Wednesday, September 22, 2010

uh. hi.

A brief update.  Still snarled in the wheels of the legal system, the appeals court is reviewing our brief and we're waiting to schedule oral argument.

A lot of visits, and comments.  Hi, all y'all.  Who knew Catfish would bounce back here?  A few words about Catfish - no, I haven't seen it, but I can pretty much figure how it ends.  I've heard a bit of questioning as to whether or not this movie is really a documentary, I doubt very much it was based on my story.  It doesn't have to be.  Shit like this happens all the time, and it's not just career con artists like Janna Janny Janna Hopper St James Priggie.  The internet's unleashed a whole mess of criminal behavior, and the legal system is still catching up in terms of how to prosecute.  Luckily, my lawyer is well-versed in internet law, but there are still precedents to be set.  Point is, a lot of lonely shut-ins have found a new way of making friends, by making themselves sound more interesting than they really are, and by stirring up drama.  It's too easy now.

So, maybe Catfish is real, maybe it's not, but the lesson to be learned is still the same.  Don't trust them till you meet them in the flesh, and even then, be wary.

P.S.  Donna, please get in touch with me (email is clickable on my profile) if you want me to direct you to some people who might be able to help you.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

People high in empathy do not recognize sociopaths. People high in empathy make use of their knowledge of their own emotions to interpret the emotions of others. Can you see then why people who rely on empathy in interactions with others completely miss sociopaths? An empathetic person correctly observes that sociopaths enjoy the company of others. He/she then self-references his/her own feelings of affection with regard to enjoying other people. The victim is fooled into interpreting power motivations as affection-related motivations.

...and on it goes.

Anonymous said...

There are things so heinous that people find them hard to believe; are hard pressed to believe that such a thing could happen to their smart selves; and so, in denial, smugly say, 'it isn't so', 'it can't be, you must have...'. This is the world that Janna St. James creates for others - this half-world where her dupes live with the destruction she wreaks in their lives; the disbelief of those around them; the trauma of betrayal and the dissolution of their dreams. It's an odd country we live in - where a person like her is free to do this again and again. Stealing lives and time, security and sanity should have a legal price.

Grace said...

does Janna have a facebook?

Anonymous said...

Anon #1: ack

Anon #2: I'm with you all the way

Grace: I'm sure she has many. Like her Twitter accounts.

Anonymous said...

OMG, the TWITTER accounts! The world count of Tweets would half if the fat lady stopped Tweeting! So many characters, so little soul.

Anonymous said...

Catfish, from what I've read, is about a woman who goes online and pretends to be a beautiful, younger woman, using scanned pictures of her niece, and pretends to be about 10 other people, from friends to family. At the end, she proclaims she did it all to protect their identity, so it's a little mix of your story with the Kaycee Nicole hoax.

Speaking of that, the Kaycee Nicole hoax's 10th anniversary is this May. I still can't understand why the courts and judicial systems haven't come up with anything to stop these people. Phone harassment was on the books in what? 3 years after it started?

Anonymous said...

Yep. Courts don't know what to make of the internets yet.

Sheila O'Shea said...

What lay at the bottom of the rabbit hole in Catfish was more heartbreaking than I ever anticipated, even as I knew from the start that things were Not Quite As They Might Seem.

I don't think it's fake at all. Or, at least, it's not fake from the end of the filmmakers, put it that way.

Anonymous said...

I just wanted to say I read your entire blog. I feel for you very much but I must say I am very intrigued. I guesss that's just the human condition. I do have a question though. What was the role of 'Julia Moon.' I read her blog as well and was wonder how she fit into the mix of all this. You must think I have no life to read your entire blog and blogs of the other players in this charade. But what can I say? My job can get pretty boring sometimes.. =)

-Kristy

Anonymous said...

Kristy - "Julia" was a woman that "Jesse" rescued from a car crash in his capacity as an EMT. She was pretty badly injured, and she had just relocated to teach in "Alice's" school, so "Jesse" offered one of the guest houses on his property for her recovery, since she hadn't even had time to find a place to live. Of course, "Julia" became very attached to "Jesse," pursuing him unrelentingly, and ultimately impregnating herself while "Jesse" was under the influence of strong sedatives, after sneaking into his home one evening. She was the reason behind "Jesse's" first suicide attempt.

Yeah, I know. I knooooowwwwww.

There's tons more to it, this went on over a four month period.