One of America's most puzzling true crimes has received the Lifetime movie treatment. The still-unsolved murder of 6-year-old JonBenet Ramsey will be explored in Lifetime's new film Who Killed JonBenet?, set to debut on the network on November 5. The 1996 murder is a disturbing subject to explore via narrative film, however there's one particularly unsettling element in the new movie's trailer. This detail might make you extra uncomfortable: the use of JonBenet's voiceover to tell the story.
The trailer for the upcoming movie features haunting imagery of JonBenet's last Christmas, set to a particularly eerie rendition of "Silent Night." That's when we hear from "JonBenet" — or, rather, the voiceover of the actress who portrays her. Here is the chilling commentary the film gives to JonBenet in the trailer:
"I was Little Miss Colorado. This Christmas, I would be 26. But to everyone, I'll always be six."
It's a sad, true statement — JonBenet will forever be remembered by the last, and worst, thing that ever happened to her. However, there's something particularly disturbing about JonBenet's "beyond the grave" commentary. Her voice was silenced by whoever killed her — and, given the fact that Lifetime's movie is titled Who Killed JonBenet? it's fair to say that the film takes a point of view on who that person is. Using JonBenet's voice assumes that the film has more authority on that subject than it ever possibly could.
Should the movie use this device throughout, it establishes an idea that the Lifetime movie's version of events are in fact true. The sad fact is, we don't know the real story about what happened to JonBenet — all we have are theories, a few of which are alluded to in the new trailer. With this voice guiding us through the story, it's hard not to wonder whether this technique will help give credence to certain theories while discrediting others.
JonBenet's murder remains a mystery, and hopefully, Lifetime won't give us the answer onscreen that we are lacking in real life.
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