Nationalism Prevails In Amanda Knox’s Murder Trial

Amanda Knox, in Italian custody. Image by AFP/Getty Images via Daylife

You’ve heard, I’m sure: In late 2007, Amanda Knox, a young, bright-eyed Washingtonian college student, entered a study abroad program in Italy, then (to put it briefly) roomed with a British co-ed, met an Italian boyfriend, and, about a week after a crazy Halloween night of drinking and hash-smoking, was charged in the murder of her British roommate, Meredith Kercher.

Knox and her then-boyfriend, Rafaelle Sollecito, claimed — and continue to claim — innocence. And the European press has had more than a field year with the story. Among other intriguing details, Amanda and her (now ex-) boyfriend are both attractive, they’ve exacerbated the unfolding drama by offering multiple conflicting statements about the night in question, and the Italian prosecutor assigned to the case (Giuliano Mignini, who is himself being investigated on various abuse of power charges) has done much to direct the story into soap opera territory: he’s accused Knox and her boyfriend (and the third involved party, Rudy Guede, who’s already serving a hefty sentence for Kercher’s murder) of participating in a Satanic sex ritual, slitting Kercher’s throat as the finale to some violently sexual game. British tabloids alone have done much to fuel flames. Consider: “Murder suspect ‘Foxy Knoxy’ spends Christmas in an Italian jail ’singing carols and watching Kung Fu Panda film,” “Meredith Kercher ‘killed after refusing orgy,’” and “‘Foxy Knoxy’: Inside the twisted world of murdered Meredith’s flatmate.”

The view from the United States is calmer, for the most part — “Amanda Knox Tells Her Story,” a 48 Hours “Mystery” special, consistent reports from the Seattle P-I. There’s also Timothy Egan’s take, from his New York Times blog, “Outposts”:

All trials are about narrative. In Seattle, where I live, I see a familiar kind of Northwestern girl in Amanda Knox, and all the stretching, the funny faces, the neo-hippie touches are benign. In Italy, they see a devil, someone without remorse, inappropriate in her reactions.”

Egan’s post is certainly skewed (and I’ll refer you to Ann Coulter if you want to read more about that), but the more interesting thought, in my opinion, comes earlier:

That is not to say the Italian courts are not fair-minded. We kill innocent Americans often enough through our legal system, kill them because of shoddy police work or racial prejudice.”

This seems too important to dismiss in an offhand remark. We do, in fact, kill many innocent Americans through our legal system. And we also lock some of them up for life. So why is Meredith Kercher’s murder so much more alluring to us than, say, any of the potentially thousands of cases within the United States involving wrongful convictions? Furthermore, why does the opinionated American view — or at least the opinionated American view from the United States’ newspaper of record — seem to be that Amanda Knox is in the midst of a horrifying miscarriage of justice? A commenter, wayra, in Egan’s post makes poignant suggestions:

Why does he assume that Knox is ‘an innocent?’ Is it because she is white? because she is from a middle class family? because she has blue eyes and a pretty face? because she is American? The last time I checked, these facts of birth and appearance don’t exonerate someone from the possibility of committing murder.”

Possibly true. And I submit we can go further: When we hear about gross malfeasance within the United States’ justice system, it’s difficult to comfortably absorb: We don’t want to believe — at least in our relaxing, headline-browsing, six o’clock news hours — that we’re in a society where people are regularly mistreated by a system designed to keep peace. It’s just too sad. We want miscarriages of justice to happen somewhere else. Somewhere where we are not. Like Italy. (Or Iran, but I won’t go there.)

This contributes to an element of nationalism — of sport — in media coverage surrounding Knox’s murder trial; a mindgame comparing what it’s like here, versus what it’s like there. Which nation is “better”? Who can hold their heads higher? From this case alone, we see undertones insinuating that Americans are sometimes perceived as “ugly” — noisy, rude, uncaring, selfish — especially when they’re abroad. We can likely glean similar insinuations about the British. And in Italy, as Egan quotes his colleague, Rachel Donadio: “…the general assumption is that someone is guilty until proven innocent. Trials — in the press and in the courts — are more often about defending personal honor than establishing facts, which are easily manipulated.” So the not-at-all-subtle insinuation is that Italians are hotheaded and unethical and proud to a fault.

Are these the reasons why we’re so intrigued by Amanda Knox? Because — in addition to all the twists and complexes, carnal desires and misunderstandings in the case — it’s an international spat to grossly generalize and compare national values?

It’s uncomfortable even to think about. Every piece about the Knox media vortex tends to close with the same thought, and this one, too, ends with the acknowledgement that, for all this case’s intrigue and drama, it is, at its core, about the brutal killing of an innocent person. And perhaps once all the dust has settled, we’ll know fairly clearly why Meredith Kercher’s murder occurred and, perhaps more importantly, who exactly was responsible for it.

But, sadly, like many similar — and way less hyped cases in the United States — we may not.

Related:

• Meredith Kercher trial: Raffaele Sollecito makes emotional declaration (telegraph.co.uk)
• Murdered Meredith Kercher’s family feel ‘no hate’ towards accused (telegraph.co.uk)
• Mistaken Identities and Executions: 6 Murderers Who Didn’t Do It (Mental Floss)