Madeleine McCann: Introducing Amelie And The Maddie Catty
WITH Madeleine McCann missing – still missing – the papers discover a new angle of investigation: her sister.
“MADDIE COME HOME,” says the Sun’s headline. “Tot hugs Maddie’s cuddle cat.” And there is Amelie McCann holding on to her sister’s comforter.
What purpose this serves, Anorak is unsure. We have tired of looking at the faces of Madeleine McCann’s parents but are we so desperate for a new face in the narrative that we need Amelie? No new suspect. No arrests. No sign of Madeleine. So here’s Amelie. She can keep the story alive, justify its place on the front pages?
While readers wonder why it’s newsworthy to publish a picture of Madeleine McCann’s little sister, while the faces of media shy David Beckham and his tick-like wife’s children are pixelated to preserve their privacy, the Mirror spots Amalie.
More Amelie on the Mirror’s front page. “A cuddle from her little sis,” reads the headline above the shot of Amelia hugging Madeleine’s toy. And on the Express’s front page, more Amelie. And on the Mail’s.
Is this a cynical manipulation of the news? It tugs the heart strings. It cannot fail to. But for what ends? To make us feel more a part of a story turned into public spectacle? Can it be too long before the Mirror is offering readers a chance to buy the “Maddie Cattie”, replica cuddle cloths, with a percentage of profits going to establish a fighting fund?
“Little Amelie McCann clutches her big sister Madeleine’s favourite “Cuddle Cat” soft toy yesterday — and wishes the missing tot was back with her,” says the Sun’s reporter in Praia da Luz.
Touching stuff. Or just creepy…
Posted: 19th, May 2007 | In: Tabloids Comments (70) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
September 15th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
[...] from her room, at the Ocean Club resort, in Praia da Luz, Algarve. What will be sold in the shop? The Maddy Catty?Share This Opinions? : Add your view now! | In: Anorak Twitterings | By: Anorak | Most Popular [...]
August 11th, 2007 at 6:18 pm
I agree that the McCanns are getting far too much attention and spending a lot of time going to church. Personally, I would be far too emotional if it was my child to be near people and in the spotlight. I would want to help find Maddie. It does annoy me a bit the way the couple walk aroundholding hands with the same expression- no emotion. I wasn’t convinced by Kate McCann saying “I love you” as a message to her daughter-I would be choking on my tears. But we are all different. Who am I to judge? Where do the McCanns leave their other children during interviews? It seems as though they don’t have time for them either. Wouldn’t any mother be clutching onto them for dear life? I still feel creepy about Robert Murat and his mother. I don’t know why but I do.
July 9th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Its a joke when your telling people to put posters up everywhere LOL The McCann’’s havent even done that and its their daughter.
July 7th, 2007 at 3:49 am
why would someone do this to her she just turned 4 how could someone why did they want her where ever she is i kno shes comin home safe and sound!
June 5th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
well… lets hear it for Ross….
Ross Says:
May 25th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
“So you think that puting posters up randomly will help find this ONE kid?
What a load of nonsense ”
(….well, now that I know this, I feel so much better and I will just stop now and never lift a single finger putting up a ‘help’ poster….NOT!)
… i’d have to say that doing nothing and sitting on our arses would produce nada; so why the heck not put up posters???
but in Ross’s world; using the media, and helping ourselves is a waste of time.
this is a family of means that lost their child… what would Ross be saying if this well-off family sat around and waited for police and interpol to do their work, instead of pounding the pavement, asking for help (both with our time and money), and staying active.
This family will not stop until they find answers…. I would be doing the same…. this family has put an incredibly bright light on the subject of child abduction and not only will Maddie be brought home; but, several children that were abducted years ago have once again had their names and faces in the paper as a result of the McCanns efforts.
Yes, this is a use of media I can stomach… if I read another article on Paris Hilton I will puke… If I read more about Maddie; I pray it is that she is home and well.
No… let’s live in Ross’s world where we are bitter and hateful and shallow. Pray, Ross, that you never need the help of community.
June 1st, 2007 at 8:21 pm
Thank you Ross for your intelligent take on this, the most emotive of subjects. I post on another website and one of my posts was in a similar vein to yours - the vilification I received was astounding. How unintelligent of people not to be able to separate the horror at the media’s manipulation of this story with the quiet horror that every parent felt when the story first broke. Go and cuddle your children and tell them you love them - the most positive thing that any parent can do in response to Madeleine’s disappearance.
June 1st, 2007 at 9:52 am
[...] all night because I’m worrying about Madeleine McCann. My mood doesn’t do a U-turn every time Cuddle Cat is mentioned on ITV News. I care, of course I care, it would be inhuman not to, but if you really [...]
May 31st, 2007 at 10:29 am
I agree with you Mark!
May 27th, 2007 at 6:55 am
itcertainly seems more constructive than this conversation as its going nowhere fast
May 25th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
So you think that puting posters up randomly will help find this ONE kid?
What a load of nonsense.
May 25th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
u prick, have u nothing better to do than take the piss out of the family, it really is kinda sad. try helping by putting posters up or something and quit the crap, u all need to gt off ur high horses as its no u thats loast a child
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:25 pm
From what i have heard, Garry Glitter is looking for a new career; with the McCanns track record I can see them employing him as their new babysitter.
Maybe Pete Townsend could keep him company? and Jonathan King could take notes?
Anyway, the complacent Pedo-tempting McCanns could get out on the razz again, get bolloxed, and then lie again about how often they checked on the kids. God bless ‘em….
May 22nd, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Now now!
There is no need to get nasty about it!
It’s not as if I have a foreign name or a glass eye or live with my mother!
I am trying to be a prick (cos it comes naturally you may argue) I am merely stating my case. The reporting of this case is way out of proportion and I am actually ashamed that no lading TV or newspaper has had the guts, sense or inclination to come out and say it, other than in a few comment sections.
People are becoming tired of the ‘non’ news about this case, and indeed will forget it as soon as the next metatarsal is broken, the next celeb is found to be addicted or an MP is shagging his secretary.
May 22nd, 2007 at 5:13 pm
If the press really did care they would keep a small photo of Madeleine on their front pages without any unhelpful news story until she is found.
May 22nd, 2007 at 3:18 am
Ross - you pathetic individual. You seem to get a real thrill out of being such a prick. Go and throw yourself off a high building and do the world a favour.
May 21st, 2007 at 10:48 pm
you know what you believe what you want and so will i im done debating on here. its what the majority think and each person has the right to believe what they will.
May 21st, 2007 at 10:45 pm
that is because u r a sarcastic heartless prick
May 21st, 2007 at 9:41 pm
Mark - congratulations on getting past the Spam protection question.
A one minute silence for a child that is missing?
This case sounds more and more like an edition of Brass Eye as time goes on.
Get over it.
It is one life lost (if indeed it is lost, and that is itself a tragedy) but it is not like there’s a war going on, or genocide in Africa, or the Israelis have been bombing the Pale….oh hang on a minute! Apparently they have!
This is a personal (yet self inflcited) tragedy. The media are on overkill and I really do not care about this any longer.
The coverage is the story, not the child.
May 21st, 2007 at 8:56 pm
It makes me sick to the stomach to read what you all put on here. Get off your fucking high horse ffs (sorry bout the language but it really bugs me) fair enough they shouldnt have left their children alone but they wernt far away and could see it from the bar. im not excusing what they did but give them a break. they made a mistake and it has cost them valuable time with their daughter, THEY MISSED HER BIRTHDAY FOR GODS SAKE. are you seriously suggesting that they took the risk because they are selfish, that suggests that they had a feeling that some one would snatch their child, which is rubbish they assumed that their children would be safe on holiday in a safe complex and in their own tempory home. as for people having a bad idea about mark warner ocean resort, after what they have done to help maddies parents throughout this case so far and ongoing i admire them. i have been looking at employment at one of the mark warner resorts since i started my collage course and this hasnt put me off from what i have seen the staff are warm, caring, and very supportive. so give them all a break
May 21st, 2007 at 3:24 pm
NORMAN and Ross…
…Two voices of reason in a storm of hysteria and second hand ‘grief’.
May 21st, 2007 at 12:59 am
IF THE McCANNS WERE A ONE PARENT FAMILY FROM ESSEX, THE TWINS WOULD BE IN CARE NOW, THE MOTHER WOULD HAVE BEEN CHARGED, AND OF COURSE HER FAMILY FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS WOULD HAVE BEEN EXPOSED, AND WHAT OF THE FRIENDS THE McCANNS WERE ON HOLIDAY WITH THAT ALSO LEFT THEIR KIDS ON THEIR OWN (OTHERS DOCTORS WE READ ) SPIRITED AWAY !!! NOT A BLEEDING MENTION !!!!. WHY COS THEY HAVE GOT HOLDING FOLDING. ITS ALL WRONG.
May 21st, 2007 at 12:32 am
So a minutes silnce for Maddy on monday say the mirror, what a waste of time. If the macanns had spent another minute with her the she may not have fallen foul of the Porto Pedos…
May 21st, 2007 at 12:27 am
With Dogstars very vivid imagination, im not suprised he/she hasnt spotted Maddie riding Shergar along the beach. WAKE UP and GET REAL my friend!
May 21st, 2007 at 12:16 am
abraham wrote: “After all, who is going to want to stay in a potentially pedo ridden resort.”
And you know then, for a FACT, that this little corner of Portugal is ‘paedo paradise’, do you..?
Christ on a bike. Some of you people are just as ill as the perverts (real or imagined) you claim to know so much about.
I don’t recall hearing even once the Portuguese police make mention of a paedophile. Assumptions in the UK gutter press do not constitute facts - well, not yet, anyway.
I think the Portuguese police are working on many different theories, including the possibility the little girl MIGHT have been snatched by a paedophile, but I’m fairly sure, despite CEOP’s best efforts, they are also looking at many other possible scenarios…
One good thing to emerge from all this is that I am now a lot clearer about just how ill-informed and downright ignorant a mass of the British public is when it comes to ’stranger danger’. Imagining kiddie-fiddlers on every street corner, in every park, outside every school… it’s quite staggering. It might even be funny, if I didn’t for a minute suspect most people think it’s true.
I’ve always thought there’s something ‘funny’ - no, make that ‘creepy’ - about Ronald McDonald… maybe I should go tell the police.
May 20th, 2007 at 10:55 pm
totally agree with anon (above). You never know what evil is right next door, you dont realise how close things are to you and how lucky you are to come through things. For instance, a friend of mine had a car that was serviced by a mechanic who went to college with the mechanic that serviced Fred Wests sisters car, back in the 80s. It goes to show how close we all are in our everyday lives to the most notorious of killers.
May 20th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
Wow, all these people praying for the same thing and no one’s God seems to be listening. How about everyone switch, and see if that works? I know I’m going to sound absolutely cyncial but for crying out loud. If the Great British Public hasn’t worked-out that the press constantly stirs up frenzied Pavlovian responses so that it can (rightfully?) claim to have its fingers on the pulse of the nation, then the GBP is really as thick as I fear.
If you are all so really concerned about what’s happening to a single child, look next door (if you have to look even that far) and sort out what’s happening there. There’s all sorts of abuse happening everywhere and for so many people to adopt the crises of others is really fucking ridiculous. Sort out your own backyard, don’t latch on to someone else’s shit just because yours doesn’t stand scrutiny.
What’s the bets I get a bollocking for that? As I said, some things are predictable.
me
May 20th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Today I overheard a lady at the local carvery say her and her family are doing a ’sponsored bike ride for Madeleine Mckay cos it’s really touched her loike’.
Anorak what’s this news about Morat? Don’t tell me he’s been going mental on a bouncy castle again…
May 20th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
one joanna from dubai as she writes in the sunday mail, that she feels for the McGANNS, for christ sake, theres just one person in the world left that doesnt know what their name is.
lets hope we have a tear away rottweiller next week, we need a new story.
May 20th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
the mccanns should be grateful that the pedo did not ‘do things’ with their other kids, for all we know he/she may very well have! It just goes to show the mcanns prefer to go out boozing and bugger the kids! excuse the pun!
May 20th, 2007 at 5:17 pm
it’s the mccan factor - the final straw…tipping point. the people are taking control, it’s revolution, hides will be tanned, heads will roll…
people have had enough ! after years of blairs spinning bullshit and bare faced lies, bush the ignoramus causing instability and terror, howard the red neck deputy sheriff downunder, horrible wars everywhere, fires burning, lies bouncing over climate change, weapons of mass destruction, nuclear re-proliferation, a newly emergent cold war, unchecked israeli madness, unilateralism, politictions claiming god speaks to them, pakistan (a nuclear power) almost in civil war… you name it… bush has started it…
well i think the mcann factor has just happened. the people have all snapped… i’ve snapped, i am ready to flay skin, to behead the perverts…
when the guilty party is cought, the people will tear him limb from limb, like grenouille in perfume. he shall be flayed alive (as he should be).
the worm will turn. and then we’ll turn on the rest of em…
May 20th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Indeed.
In 3 months time, ‘Press the red button to choose what kid to search for. Dial this premium rate number to save a blonde, cute white kid from a rich family. To save a black kid give money to Comic Relief.’
This is reality TV at its sickest.