I watched this documentary last night on Netflix and am surprised that there hasn’t been a thread about this already. I was hesitant to watch it because I had already heard about what happened (before the documentary was made) but a friend recommended I still check it out. Even knowing who the perpetrator was, it was a gut-punching watch.
The texts that were sent were so vile - I can’t imagine receiving that sort of thing for 2 years as an adult, let alone as a teenager! And it really shocked me how resistant Owen’s parents were to change his number. Or if they truly were that obsessed with finding out the culprit, why not keep the phone themselves and secretly give the kid a different one? It seemed like they were too wrapped up in the drama and the excitement of the chase to actually put the welfare of their child first.
And speaking of the children’s welfare, during the “big reveal” of the perpetrator it broke my heart to see the way Lauryn’s dad reacted to the news. He was more upset that his wife had lied about having a job than he was that she had severely abused and bullied their daughter for years. The mom is clinging to this obviously traumatized young woman and he’s flipping out because of money, without a single thought that maybe that vile woman needed to be pried off of her victim.
The documentary and everyone involved also seems to completely gloss over the sexually predatory and obsessive nature of the perpetrator’s texts about Owen.
I also don’t feel very comfortable about the timing of this documentary, it just seems too close to the events. The kids are obviously still very traumatized about what happened, and Lauryn has very obviously not been able to process that her mom was her abuser. I don’t see how this film can do anything other than add to their trauma over the whole thing.
While I agree with you, the kid should be in therapy, and the story had already leaked out. I hadn’t heard about it and was completely shocked when I found out who did it. I watch a lot of true crime docs and have become pretty good at guessing who did it before it’s revealed. I had no idea on this one.
So was I and that is entirely down to the fact that the culprit was shameless enough to participate in the documentary. You can usually deduce who the bad guy is in these type of docs by who isn’t talking.
I’m honestly surprised she isn’t required to register as a sex-offender. Between the language in those texts, which were sent to very young teens, and her obvious sexualization and obsession with Owen, she is obviously not someone that should be allowed around children.
@dolphinboy Even going into it knowing who did it, I found myself questioning my memory and thinking I had it wrong. Just mind-blowing.
I was kind of surprised they named the app the perpetrator used to send the messages. Probably not a good idea to give others the knowledge of how to copycat the crime..
Just a suggestion. Discussion might be easier if we dispense with the blurred spoilers. You (as the OP) can ask a mod to put a spoiler warning in the thread title.
Probably a good idea, I’ll do that. I wasn’t sure if people just naturally stopped blurring spoilers after the first couple of posts or what - but it is such a new show that I didn’t want someone who was only interested in it but hadn’t seen it to get things spoiled right off the bat.
The whole thing is a monetization scam. Even if Mom is a monster and kid is a victim, all that is secondary to an overweening goal to cash in and cash in hard. Because in the current era life and basic humanity is secondary to cashing in via momentary celebrity.
I utterly fail to understand the OP’s outrage / horror about this behavior. It;s exactly as expected in the current zeitgeist.
I’m confused - what outrage or horror have I shown about them (presumably) getting paid? I’m saddened by it, as it’s just another example of the adults failing yet again to protect the children/young adults involved, but any outrage or horror I’ve expressed has only been regarding the actions of the mom and the light punishment she received.