The Casey Anthony Case

2178 Words5 Pages

The Casey Anthony case was one that captured the heart of thousands and made it to the headline of national TV talk shows, newspapers, radio stations and social media networks for months. The root of the case was due to a clash between the parental responsibilities, the expectations that went with being a parent, and the life that Casey Anthony wanted to have. The case was in respect to the discovering the cause of Casey’s two-year-old daughter, Caylee Marie Anthony’s, death; however the emphasis was placed on Casey and her futile lies, which resulted in a public outcry. The purpose of this essay is to delve into the public atmosphere and inquire about why the media and social media collectively attacked the case by uncovering the content of the case, the charges that were laid, and later dismissed, the “performers” of the trial and the publics reaction. It will further discuss how it defies universal ideologies and how the media represents this. The discussion of the complexities of the case and its connotations will incorporate Stuart Hall’s Representation and the Media, Robert Hariman’s Performing the Laws, What is Ideology by Terry Eagleton, The Body of the Condemned by Michael Foucault, and a number of news articles, which will reveal disparate ideas of representation in the media, and the role of the performers of the law and their effect on the understanding of the case. To begin, I will provide a summary of what happened prior-to and throughout the duration of the trial. Caylee Marie Anthony was a two-year-old American girl who lived in Orlando, Florida with her mother, Casey Marie Anthony, and her maternal grandparents, George and Cindy Anthony. On July 15, 2008, she was reported missing to 9-1-1 by Cindy, who said she h... ... middle of paper ... ..., 5 July 2011. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. . 4. Hariman, R. “Performing the Laws: Popular Trials and Social Knowledge” from Popular Trials: Rhetoric, Mass Media, and the Law, Robert Hariman, ed(s)., University of Alabama Press, 1990. 17-30. 5. Lohr, D. "Casey Anthony 'Assassination Attempt': Lawyer Tells Huff Post 'None Of It Is True'." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 17 Nov. 2011. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. 6. Swanson, D., and Johnston, D. "A Content Analysis of Motherhood Ideologies and Myths in Magazines." Invisible Mothers. New York: Plenum Publishing Corporation, 2003. 21-31.

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