Today while scanning my Twitter feed I came across this photo of Jodi Arias:
Image from here.
I saw this photo and thought pleasantly, Hmm. I like her glasses.
I don't know why, but I started thinking about the process she must have gone through to purchase them. She likely had an appointment with her eye doctor. Did she pick out the frames at her optometrist's office? How many pairs did she try on before she settled on these ones? Or did she know at first glance that these were the right pair for her? Or maybe skipped that process entirely and ordered them online.
I don't know the answers to those questions. You probably don't care, and frankly, neither do I. I don't know Ms. Arias and, beyond this particular blog post, her choice of eye-wear has very little impact, if any, on my life.
But for that moment, she wasn't crazy and she wasn't a murderer.
I don't condone murder. I nevertheless felt that it was worthwhile to consider Jodi Arias — a fellow human being — in a light different from the one in which she has been most recently cast.
My guess would be that someone else bought the glasses for her. I looked at pictures of her before (the "hot blonde" type) and then during the trial, and wondered how much she'd been groomed to look a certain way (more...pious? meek?) to the jury. That set me to wondering if attorneys have style consultants they hire specifically for this type of thing, to make their clients appear a certain way. I'm probably going to research this...
ReplyDeleteIn no moment since her crime did she cease to be a murderer or a human being. Does our perception change reality? I think I get your point though. While society is calling for blood, which part of being a free-thinking, free-feeling human being causes us to thirst for blood as retribution for a life that has been tragically lost? How does this change the end result of what happened to the victim? Of course the answer is that it doesn't, but so many of us use the victim as the justification for the punishment. "Travis will be avenged if she is sentenced to die." But what does this vengeance do for Travis? Nothing. It does nothing. Imperfect humans given the authority to decide who lives and who dies - not in the heat of passion but after much thought and deliberation. I could never sentence someone to die. I'd be much more likely to kill some in self defense in the heat of the moment. My comment has turned into rambling.
ReplyDeleteThe point is that she wears glasses. So did Jeffrey Dahmer.
Myke, I think stuff like this all the time, particularly when something is ugly. I remember standing in my high school parking lot and there was a ugly car with these ugly ridiculous rims and my friend turned to me and said, "You know the worst part, the guy chose those rims. He picked them up in a shop and said 'These are the ones', and then paid money." So yeah, I wonder about the process people go through to arrive at a set of rims, pair of glasses or various other fashion choices people make.
ReplyDeleteYes, I also questioned if the attorneys have stylists to help make them appear more "innocent."
ReplyDeleteFoods for thoughts.
Well, from my experience watching Law & Order...jk. :)
ReplyDeleteI wondered about the same thing too during the trial - who chose those glasses, those bangs, that hair, and those clothes? And I, too, see a human being behind the trial - sure she killed the guy but she's still human.
This reminds me of the Boston marathon guy who was killed - Tamerlan - and how people protested that he didn't deserve a burial and question the funeral home for taking him in. There was an NPR piece on it that puts the humanity of being kind and objective in these situations into perspective: the interviewee basically said that in order to preserve our humanity we must act humane especially in the care of our dead. (http://www.npr.org/2013/05/06/181678185/undertaker-slain-boston-bombing-suspect-should-be-tended-to)
I know that's off-topic but I believe it's the same perspective we must have towards Jodi and all those who inflict harm on society - to not degrade our humanity by thinking they deserve to be treated inhumanely even though they inflicted pain and suffering on others, including death. That was their choice - ours must be to treat them fair to preserve our humanity, our mental capacity for compassion. Basically ask yourself, what is the Christ-like way in which to act?
Sorry for the rambling...