Madeleine McCann: The Parody
THE mystery of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance is turning into a parody.
Who knew that when Simon Jenkins wrote “It was as if a missing child were this year’s Make Poverty History campaign”, his words would give the grief mongers an idea?
As Sky News reports, green and yellow wristbands symbolising the plight of missing Madeleine McCann have gone on sale.
The yellow ribbons (has anyone seen anyone wearing the ribbons we are all wearing?) are old hat. To show you really care you need the official wristband.
The bracelet costs £1. And, as reported, all proceeds will go towards the campaign fund set up by Madeleine’s family to help continue the search for the little girl.
That’s good. Useful even. The money will surely help the McCanns dedicate their time to the search for their missing daughter.
But why not just give money via the fighting fund? Or by wearing the wristband do you share in the public spectacle, show how much you care and, crucially, how much more you care more than non-wristband wearers…
May 25th, 2007 at 11:02 am
If you weren;t so instantly cynical about everything you may be able to think about this on a different level.
While you may not have forgotten about this sad incident (how that must pain you), many people will gradually forget and move on with their own lives. Over the course of the summer, they will holiday in europe and not give little madeleine a second thought as dozens of children pass them in the street.
If people are wearing wristbands, not only are they contrbuting to the fighting fund, they also serve as a small reminder. Maybe when you are jetting off to magalluf this year, you will see someone wearing one of these and it will make you stop and think for a moment.
Just maybe, during the course of that thinking, you will decide to take a second look at the little blond girl in the queue in front and perhaps it will be Madeleine.
Please stop being so obtuse and encouraging people to be unsupportive.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:39 am
Joanne, I totally agree with you. The amount of people out there who have lost interest already is shameful. This should be kept in the public eye by whatever means possible for Madeleine’s sake and for all of the other missing children worldwide. We are supposed to be a nation who care but the amount of children who go missing every year is immense and most of them are never traced. On GMTV this morning we were told that since Madeleine disappeared 3 weeks ago 1200 under 18’s have been reported missing in the UK alone. That is just an absolute disgrace and more should be done for all of our sakes. One day it could be one of ours. I say we should be supporting the McCann’s by whatever means possible because at the end of the day what is one or two pounds out of everyone’s pocket? I’m sure that people will now take a little more time to actually stop and think about these poor children and it will also have boosted the National Missing Persons plights. If anyone knows where these wristbands are on sale can you let me know please?
May 25th, 2007 at 11:53 am
What is more of a disgrace is that so much media attention has been heaped onto one missing person case while the others have been largely ignored by the media.
May 25th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
This family have on their own manipulated and used the media to create the necessary attention this case deserves. They alone have campaigned and worked tirelessly to ensure little Madeleine is not forgotten and will continue to do so. I say good on them - about time the media were used for something other than ruining peoples lives and characters.
Along with this this, attention is now being used supportively to head the plight of many other parents out there who have lost children. Now they can share a little of the hope that one day their loved ones will return or may indeed be found.
It oftens (as with most charities) needs one or two people to highlight the need for care and assistance from those around you to bring recognistion and help.
I give my full support and attention to the plight of the MCCann family and all the other families searching for their children.
May 25th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
The media has followed this story because the McCann family and friends have come together and campaigned effortlessly to make sure that they get the media attention. If they hadn’t bothered the media coverage would have trailed off after a few days (no doubt) as it does with most cases. My hat goes off to these people who have halted their own lives for the time being to help in any way they can. If they have highlighted to the world the problem we have then it can only be a good thing. People should be ashamed of themselves when they are critical about the plight of the McCann’s and little Madeleine. If it were one of their children would they just walk away after a couple of weeks and think ‘Oh well, we tried, what more can we do’? Not bl**dy likely, if you are human in anyway. I certainly wouldn’t and I would do everything in my power to find my missing child which (if you have any brains at all) would heavily involve the media.
May 25th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
It is the media that pick and choose which stories they run with, not the people directly affected by a story.
The papers would not have entertained this if they did not think they were going to make money from it, and it is this factor which sets the agenda rather than any amount of campaigning by the family.
So can you tell me why Madeleine is so much more important than any other missing person?
May 25th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
well said lyn, i totally agree. All this coverage is continuing because they are workign tirelessy to keep it on the front page by whatever means necessary. and i would hope if I was in a similar situation i could find their strength x
May 25th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
You know what Usual suspect. I am starting to think you are a very strange warped individual.. you aren’t Robert Murat himself are you?
May 25th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
I don’t have a glass eye so the world is safe from me.
May 25th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
So what do you think is warped?
Are you concerned because I make observations that do not relate directly to Madeleine?
One of the objectives of this site is to analyse the way the media report news, or had you not realised this?
May 25th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
if it was YOUR child, would you be saying it was being over reported. That is wasn’t newsworthy?
I think you’re warped as you seem to be lacking the empathy gene.
May 25th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Does empathy only run to those people fortunate enough to be in the public eye?
What about the other missing children that go virtually unreported?
I have every sympathy for the family, and for Madeleine as I have said in other posts, but I have equal sympathy for the other families in this position who do not have the benefit of having a photogenic child that the media is prepared to exploit to sell papers.
May 25th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
I have empathy for lots of people around the world. which is why i have directs debits set up for various charities overseas.
I also have empathy for Madeleine maybe more so, but not because she is photogenic with middle class parents. But because sleeping upstairs is MY daughter a little girl very similar to Madeleine who will be 4 on Monday, and I thank God she is here and we will be spending it together.
May 25th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
Lynn - Under 18s going missing is not the same as a small child being stolen. This is why the McCann story is so real and filled with emotion. Wearing yellow ribbon, a yellow bracelet or carrying a banner will not stop teenagers leaving home or running away.
Joanne - Do you really think people will be wearing yellow bracelets on holiday in the Med this year? I have not seen one yellow ribbon being worn - and yesterday I was in the West End, the BBC’s offices and then working in the City. Saw lots and lots of people and was lookig for the ribbons. But did not see one. Today I am in Bournemouth. And not one ribbon on show…
May 25th, 2007 at 1:48 pm
Can someone please set up a TV channel for missing kids, it can just goes on and on about missing kids all day and all night. They can have all manner of things on from Maddy Night, wristbands, poster making for beginners etc etc etc.
These obsessive home technicians need somewhere to go, they are junkies and the blogs and forums are cracking under the strain of there addiction.
TV news is no place for extended human interest stories and without a dedicated channel this will not end until BB hits the screens and even then it might not end.
Even a cynic must see the value of this vs another shopping channel.
May 25th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Anorak - when I said 1200 under 18’s I was referring to minor’s i.e. people who are not classed as adults in the UK. Who knows how many of them are under the age of 12 or even 5 for that matter. The point I am trying to make is that hundred’s of children are going missing whether they run away from home, are abducted by non custodial parents, family members or complete strangers. It shocked me to say the least and it certainly opened my eyes to the problem. Maybe now that the caring people in society are more aware of the tragedies that are happening all over the UK and in fact the world, more support will be offered and there may be more positive endings. Also, I wear a yellow ribbon and my 8 year old son and I sat for hours last week making up 100 ribbons which we are selling to help with the fund.
May 25th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
To the ribbon wearers - it’s been pointed out many times by the police in Portugal and the UK that if this girl has indeed been abducted, then the pressure of a high-profile campaign (as opposed to detective work either by the police or private agencies) could have the kidnappers panic & dispose of their hostage to save themselves.
That being the case, people are entitled to wonder whether this media manipulation by the McCanns is the best thing they could be doing and whether the public and the media should be encouraging it or not, however virtuous and caring it may make us feel.
May 25th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
where cn i buy a wristband frm?
May 25th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Although my heart breaks for what could possibly have happened to this little girl I wonder why nobody has yet to ask a simple question. How could 2 adult professionals lack the common sense and leave 3 children all the age of 3 and under in a room alone in a strange place so they could go enjoy a night of drinks and food? If parents were more responsible and treated their children as they do their worldly possessions such as watches, cars, and the like, they would keep them safe and always with them and these things would be avoided. Would she have left her pocketbook full of money unguarded for anybody to walk off with? I think not! I blame the parents! Poor Maddy, I hope when they bring her home the parents are held accountable for her gone missing!
May 25th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Charlotte Scott-Lawler…Home technicians? That’s a little patronizing don’t you think? And how you have the audacity to complain about people ‘going on and on’ in forums, when you have come on to a forum to complain and ‘go on and on’ is beyond me! Pots kettles?
Charlotte, you are no doubt a high flying exec, with much better things to do that us ‘home technicians’. If we offend you so much, why not just leave us to it?
(*Wonders to self why high flying, clever Charlotte is spending her days whinging on tabloid forum*)
By the way, it’s ‘their addiction’, not ‘there addiction’.
Thicky.
May 25th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
I agree with Anorak - I think the whole story has turned into a sham, a media feast. I feel very sad for Madeleine and wish her a safe return to her family, however, I just can’t see the logic in all this superficial nonsense about wearing wristbands and praying en-masse. Thousands of children go missing every week. If we were to wear a wrist band for each one, we’d have no space left on our arms.
The media had sensasionalised this story - and it has done so not out of genuine concern for this girl - but because the story of a missing girl is intriguing and it will sell. It’s doing no good in finding the girl - I agree with making people aware of her disappearance, but printing rubbish like “The family released last photo of Madeleine”, is just a sham.
What makes her different from all the other lost kids?
May 25th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
Can you please tell me where to purchase the Madeline McCann bracelet?
I live in the U.S and would like to know if I can purchase one here in the States.
Thank you
Michele Reynolds
May 25th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
The effort to keep the story on the front pages or at least in the news could be seen in a different light maybe if it were true that no child has ever been found alive after an abduction but that is not the case. In the past few years there have been quite a few children found after being missing for a number of years and the way in which Madeleine just possibly appears to have been “selected” does give reason to “hope” she is being kept. the BBC has been responsible and decidedly non-mawkish in its coverage but I bet it is not reaching anything like the same number of people on this issue. You might loathe the Sun et al but they command huge readerships who require a certain amount of drama to stay interested and also affect the tourist trade - ie revenue bucks - of countries who might not have any other reason to be interested in this or any other foreign child. You might not like it but it’s Madeleine’s best hope. Bring on the baubles, bangles and beads quite frankly. If you’re bored, cynical or just plain resentful of the McCanns, do a crossword or read a book. Your irritation is of less importance than this kid.
May 25th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
To the “Blame the Parents” crusaders. they’ve apologised and said they are likely to spend the rest of their lives feeling guilty
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91210-1267560,00.html
Let’s see how long it takes you to come up with something in what they said to be spiteful about.
They even said they are aware of your views. Trust that’s enough for you or do you require further self-immolation on their part?
Get a life the lot of you, you disgust me more than the sickliest tabloid story and that is saying something. Yuk.
May 25th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
my thoughts and prayers are for madeline the innocent victim in all of this
May 25th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
Yes, I agree with Joanne :
“Please stop being so cynical, obtuse and encouraging people to be unsupportive”
We should all stick together and support Maddie’s come back safe.
If you are not aware of it already that you better learn this:
every single thought or action has a reward, and if you don’t stop and change your mental way you will simply ROT in HELL.
My thoughts and prayers are for Madeline the innocent child and victim.
JANAKI
May 25th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
When I started feeling guilty about my own distress over a pretty, middle-class child when so many children all over the world are suffering, I went to the Amnesty International website and wrote letters for abducted children forced to be child soldiers in the Congo and Uganda. And I will continue to do so. Of course, I should have been doing so all along. Maybe the media attention on one child will help people channel their feelings of frustration and helplessness into channels that may help other children.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
The McCanns say they are certain that Madeleine is still alive and is safe. They say they will never give up, nor will they come home, until they get her back. They will tour Europe. They will do everything in their power to keep the case in the media headlines, ensuring that everyone becomes aware of their missing daughter, and also ensuring that a massive amount of money is raised for the fund they have set up.
I’ve worked it out!!!!!
They know that their daughter is alive and is being looked after, because they have contact with her kidnappers.
The kidnappers are not paedophiles, they are criminals whose sole motive is money. They are looking after Madeleine, and have promised the McCanns that they will return her safely, provided their conditions for her release are complied with.
The purpose of the fund is of course to raise the required amount of ransom money.
As soon as the fund reaches the amount demanded by the kidnappers, the McCanns will get their daughter back in exchange for the cash.
They have agreed with the kidnappers that they will not involve the police, or do or say anything that would put the kidnappers, and therefore, Madeleine, in jeopardy.
The McCanns have also promised that after they get their daughter back they will not inform on the kidnappers, and will never divulge the real truth of what happened. Anyway, to do so would put themselves and their family at risk. These are, after all, ruthless criminals. All the McCanns want is their daughter back. A story to explain Madeleine’s sudden re-appearance has already been worked out.
All’s well that ends well. The family are ecstatically re-united, the world rejoices, the media take the credit for their unstinting efforts to help find “Our Maddie”, and the kidnappers are laughing all the way to the bank.
I should have been a tabloid journalist!
Crazy? Well it’s no crazier than some of the scenarios being promulgated by the mass media.
May 25th, 2007 at 11:09 pm
They apologized??? Of course, that makes everything okay then. They said sorry so of course they should not be held accountable now! They deserve to feel guilty for the rest of their lives. Like I said in my first comment I would bet that she would never have left her pocketbook full of money out for anybody to grab! Why then do parents not take the same care and consideration with something as precious and irreplaceable as their own flesh and blood? That is what I will never understand! My heart breaks for this poor sweet innocent child every second of everyday. And yes if I had made such an irresponsible decision and something as horrific as this had happened you bet there would be self-immolation. I would never be able to look in the mirror again because the only thing that would disgust me wouldn’t be tabloids as you say but would be me, myself!
I’m not spiteful!! I’m just dumbfounded and disgusted at the lack of responsibility and effort people put into being parents.
Come home safe Maddy!!!!
May 26th, 2007 at 12:42 am
Such wicked greed for misery as you display appals me “Responsible Parent” You obviously haven’t seen enough of their unhappiness to get your rocks off. And as for Edwina’s silly weird fantasy about the McCanns, it says so much more about you. It is of course a well known self-justifying aspect of the paedophile psyche to imagine they “love” the children much more than the parents who don’t deserve them.
See you. Wouldn’t want to be you. Or your kids.