AIBU to think an Edinburgh festival show about Meredith Kercher's murder should be stopped?

Difficult one. She is hard to warm to and has told her story multiple times on many platforms over the years. I would go so far as to say she has kept the murder and events surrounding it in the public eye when it would likely have otherwise largely faded from public memory. I can see why Meredith's family feel enormous hurt and resentment.

But saying that, she went through something very traumatic too and has the right too speak about that. Moreover this thread has evidenced the strength and persistence of the public belief in her guilt. I am amazed people still feel that way, but apparently they do. Whilst that remains the case it is hard to argue that she should be silenced.

I wouldn't sign the petition.

I agree it’s distasteful and not something I would watch however your statement is incorrect and therefore inflammatory. It was several days after the murder after Amanda had spent hours being interviewed that she did a cartwheel outside of the police station, it was not right after the murder was discovered.

Sharing her experience is not the same as making money about a specific individual’s murder, which is precisely what is happening here.
If I were Meredith’s family, I’d buy tickets for all the shows and sit in the front row directly in front of Knox. Let her carry on with her ‘comedy’ in the face of the families grief.

@MojoMoon

I doubt anyone is expecting the government to step in and shut down the show, but free speech works both ways. We equally are free to express our disgust and disapproval over the show and a petition is a very good way to do that. Free speech doesn’t mean objectors have to stay silent out of respect for the offensive.

@MagicThanks

I’m not sure it is even the specific content that makes this offensive, but rather Amanda Knox using her fame from Meredith Kercher’s
death as a form of entertainment. It will dredge up pain. The ‘cartwheel’ title is horrible, ie the cartwheel that Amanda did in front of the police right after Meredith was found dead. What a horrible, horrible thing to joke about. Just that image conjures up what must have been the worst days of their lives. It isn’t funny. It is cruel.

An individual's freedom of speech should not be curtailed because a family is unhappy.

Or even that many families are unhappy

People can say things that make others unhappy. It's a broad church - there are things that make me unhappy that you won't care about and vice versa.

People shouldn't be allowed slander or libel other people - eg lie about them - and to advocate for criminal acts or violence against any group or individuals.

But to be distasteful or talk about a topic you find personally triggering is not something that anyone should be banning.
If the venue wants to host it and people want see it, then that is their choice.

Just seen the interview on BBC news. It's all in very poor taste.

The Fringe has form for promoting acts like this, all in the name of comedy, which is no excuse.

I think people should watch the show before deciding they’re offended by it. Sounds like it’s not about the murder itself, but about her experiences afterwards, which is her story to tell. If there is anything in the content that is upsetting to the victims family of course it shouldn’t be allowed, but I’m not sure there is - it hasn’t even been performed yet.

It is in terrible taste and wildly callous towards the Kercher family. Amanda Knox has already told her story, repeatedly. Coming to the UK to monetise her experience through a comedy show is, at best, terrible judgment and, at worst, cruelly indifferent. I think something is a bit wrong with Amanda Knox to be doing this.

No one I love has ever been brutally raped and murdered so I cannot imagine the pain Merediths family feel, but I was assualted by a celebrity Jimmy Savile and I can confirm that the Steve Coogan series and the 28 years later film which treated a lot aspects of hte rapists life as a quirky joke profoundly disturbed me. So I do have an understanding how someone making a living from your pain causes you to relive the crime and prevents you from moving on.

And you have evidence this is a miscarriage of justice? Something the courts aren't aware of and haven't considered?

Or are you spouting baseless conspiracy theories?

There was no physical evidence that she committed the crime, but there was of the man who did kill her.

Go on then, explain how she was guilty.

Perhaps the family think she did in fact do it. The way it was reported in the British media had her guilty from day one.

From the interviews I saw if knox at the time I took a dislike to her as she came across as arrogant and like she was hiding something.

So if the family aren't happy it should be pulled

Amanda Knox is a comedian now?!

Sorry but you make it sound very black and white.
It was much more complex than that.
There have been very many miscarriages of justices for very many reasons.
I'm not saying she was the only one who was guilty.

I think it’s in very poor taste, but as pp said, many things on the Fringe could be that, and many comedians can offend.
I wouldn’t waste my own time or money on it, and I think it tells me about her character, but it’s what made her famous so I guess she is exploiting that.

The petition gives no information about the show - here is the blurb for it.

I can see it's upsetting for Kercher's family but it seems like a perfectly valid way for Knox to talk about her own experience.

It was a weird event and it feels like we never really heard the full truth of it.

https://edfringemap.com/shows/amanda-knox-cartwheel

She isn’t mocking Meredith in any way as she has made clear. She’s sharing her horrific story of wrongful imprisonment and I guess trying to make light of it in some ways as a coping mechanism. She isn’t joking about Meredith ffs. Maybe read what she said about it first.

Another person was found guilty. Knox couldn't have committed the crime.

In September 2015, the delegate supreme judge, court adviser Gennaro Marasca, made public the reasons of absolution. First, none of the evidence demonstrated that either Knox or Sollecito was present at the crime scene. Second, they cannot have "materially participated in the homicide", since absolutely no "biological traces ... could be attributed to them in the room of the murder or on the body of the victim where, by contrast, numerous traces were found attributable to Guede"

I wouldn’t watch it, I feel I’ve heard her story and thoughts enough times now through twitter, books, articles and I tried watching the dreadful tv show, but I don’t think we can censor things based on possible offence, we can just judge and respond.

Yabvvvu.

Amanda Knox was falsely accused and spent years in prison. Even now she has to move through the world knowing there are people who are so hopped up on Internet conspiracy theories that they still believe she did it. We got about a dozen posts in before some Rumpole of the Facebook comments section helpfully pipes up to demonstrate.

What this means is she has every right to talk about it. It's understandable that Merediths family, having not only lost her but been lied to institutionally, struggle with this. But nobody else has any excuse.

The show is about Knox's experiences after the murder, when she was arrested and in prison.
It's not about the murder itself but obviously her experiences happened as a result of the murder.

She seems really irritating so its not a show I am planning to see while at Edinburgh but shows must be allowed to be distasteful or offensive to some people. That's a basic premise of living in a fairly free society. Comedy and theatrical shows can't just be about lovely days out with a picnic.

The Kercher siblings are merely providing more publicity for the show through this campaign. It is devastating to lose a family member but that doesn't then give you the right or moral right to limit other people discussing their experiences or creating a piece of art.

I hadn't heard about this show.

I remember the case very clearly and found it extremely distressing. As far as I'm concerned Amanda Knox is guilty.

I support Meredith's family. The poor young woman's death is not entertainment.

How does that differ from trying to get a theatre show that you haven’t seen and don’t know the content of in any detail, by and for people who think differently to you, cancelled?

We live in a free society. She’s free to say what she wants, and people are free to decide whether they want to attend or not. I personally wouldn’t attend, but I’m not in the business of policing what others watch based on my own personal feelings about it.

Oh well, guess you'll have to get over it.