Talking About Amy Bradley: A Netflix Shocker (Spoilers)
3 min read
A Cynical View Minus The Bollocks
Netflix paints the Amy Bradley case as a deep mystery, but, at the same time it is structured with a very plausible outcome.
The Boring Explanation is Most Likely
Just as Netflix announce her disappearance they hurl in a local over-familiar with the sea's current! Message being: 'we know where a body will wash up, none did,' computer imagery helped to convey the claim.
We learn Mr and Mrs Bradley pushed to have all passengers grounded until their 23 year old Amy was found. Their request was denied. The staff did do something; a deep search after the passengers disembarked - it was to no avail. Okay, being a tad boring here. Look, she got off the ship!
Sidestepping Netflix
I watched Alister Yellow Douglas, who was cleared by the FBI, on YouTube in an interview. He said Amy told him that her parents made her go on the cruise because she was gay. That confused the bloke and it struck a chord with me! The pushy parents shared one bedroom, Amy, a grown-ass woman, also kept her own flat! What the fuck?
Netflix did allude to tensions during the trip of several occasions. Her sexual orientation was a significant issue and key! Her father sent Amy's ex-partner a negative three page letter to keep away! You see where this is going?
The Crux Of The Situation
Amy smoked, drank heavily, partied hard and became the 'life and soul' pulling in the attention. Why? Well... a witness on the Netflix show said on camera there seemed to be something driving Amy's behaviour, duh!
Of course, it screams rebellion rather than just having fun. If you're feeling pressured by people who want to change who you are, wouldn't you push back? You might want to distance yourself, you might want to self-medicate? Do you know what I mean?
What Happened?
Curaçao in the late 90s was known for drugs and trafficking. I looked it up. Amy had motive to leave the ship, be it a self-medicating thing or an act of defiance, a break from the cruise ship, we could compile a list.
Tragically, this headstrong young woman walked right onto an unsafe island alone. The FBI endured limitations with investigating because they were in international waters, jurisdiction was a barrier. A poverty of Intel hindered progress.
The Outcome
We can't rightfully dismiss the witness accounts and photographic evidence that sprung up years later. The FBI analysis concluded it was Amy in those sexualised images. Overboard theories lost credibility.
Netflix very strongly suggests Amy Bradley survived, eventually imprisoned in a guarded lifestyle. I must confess my love of documentaries. Here's another blogpost based on a Netflix documentary. Netflix love to playfully take viewers on a journey, briefly deceive them or go the scenic route, but this is different. A trafficked victim can face multiple forms of abuse and control - drugs, threats, and if Amy has children they could be used as leverage. This is awful.
That's the reality! A young woman caught between identity and family expectation needed to take a break but she was taken. The real mystery isn't what happened to Amy Bradley, as such. It's about how many other people disappear in similar ways.
The horrors of human trafficking mean we have to watch out for each other. Every herd has its predator waiting for a stray.
What I reckon...
I have no idea if Amy Bradley is still alive now. Apart from the monsters who took her and their twisted circles, who does? When I wrote my Madeleine McCann blogpost I read Europol and US documents on trafficked children - life expectancy was greatly diminished for them according to data.
We would all like to see Amy found alive and quickly restored fit and well. Sadly, if we go on the nature of these things the most positive outcomes become more like wishful thinking. Then again, people defy the odds!
It's so very sad. Look after yourselves, watch out for your own. Keep safe!
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