abandoning them 24/7.
I’ve been on hols and left my kids in the kids clubs.. haven’t you?
Don’t forget the staff at the holiday club all have an axe to grind when handing over snippets of information. Bad publicity could close the club and lose them their jobs. Best for it to be a passing Brit.
Tourism is Portugals main industry, it has to be protected; already numbers are down for this summer (allegedly of course)
Also (from friends in Portugal) there is no law against leaving your children if you are on the premises, which the McCanns were.
IMO EVERYTHING is speculation. Especially from SOL ! their reports are so funny.
July 17th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Well said, anonymous, same here. Had to go EVERYWHERE with my parents. They were very protective! It’s the law, actually, not to leave a child(ren) on there own under 12 years old. Perhaps Portugal has more lenient laws?
July 17th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
ROFL jm … I did indeed have a rotten childhood. My damn Parents made my life a misery - refusing to go out and leave me alone to do my own thing, hanging around me all the time like a bad smell, taking me on holiday and insisting on us doing stuff together.
Even at home they were always in my face - it was absolutely impossible to get into any real mischief or trouble… do you know - when they went out for a meal they even insisted on taking us WITH them!!! I mean - how outrageous!!…. the experience has obviously scarred me for life!
Should I sue do you think?
July 17th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Jim, the parents created the media frenzie, and then started complaining about it.. I’m just looking at it from a detectives point of view. You can hardly go undercover when the media are there trampling the evidence before even the police know about it, not to mention the money grabbers after the reward.
July 17th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
As usual all the regular no marks that complain that Maddy is in the headlines, there are some people that should have been removed themselves as children as they obviously had a rotten childhood and are envious of the normal parental love shown for this missing child…poor you.
July 17th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
I certainly don’t believe she’s alive anymore, they would have found her by now. Any kidnapper wouldn’t dare keep her alive especially as she has an identity mark that can’t be hidden now that all this publicity has made her recognizable everywhere. The police should have gone undercover. There is just too much media coverage, its hindering, not helping! I’m just being honest and facing up to reality, not trying to shock. Ignore the media fluff please.
July 17th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
i think that anything that can help in the plight to find little maddie can only be seen as positive how dare anyone condemn the parents for what happened. the fact is that this little girl is still missing and closure is needed in this case. the more publicity given in this case the better as far as im concerned. hat off to JK Rowling. I firmly believe that maddie is still alive and will be found.
July 17th, 2007 at 10:54 am
Spot on Vikki - I was being sarcastic. I must say there is a certain irony in the McCann’s and their campaign being exploited for publicity by some other media tarts!
July 17th, 2007 at 10:23 am
I think this latest campaign will only heighten the fact that Maddie has not been found yet, I dont think it will influence the child nappers to give her back, I think this whole thing is a well planned operation that will shock the world when the police finally make their arrests. any thoughts ………
July 17th, 2007 at 10:19 am
It’s not that she believes she’s in Britain is it?! It’s only for the selfish reason of publicity.
July 17th, 2007 at 8:57 am
More like more media fluff to cover The McCann’s gross child negligence, and make them feel less guilty. Perhaps they need to attend more confessionals being RC? Maybe that would help to stop the yukkie media Maddie frenzie .