Brilliant and sad and true: the photographs of your junk will be publicized

Foxy Knoxy: The Musical

Most people remember Tonya Harding, right? Did you know that she just turned 40 and had a baby this year?! I found a photo of her on the internet and was amazed to note the physical resemblance between Tonya and Amanda Knox. Harding looks like an older, heavier version of the 24-year old Knox. Tonya's trials and tribulations became fodder for various media, including a number of books (Celebrities in Disgrace and Women on Ice, the latter a collection of feminist essays, to cite but two examples) which in turn have spawned plays, movies, an opera (!) and a musical that had a run in Portland a couple of years back. There were lots of Tonya Harding jokes too and I bet the number one choice for a Halloween costume in the mid-90's was Tonya Harding. So there is lots of common ground, for sure. Speaking of Halloween costumes, some bloggers and other commenters found it a bit distasteful of Foxy to dress as what appeared to be a cat burglar and get photographed doing so as she hit a party. You can read one reaction here. Of course, one member of the Foxy Furies was on duty and responded with a defensive "let the girl live" post. But it went nowhere.

Foxy Knoxy, acquitted on appeal of the murder of Meredith Kercher, has already entered into that peculiar state of existence known as "being a cultural product line". There is the matter of the final automatic appeal by Italy's highest court, which could put a spanner in the works, but quite frankly I think Italy is glad to be rid of the American. That's what UK journalist Sharon Feinstein discovered recently, when she traveled to Perugia to interview the prison warden and the inmate who shared a cell with Foxy for three years. You can read about it here. Poor Ms. Feinstein has since been dealing round the clock with the Foxy Furies, a small band of apparently unemployed people who spend every waking hour hounding anyone who questions the appeal verdict or who dares to criticize their idol Foxy. Ms. Feinstein's crime is to have published the interviews on her blog. She has done an admirable job of dealing with the attack dogs but I believe she's a bit weary by now. They do wear you down.

Anyway, back to Foxy. She has signed with a lawyer, who will represent her in talks with potential publishers. A big-wig agent whose clients include Tony Blair and Bill Clinton. He will help negotiate all of the various "official" variations on the Foxy Knoxy theme and narrative - the book by Knoxy, the movie based on same (which is bound to be dull), and perhaps eventually a rock opera or a musical. If they hurry, Knox will still be age appropriate enough to star as herself. And let's not forget the exclusive interview. Barbara Walters seems to be hot on Foxy's trail, having left a couple of enticing crumbs. For example, she has named Foxy as one of the most intriguing people of 2011. I think she comes in at number 5. Something like that. Walters must be hoping PR guru David Marriott will forgive her for the tacky bit on her show after the acquittal, where she and her gal pals wondered aloud if Casey Anthony and Amanda Knox "got away with murder" because they are attractive as that term is currently defined.

It seems everyone is cashing in. Bottom feeder Sharlene Martin, who negotiated the publication of OJ's If I Did It after the Goldman family obtained the rights, has signed Raffaele Sollecito and Steve Moore. Raffie is Foxy's former beau and he too was acquitted on appeal. Raffie is an avid knife collector, by the way. Just wanted to get that out there. As for Steve Moore, he apparently is a retired FBI agent. He has tried to parlay the murder of Meredith into a new career for himself "in the media", as his wife Michelle says. I guess he hopes that publishing a book dealing with his life as a g-man could help him gain some much needed cred.

I personally think that all of the above will eventually be fodder for the definitive and inevitably irreverent treatment of this sad saga. The players mentioned will all eventually figure in a wicked parody showcasing a monumental amount of human folly and vanity. Their names may be changed and their story slightly altered. But make no mistake about it. The story of what happened to Meredith Kercher, lovely Meredith Kercher, will never be told by those who are in a position to tell it. And all these other stories have been over told and over sold. The problem is that the PR guru (and the assorted fixers, lawyers and other shady types) must now be paid. So the books must get written and the movie rights must be sold and you must all pitch in with your pennies and other spare change. This acquittal cost a bundle!

By the way, the link to the news about the book is in French. The media event was amply covered in the English-language press, but I liked this one because the title suggests that the book in question, penned by Knox (and probably a co-author, according to sources), could be a "confession". Fat chance! If it were, it might be vaguely interesting! Will Savive has written a blog post worth reading on the role of Barnett in ensuring that Curt and Edda's really big bills get paid in our lifetime.

It is interesting to note how intertwined the names of Knox, OJ and Casey Anthony have become - on so many levels. This may be one reason why all the big wigs who stand to gain financially from the Knox book deal are taking such great pains to draw a distinction, especially between Knox and Casey "Kryptonite" Anthony. But the parallels just keep pushing their way back to the surface, like an annoying person who just won't drown for Christ's sake! According to the ever excellent Button, Anthony too has a "mob" of rabid supporters who swoop in for online attacks whenever any negative press is detected.

Proud to be an illiberal moron?

There are many nice things about living in France as opposed to America. One of them is the absence of bumper stickers. Keep your illiberal ideas, and even your liberal ones, to yourself! I don't need to know what the overweight, badly dressed, middle-aged, tight-lipped white man driving the rundown Ford Fiesta in front of me northbound on 99 in Seattle yesterday at approximately 11:30 am thinks about the Occupy movement or Obama. I think maintaining the mystery is usually the right thing to do, especially when you are surrounded by virtual strangers.

But since he feels the need to share this information, so will I. His piece of shit car was festooned with two bumpa stickas:





Actually, the hippy one said "Shut Up Hippies" but I could not find that on the internet.