Monday, May 9

Mez: Lathered Up (4#) -

Last night, in an Alt-Universe, CNN conducted a
Trial By Media which exonerated Amanda Knox
and concluded that Amanda must be freed . . .

I didn't catch it, but CNN aired a Feature special about Knox. Skimming through some of the Italian media earlier today, I came across a range of angry reactions to news of this occurrence.

Most of the Italians were outraged. They complained that CNN mocked their Justice System and disrespected Italy. I was actually looking for news about Frank the Blogger in Perugia, but I didn't see anything about him.

It appears that we have now reached the point in this situation at which there are two entirely divergent threads. One thread is the progress of the legal case and the other is the Soap Opera story. These two threads do not seem to be tethered together at all anymore. As far as I know, the appeals court does not reconvene until May 21st. The other thread which is a formulated story needs closer examination.

A lot of youngsters may have been attracted to this situation initially because the scenario has an unmistakable resemblance to the Teen Slasher Movie Genre which is familiar to them. In the longer perspective, the resemblance may be more of a recursion rather than a mere similarity.

The crime and its staging follow the same basic scenario: there must have been an intruder who broke into the cottage and killed Meredith, so there must be a dangerous boogyman at large in Perugia. Although the original version did not succeed, there were additional versions: with Guede as the boogyman and now with Giuliano Mignini cast into the role of the boogyman who imperils the ingenue in the current version.

The traditional Soap Opera is in decline in America. Some of the longest running TV Soaps were recently cancelled. The Reality Format is in ascendancy, but is still evolving. There are now some efforts underway to combine the two formats. Not all these efforts have succeeded. According to the local grapevine around my area, the Real Housewives: Miami Edition of the franchise tanked. Ongoing experiments travel both ways across The Pond.

The production of one series, Jersey Shore, is currently experiencing obstacles. The Mayor of Florence, Italy, has imposed limits on what they can do and where they can film. With the angry reaction to CNN's Amanda Knox feature, the Jersey Shore Team may find the hostile reception getting worse for the immediate future.

Who is Frank the Blogger in Perugia? I have no idea. He is a guy with no visible means of support and no visible qualifications. What is the purpose of his blog and whose interests does he represent?

Several years ago, the officials of Umbria undertook an operation to block the so-called "colonization" [sic] of their province by the Southern Crime Syndicates from Calabria and Naples. It's no secret that the Syndicates have held a grudge against officials in Umbria ever since. Meanwhile, I don't see Frank being prosecuted on any specific charges. Maybe that will change later this week. I'll try to keep an eye on that.

Does Frank suffer from some form of OCD? I don't know. I stopped reading his blog long ago. The explanation for his blog could be very simple: he may have wanted to venture into the field of Journalism and decided this case was his lucky break which would enable him to do that. I certainly don't wish for Frank to be abused, even if I am not interested in reading his blog.

The Perugia case is already living on vapors. The legal case is winding down and much of the U.S. Media is in the process of moving on to Casey Anthony.

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