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

I appreciate your taking of a balanced perspective, but I still don't think comments like the below are fair:

I could not actually concieve that anyone could be insensitive enough to consider a crime as vile as this a suitable subject for comedy

The crime itself is, of course, not the subject of the show. The show is about Knox's experience as the victim of a miscarriage of justice and media persecution (both driven by misogyny).

The two are connected, but I think it’s unfair to collapse the distinction between them. This isn't something akin to, for example, Shannon Matthews: The Musical (which was directly about the crime and purposefully in bad taste).

I also don't think it's entirely akin to something like The Producers (either the original Mel Brooks film or the more recent mega-successful musical), but I think it's worthwhile to consider the range of responses to The Producers (paricularly within the Jewish community and among Holocaust survivors).

To some, comedy about Nazism was inherently unacceptable, made light of an atrocity, and was deeply painful. To many others, it was something of a triumph over Nazism - cathartic, and helpful in processing trauma.

Using comedy to process the terrible is nothing new; it’s a long-standing, deeply human response (as is taking offense).

I don't think Cartwheel really compares to standard edgy comedy because, in a vacuum, the topic of the show is the way Knox was personally victimized.

Undeniably, it also unavoidably invokes the actual killing of Meredith, which will naturally cause genuine upset to many - though by all accounts, the murder itself is barely addressed in the show, which aims (and for most, seems to succeed) to handle it respectfully.

And I do think it is worth pointing out, again, that the show isn't a comedy in the truest sense - rather it has comedic elements (targeting misogyny, Knox herself, and certain perceptions of her) and appears to have powerfully resonated with many women, including survivors of violent, misogynistic crimes.

As something of a tangent, much of the tabloid reaction to this is really irksome, given the grotesque way in which they cashed in on Meredith's death and their direct complicity in what happened to Knox. People are entitled to feel however they may about the show, but seeing certain sections of the mainstream British press allege moral bankruptcy -apparently without any shame whatsoever - rather leads me to consider the show important.

She was by all accounts heavily involved on the production, even co-writing parts of it. And the whole thing is framed as a narrative from her perspective. The frequent references to what a quirky, fun, out-there person she is (the whole series opens with clips of her being a dazzling yet misunderstood entertainer as a child) definitely seem (to me) to be strongly driving the idea that we are supposed to sympathise with her as a misunderstood yet extraordinarily charming individual, dancing to the beat of her own drum.... The cartwheel in the police station for example, is framed just like this....

I still feel sympathy for her of course - I can't imagine how awful it must be to be accused of such a monstrous crime, and lose many years of your youth incarcerated in a prison in a country far from the one you grew up in. And I'm also willing to believe the accusations she makes, via the series, if police and prison service incompetence, prejudice, sexual predation (in the case of the l governor), brutality..... All terrible things for angon, and especially an innocent young woman, to endure.....

But suffering isn't enobling - unpleasant, thoughtless, arrogant people can still be mistreated and endure terrible things.

And suffering doesn't in my opinion, give someone carte blanche to behave however they want. If the woman has the slightest ounce of compassion, she must have realised that a comedy show about the violent sexual murder of a young woman would upset and offend many?

A friend of mine found out about it and asked if I wanted to go, knowing I had been interested in the case. It actually took him several attempts to believe he was telling the truth, that he show was actually about the murder - I was convinced he had got it wrong and that, while I could well imagine Knox going into stand up (and for all I knew being good at it) I could not actually concieve that anyone could be insensitive enough to consider a crime as vile as this a suitable subject for comedy.........

Anyway, I did also want to say that, for those on this thread who are still questioning her guilt, unless there is something I don't know that you know, what actually happened has been pretty convincingly proven and she was entirely innocent of this crime, which was committed (as crimes like this almost always are) by a man, and should, in my opinion, be classed along with all sexually motivated murders like this as a hate crime against women. And for all we might disagree and argue on here about Knox's publicity choices, she should not even be mentioned in the same breath as that absolute monster Guede, who shockingly was released early but is now under investigation for domestic abuse

I haven't watched the film, and I don't know if we are expected to admire those qualities in her; or if it is supposed to be a warts and all presentation explaining any tensions in that group. I accept that people well judge people who are thrust into the spotlight. I do wonder how much that judgement fuels the wish to own the narrative and to present it in a direct medium like stand-up.

While I understand what you are saying about not judging people based on partial information, it seems to me that Knox is actively courting judgement of her personality through the TV dramatisation and the comedy show (admittedly based on the very short clip I have seen of the latter).

The TV series is certainly all about her "quirkiness" as she calls it - it reverts to this theme time and time again, the message seeming (to me) to be that other mere mortals - people who are not her - simply can't comprehend and handle how hilarious, out there and zany she is. Just as one example, there is a brief scene of her in a restaurant with Meredith Kercher and her English friends (all characterised as hysterical, up-tight fools) in which Knox picks up her plate and licks it clean, and the other young women look at her askance - as well they might, surely? I'd be irritated and a little revojted is somebody did this when I was out for a meal with them. But we are supposed to feel that they were judgemental twats for feeling like this.

There is also a later scene when Knox speaks quite cruelly to one of the young English women who is sobbing - again, it seems we are supposed to side with Knox, for being a hard talking realist brave enough to tell it as it is - to me she just seems unnecessarily nasty.

My point is, in this instance I make no apologies for making a judgement on Knox's character because that's what she's inviting us all to do! Mine just isn't the judgement I think she wants us to make.

And of courses I don't think she should have been vilified for having sex toys or an active sex life. I don't think she should be vilified at all - she hasn't done anything evil.

But much as I feel sorry for her, I also think she is an unpleasant, not very bright attention seeker, and that a comedy show linked to a brutal sex murder is massive error of judgement, and offensive not just to Kercher's family but potentially to all victims or sexually motivated violence, and those who love them.

I don't think she should be silenced. But I do think she should have exercised better judgement, and that if she believes it's important to have her story heard, she could have chosen more appropriate ways to achieve this.

While I understand what you are saying about not judging people based on partial information, it seems to me that Knox is actively courting judgement of her personality through the TV dramatisation and the comedy show (admittedly based on the very short clip I have seen of the latter).

The TV series is certainly all about her "quirkiness" as she calls it - it reverts to this theme time and time again, the message seeming (to me) to be that other mere mortals - people who are not her - simply can't comprehend and handle how hilarious, out there and zany she is. Just as one example, there is a brief scene of her in a restaurant with Meredith Kercher and her English friends (all characterised as hysterical, up-tight fools) in which Knox picks up her plate and licks it clean, and the other young women look at her askance - as well they might, surely? I'd be irritated and a little revojted is somebody did this when I was out for a meal with them. But we are supposed to feel that they were judgemental twats for feeling like this.

There is also a later scene when Knox speaks quite cruelly to one of the young English women who is sobbing - again, it seems we are supposed to side with Knox, for being a hard talking realist brave enough to tell it as it is - to me she just seems unnecessarily nasty.

My point is, in this instance I make no apologies for making a judgement on Knox's character because that's what she's inviting us all to do! Mine just isn't the judgement I think she wants us to make.

And of courses I don't think she should have been vilified for having sex toys or an active sex life. I don't think she should be vilified at all - she hasn't done anything evil.

But much as I feel sorry for her, I also think she is an unpleasant, not very bright attention seeker, and that a comedy show linked to a brutal sex murder is massive error of judgement, and offensive not just to Kercher's family but potentially to all victims or sexually motivated violence, and those who love them.

I don't think she should be silenced. But I do think she should have exercised better judgement, and that if she believes it's important to have her story heard, she could have chosen more appropriate ways to achieve this.

I haven't seen the clip you mean but my impression reading the reviews is that this is not laugh a minute stuff but a monologue performance with gallows humour. I have seen both, on the comedy circuit, though I am not a fan of the genre and maybe not the best judge.

I don't tend to take against people based on media and public appearances, unless they behave in a way that is actively cruel and malicious, which I haven't seen from Knox. We know so little about others really. In Knox's case I see a combination of introspection and extroversion, laced with some therapy speak, that would have fed into the stereotypes of loud, over sharing Americans at the time of her arrest.

But I have travelled a lot and worked with many people in many places, including America, and I often encounter people online who seem to have a much narrower view of what's within a normal and effectively harmless range of human characteristics than I do.

Anyway, likeability is certainly not a criterion for comedy work. And if people around the world tend to suspect you still and to dislike you for your demeanour and public appearances, I am sure it is healthy to reach a stage where you learn to ignore those voices and carry on expressing yourself as you see fit.

I think that a lot of the responses to Knox on this thread help to show why she might choose not to fall silent, and why she might use humour, whether effectively or not, to try to cope with the weight of judgement she is carrying

@Ilovelurchers both of Meredith's parents have passed away now.

Guilty of what?

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.

I cannot imagine the anger Knox must feel for having been falsely accused so publicallty, her privacy decimated, , and having years of her life wasted in custody accused of a horrific crime she didn't commit. In all of this I feel deep sympathy for her.

Notwithstanding this, she does appear to have a personality it is almost impossible to like (for me anyway - I don't know her personally but am basing this on everything I have seen and read, from her and about her). There is a trait of extreme, tasteless attention-seeking exhibitionism, which I think was partially responsible for her being accused in the first place (and I am in no way suggesting she deserved everything that happened - of course she didn't).

I have watched the clip of her show someone shared above and must admit that it immediately got my hackles up, as it is even more of her self-aggrandizing, "look at me and how special and wonderful I am" tedious nonsense - just like the ITV drama (which hands up and to my slight shame I am currently watching!)

Did any single person reading this thread watch that and think that anything she said was funny? None of it was funny! It was just lots of different ways of saying "Look at me! Look at me!"

I do think it must all be really upsetting for Meredith Kercher'a parents, and it would have been nice if Knox had considered this and chosen not to launch this absolute drivel. But she does have the right to, and I suppose it dates her desire for attention - and people will go and see it for the ",freak show" appeal she has always had.....

But it's NOT FUNNY!!!! Or am I wrong? Did anyone laugh even once at that clip?

A brilliant post

I cannot imagine the anger Knox must feel for having been falsely accused so publicallty, her privacy decimated, , and having years of her life wasted in custody accused of a horrific crime she didn't commit. In all of this I feel deep sympathy for her.

Notwithstanding this, she does appear to have a personality it is almost impossible to like (for me anyway - I don't know her personally but am basing this on everything I have seen and read, from her and about her). There is a trait of extreme, tasteless attention-seeking exhibitionism, which I think was partially responsible for her being accused in the first place (and I am in no way suggesting she deserved everything that happened - of course she didn't).

I have watched the clip of her show someone shared above and must admit that it immediately got my hackles up, as it is even more of her self-aggrandizing, "look at me and how special and wonderful I am" tedious nonsense - just like the ITV drama (which hands up and to my slight shame I am currently watching!)

Did any single person reading this thread watch that and think that anything she said was funny? None of it was funny! It was just lots of different ways of saying "Look at me! Look at me!"

I do think it must all be really upsetting for Meredith Kercher'a parents, and it would have been nice if Knox had considered this and chosen not to launch this absolute drivel. But she does have the right to, and I suppose it dates her desire for attention - and people will go and see it for the ",freak show" appeal she has always had.....

But it's NOT FUNNY!!!! Or am I wrong? Did anyone laugh even once at that clip?

All the "guilters" won't give you express reasons because the majority of them were hearsay, bad reporting, suspect witnesses or apocryphal.
Many reasons given can be debunked straight away.
The rest are based on feelings not facts and there have often been suspects who are accused for not reacting the "correct" way or based on their physicality. I remember Christopher Jeffries.
The only question I have that is one of curiosity not victim-blaming, is why did she not flush the loo? What was it that made her instinctively not reach for the handle?
I'm fascinated by why we do or don't things and also by the idea you have a sixth sense/gift of fear/Spidey senses tinkling that lead us unconsciously to make the choices we do.

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.

I guess I'm less sensitive than you if someone has a different opinion to me. It's just an opinion. No need for the insults.

I guess I'm less sensitive than you if someone has a different opinion to me. It's just an opinion. No need for the insults.