What is So Fascinating About Casey Anthony?

What started as a quiet but bizarre story of a little girl’s disappearance and a mother’s passivity in alerting authorities to that disappearance has taken on the status of a summer blockbuster movie. Crowds of hopeful spectators show up every morning hoping to get into the trial and watch the action in person. Headline News (HLN) has shown the trial in progress since it began, and then the live courtroom feed is followed by hours of talk show analysis by experts and call-in viewers. I know this because I am one of those viewers.

I started watching this story unravel back when Caylee was still considered missing. What drew me in and kept me riveted was the behavior of Casey Anthony, Caylee’s mother. She did not act like a mother of a missing child. From not reporting the child’s disappearance until forced, to her party girl behavior after the time of her daughter’s disappearance, Casey has defied every expectation that we as a society put on mothers.

Casey has been quite apathetic about the situation from day one. She never panicked, or at least panic was never evident. She never cried and said that she could not go on, or at least not in the view of the public.

Then to add to Casey Anthony’s apathetic demeanor were the lies. The lies about where she worked, about the alleged nanny, about how she met the nanny, and of course the lies about how the “fictitious” nanny took Caylee.

In sharp contrast to Casey is her mother, Cindy Anthony. From the very beginning with her calls to 911 Cindy sounded frantic, desperate, and despondent. She wanted answers, but most of all she wanted her granddaughter. Those feelings came through loud and clear in those 911 calls. And those are feelings I could identify with as a mother.

The behaviors of both Casey Anthony and Cindy Anthony have stayed on track throughout this ordeal. In the courtroom Casey has not shown emotion except for during testimony about the deterioration of Caylee’s remains. On the other hand, Cindy could barely speak in court when on the stand testifying. She has openly cried both in the courtroom and out of the courtroom. Casey has not shed a real tear, or so it appears.

I realize people grieve in different ways. I also realize that apathetic behavior alone does not mean that someone is guilty of a heinous crime. But, I also know that until Casey starts to act like someone who has lost something as precious and valuable as a child, she will not have many supporters. So, I continue to watch the trial in the hope that Casey will break down and show real emotion. I want her to do something that I can identify with, and I think that is one of the reasons so many people are watching this case. I hope that is the case. I hope others are not watching this because it is similar to an old-fashioned sideshow carnival, “Step up folks to see the uncaring mother who didn’t mourn her child’s death.” The crowds outside the courthouse should be mourning the loss of a beautiful little girl, but that doesn’t seem to be what is happening.