by Stacy Dittrich
Human beings continue to be fascinated by gore. The latest drama in the Caylee Ant
hony case confirms this statement as gospel. Allegedly, someone is attempting to sell photographs of the innocent, murdered, and forgotten victim of this entire debacle—or should I say photographs of her remains. Perhaps we should remember the ordeal surrounding the death of model/actress Anna Nicole Smith. The need to obtain photographs of her lying on a slab in the morgue was so overwhelming security had to be placed around the building. We hear of outrageous amounts of money being paid for photographs of celebrities and politicians—a photograph of Britney Spears doing something outrageous allegedly commands up to a couple hundred thousand dollars from the tabloids.
But, what about the dead?
It
’s unknown what sites like CelebrityMorgue.com or Rotten.com pay for the famous and recently deceased. Regardless, one might think they were perusing the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Criminal Hall of Fame when looking at several sites. At celebrity morgue, Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy (fresh on the slab, bullet hole and all), Ted Bundy (with his head burns from the electric chair), and Sharon Tate smack in the crime scene were enough to make my stomach turn knowing anyone can view these. Regardless, posting the actual remains of the Lindbergh baby went entirely too far. In fact, all of the photographs go too far and a website like this has no business being allowed to run. Bored? Feel the need to see someone freshly ground up in a meat grinder? Well, skip on over to…
It’s appalling. I can’t imagine losing a loved one and having their remains, morgue photos, or crime scene photos—with them included, posted on a web site for those thrill seekers to enjoy. I simply can’t put my finger on the fascination.
Several years ago, when I naively thought I had seen it all as a police officer, I found myself blocking off a street where my agency was having a stand-off that began with a man murdering an innocent women, robbing another, and then engaging us on a high-speed police chase where he ultimately stopped his car and put a gun to his head. If this weren’t horrific enough, the crowds of people that began forming behind the barricades included those with coolers, blankets, tripods, telescopes, and video cameras. As if going out for a picnic, they absolutely didn’t want to miss a murderer blowing his own head off or being shot by police. Getting it all on film would simply be the cherry on top. It was simply mind boggling.
Some of the people listed in the celebrity morgue still have immediate relatives living. I’m sure Sharon Tate’s sister (Sharon Tate, right), or Carolyn Kennedy truly appreciate the respect their loved ones are being shown by the sites. I’m somewhat confused by the lack of laws preventing web sites like these from existing or tabloids from printing photographs of dead bodies for profit. Even though a photograph of my own corpse wouldn’t likely fetch a nickel, I believe that all of the dead, even the famous, should be respected equally.
Shut these sites down.
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hony case confirms this statement as gospel. Allegedly, someone is attempting to sell photographs of the innocent, murdered, and forgotten victim of this entire debacle—or should I say photographs of her remains. Perhaps we should remember the ordeal surrounding the death of model/actress Anna Nicole Smith. The need to obtain photographs of her lying on a slab in the morgue was so overwhelming security had to be placed around the building. We hear of outrageous amounts of money being paid for photographs of celebrities and politicians—a photograph of Britney Spears doing something outrageous allegedly commands up to a couple hundred thousand dollars from the tabloids.But, what about the dead?
It
’s unknown what sites like CelebrityMorgue.com or Rotten.com pay for the famous and recently deceased. Regardless, one might think they were perusing the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Criminal Hall of Fame when looking at several sites. At celebrity morgue, Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy (fresh on the slab, bullet hole and all), Ted Bundy (with his head burns from the electric chair), and Sharon Tate smack in the crime scene were enough to make my stomach turn knowing anyone can view these. Regardless, posting the actual remains of the Lindbergh baby went entirely too far. In fact, all of the photographs go too far and a website like this has no business being allowed to run. Bored? Feel the need to see someone freshly ground up in a meat grinder? Well, skip on over to…It’s appalling. I can’t imagine losing a loved one and having their remains, morgue photos, or crime scene photos—with them included, posted on a web site for those thrill seekers to enjoy. I simply can’t put my finger on the fascination.
Several years ago, when I naively thought I had seen it all as a police officer, I found myself blocking off a street where my agency was having a stand-off that began with a man murdering an innocent women, robbing another, and then engaging us on a high-speed police chase where he ultimately stopped his car and put a gun to his head. If this weren’t horrific enough, the crowds of people that began forming behind the barricades included those with coolers, blankets, tripods, telescopes, and video cameras. As if going out for a picnic, they absolutely didn’t want to miss a murderer blowing his own head off or being shot by police. Getting it all on film would simply be the cherry on top. It was simply mind boggling.
Some of the people listed in the celebrity morgue still have immediate relatives living. I’m sure Sharon Tate’s sister (Sharon Tate, right), or Carolyn Kennedy truly appreciate the respect their loved ones are being shown by the sites. I’m somewhat confused by the lack of laws preventing web sites like these from existing or tabloids from printing photographs of dead bodies for profit. Even though a photograph of my own corpse wouldn’t likely fetch a nickel, I believe that all of the dead, even the famous, should be respected equally.Shut these sites down.
