Before we get started, let me be clear: this is a hypothetical, purely for the sake of argument.
Here we go. I'm merely speculating, but I think PR figured that JB would make her famous as a beauty queen. With JB dead, that was no longer an option. But make a good crime scene and do your best acting job and you will become a magnet for sympathy. She becomes the ultimate victim. Michael Kane did an interview in 2002 where he said that the staging of the crime was so overdone, it would have to have been done by someone with a proclivity for showmanship. He used these words: "It was a very theatrical production and Patsy is a very theatrical person." He described her as a narcissist who "loves being known as the mother of a murdered beauty queen." It's an old story. History is full of people who, once they've outlived their usefulness, have become worth more to a cause dead than alive. Che Guevara is a good example. As is John F. Kennedy. Or the one that JB seemed destined to accompany: Marilyn Monroe. Let me lay this illustration on you: PR often likened her daughter to Marilyn Monroe, even printing it on JonBenet's name badge at one pageant. Who better to associate your beauty queen daughter with than the most famous blonde of all time? But, what most people overlook is this: one of the big reasons why Marilyn's legend is so strong is because she died tragically. Marilyn died young and at the peak of her fame, her beauty undiminished. She was not allowed to grow old and obscure. Instead, the gods lifted her up to them in full loveliness.
Well, what happened to Marilyn happened to JonBenet, and I can't help but wonder if for the same reason. I don't necessarily mean that JonBenet's death was premeditated (although, there may be those who do). I'm just saying that, if it did start out as an unintentional killing, it might explain to all those naysayers why 911 wasn't called and why all of the staging was done: a child beauty queen, so destined for greatness killed in a common, garden-variety, run-of-the-mill, humdrum domestic incident? That would NEVER do! She was so spectacular in life. She HAD to be spectacular in death. Nothing but the best (or worst, depending on how you see it) for JonBenet. And she IS spectacular in death! Her death made her more well-known to more people than all of her performances put together. Not to mention that it's almost 15 years later and people STILL remember her! Would a simple domestic death merit such attention? No. But a child beauty queen killed in her own home under the noses of her loved ones on what is supposed to be the happiest day of the year...how cool is that!
And it had the perfect capper: that massive public funeral, where everyone could pledge their condolences and see the perfect little princess, beautiful forever, displayed in a coffin that served the same purpose as a jewel box. PR acted like a mother would at her daughter's wedding day, because it WAS JB's wedding day. As a former poster titled "voynich" put it, a wedding day with Death. Or if you prefer, her wedding day with God.
And all of it motivated by love. I've considered the idea that PR was saving JB from something, something that made it necessary to preserve her in memory as perfect, but this is heart-wrenching enough as it is.
Okay. Let the chips fall where they may.
Here we go. I'm merely speculating, but I think PR figured that JB would make her famous as a beauty queen. With JB dead, that was no longer an option. But make a good crime scene and do your best acting job and you will become a magnet for sympathy. She becomes the ultimate victim. Michael Kane did an interview in 2002 where he said that the staging of the crime was so overdone, it would have to have been done by someone with a proclivity for showmanship. He used these words: "It was a very theatrical production and Patsy is a very theatrical person." He described her as a narcissist who "loves being known as the mother of a murdered beauty queen." It's an old story. History is full of people who, once they've outlived their usefulness, have become worth more to a cause dead than alive. Che Guevara is a good example. As is John F. Kennedy. Or the one that JB seemed destined to accompany: Marilyn Monroe. Let me lay this illustration on you: PR often likened her daughter to Marilyn Monroe, even printing it on JonBenet's name badge at one pageant. Who better to associate your beauty queen daughter with than the most famous blonde of all time? But, what most people overlook is this: one of the big reasons why Marilyn's legend is so strong is because she died tragically. Marilyn died young and at the peak of her fame, her beauty undiminished. She was not allowed to grow old and obscure. Instead, the gods lifted her up to them in full loveliness.
Well, what happened to Marilyn happened to JonBenet, and I can't help but wonder if for the same reason. I don't necessarily mean that JonBenet's death was premeditated (although, there may be those who do). I'm just saying that, if it did start out as an unintentional killing, it might explain to all those naysayers why 911 wasn't called and why all of the staging was done: a child beauty queen, so destined for greatness killed in a common, garden-variety, run-of-the-mill, humdrum domestic incident? That would NEVER do! She was so spectacular in life. She HAD to be spectacular in death. Nothing but the best (or worst, depending on how you see it) for JonBenet. And she IS spectacular in death! Her death made her more well-known to more people than all of her performances put together. Not to mention that it's almost 15 years later and people STILL remember her! Would a simple domestic death merit such attention? No. But a child beauty queen killed in her own home under the noses of her loved ones on what is supposed to be the happiest day of the year...how cool is that!
And it had the perfect capper: that massive public funeral, where everyone could pledge their condolences and see the perfect little princess, beautiful forever, displayed in a coffin that served the same purpose as a jewel box. PR acted like a mother would at her daughter's wedding day, because it WAS JB's wedding day. As a former poster titled "voynich" put it, a wedding day with Death. Or if you prefer, her wedding day with God.
And all of it motivated by love. I've considered the idea that PR was saving JB from something, something that made it necessary to preserve her in memory as perfect, but this is heart-wrenching enough as it is.
Okay. Let the chips fall where they may.
