HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
Aug 12, 2004 I was browsing through a local book store with a friend when she held up a selection from the new books section. “Did you see this one?” She held up a book with Elizabeth Smart and her smiling family on the cover. “Are you going to buy it?” I asked. “No. I think it’s kind of… creepy, actually.” She said as she put it back. I know how she felt. Have you ever had a gut instinct reaction to something that you’ve read or heard? A story that sounds plausible and true, yet something about it just doesn’t seem quite right. You can’t put your finger on it. It seems slightly out of reach sort of like a word you can’t remember that’s just on the tip of your tongue. Something, some piece of the puzzle is missing even though the puzzle looks quite intact. This is how I feel about the Elizabeth Smart case. There’s more there than meets the eye. I know that there are those reading this who may be aghast at my thoughts on this matter, but a gut reaction is hard to ignore and the feelings from this instinct are harder to put aside. There is something about the Elizabeth Smart ordeal and the way her family acts that doesn’t seem right. I rejoiced along with everyone else when Elizabeth was finally found and her despicable captors were hauled away to jail. The news that she was alright, after so many agonizing months of being missing, made hope and faith household words. In a world where turning on the evening news can be a depressing experience, it was a feel-good story, a happy ending. As the weeks went by and interviewers began talking to the Smart family, however, something seemed a little off kilter. When you saw them on TV, the father and mother smiling, the relatives talking to the press, there seemed to be this nagging suspicion that they were actors playing a role. They were in the spotlight, seemingly enjoying it, and, like all good actors, they seemed to know where the cameras were at all times. The interviews began to seem like scripted affairs. My father has a friend who is a retired detective. He’s a straightforward man who believes very strongly in gut instinct. When he was working his cases, all of his initial reactions had proved true and he was very successful at his job. I remember him telling me something when I was in college. He said that if you feel something is not right in a situation, if you “feel it in your gut” you are always on target. You may tell yourself that nothing is really wrong, that you are only imagining it, but you are only fooling yourself. Even though you may not be able to explain it, your first reaction, your gut reaction is the right one. Exactly my reaction in the Smart case, I can’t explain it but it is there. I mentioned this feeling to a colleague of mine and to my surprise, she agreed with me. “I’m probably wrong,” she began, “but, you know what? I feel the same way! I have no idea why though. I just do.” She tried to rationalize her feeling by laughingly at she probably has a suspicious mind, but, try as she might, she just couldn’t discount her instinctive feeling. Marc, a friend from England, also feels something isn’t “quite aboveboard” about the entire situation. He didn’t want to mention his reaction to anyone here because he is from another country and felt it would be insulting to his American friends to do so. He too tried to dissuade himself from his feeling but, again, was unable to do it. Something about the Smart family seemed not quite right but he was unable to figure it out. The money factor bothers me too and there is money being made. Elizabeth’s parents’ book deal and the TV movie, both rushed into production, seem rather strange. The fact that now, even her uncles are closing a book deal about their association with Elizabeth, makes me wonder even more. What is it that we’re not seeing? What’s wrong with this picture? Excuse me for being blunt here. A young girl went through a horrible ordeal. God only knows what happened to her physically and mentally. So why does the family seem to be acting like profiteers? And, make no mistake, they are reaping financial gain from her personal hell. They have taken what is essentially every family’s nightmare and turned it into a movie-of-the-week, complete with book- club celebrity, profit-making deal. The family was a little too eager to parade Elizabeth in front of us on talk shows and news programs. The media and talk show hosts were just as eager to “bring you all the information” about this horrific happening and to pay well for it. It is unconscionable to do this and there is that unidentifiable something about it all which makes me uncomfortable. Let’s face it, Mr. and Mrs. Smart, and all their relatives, make me feel very uncomfortable, yet, if you asked me to say in what way or how, I would be hard-pressed to answer. I do know that the feeling is there. I also know from discussions with friends and family that I am not alone in my feelings. All creatures are born with instinct. Humans are the only ones born with instinct and a sense of reasoning. This sense gets fine-tuned as we grow towards adulthood pushing instinct to the back of our consciousness. That is unfortunate because when we feel a strong instinct about something or someone we are able to “convince” ourselves that we are mistaken. I hope that I’m wrong about the Smart family. I can try to convince myself that I am but I know it won’t work. There is just something about the whole affair that doesn’t seem right. ------------ About the author Kristen Houghton: Working on a book of short stories, I write a column, "The Writer's Block" on observations of everyday life and a column for educators called iTeach! Email: Krisnalan@aol.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
