Sophie Lancaster was beaten to death by a mob because she tried to save her boyfriend from a vicious attack. They were targeted for being dressed like goths.
From Sky news:
The mother of a young Goth who was beaten to death because of the way she dressed, has helped create an animated film of her final moments, as part of a plea for tolerance of others.
Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend Robert Maltby were set upon by a gang in a park in Bacup, Rossendale in August 2007, because of the way they looked.
Sophie died tried to protect Robert.
The haunting animation is being launched on what would have been her 23rd birthday.
"It's really, really important to me that people see this film," Sophie's mother Sylvia Lancaster told Sky News online.
"People focus on me and it's not about that. It's about getting the message of tolerance across.
"I want people to see how wrong it was and what a waste it was.
"I want them to think twice before they commit acts of violence."
Sophie, 20, was killed by a gang
The film, called 'Sophie: A Dark Angel', shows Sophie and Robert walking through the park and charts both the horrific attack and its aftermath.
It ends with a plea from Sophie's mother to stop similar crimes from happening again.
Two teenagers, Ryan Herbert and Brendan Harris, were convicted of her murder at a trial in Preston last year.
The Sophie Lancaster Foundation, set up in her memory, is trying to raise awareness of hate crimes, and Sophie's mother has been involved in making the film from the very beginning.
"It was finished last Friday so I had the weekend to watch it and try and desensitise myself," she said.
"I felt quite upset seeing it for the first time.
"It is difficult to distance yourself."
The film was commissioned by the cosmetics firm Illamasqua which has launched a make-up range in support of the foundation.
It will be shown on a loop on a giant projector outside Manchester cathedral from 7pm to 11pm tonight, and broadcast internationally on MTV.
21 Comments
CrushBugWow... massive *quality
siftbotInvocations (quality) cannot be called by CrushBug because CrushBug is not privileged - sorry.
CrushBugDarn you siftbot and your changed user rankings!
dagComment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)
Allow me CB *quality.
siftbotBoosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by dag.
gwiz665I don't get why people want to hit other people like this. You can have personal reasons for wanting to hit another person, but something like this is just senseless, unreasonable, despicable madness. Stomping on someone lying down is damn near the lowest action someone can do.
HollywoodBobsays...So the moral of this story is "Don't dress like a goth", right?
EnzoblueDon't be different.
PaybackSince when has Man needed a reason to kill? Even back when we were up in the trees, we would still group together and attack the weak.
The attackers in this case are evolutionary throwbacks. They should not be allowed to degrade the gene pool.
ctrlaltbleachI'm sorry I cannot even watch this but up voting for the story hope thats okay. Really shocked that this happened in England. I always thought Europeans were more tolerant of others. Now I'm starting to realize maybe there is no place on the earth where everyone can be happy together.
mxxcon>> ^HollywoodBob:
So the moral of this story is "Don't dress like a goth", right?
you are a pretty pathetic human being if you think that's the moral of this story.
FlowersInHisHair"The film was commissioned by the cosmetics firm Illamasqua which has launched a make-up range in support of the foundation."
Err, what?
StukaFoxsays...Goddamnit! There's perfectly good Juggaloos that need killin'!
spawnflaggerinstant upvote for Portishead.
animation kinda felt like the style of "Spirited Away".
would suck to be her boyfriend that survived...that kinda shit lingers on the mind forever.
(not saying it was better to die, just saying)
humans are so anythingist. We could have a world filled with clones, and someone would still find a reason to hate...
DrivelsAdvocate>> ^ctrlaltbleach:
Really shocked that this happened in England. I always thought Europeans were more tolerant of others. Now I'm starting to realize maybe there is no place on the earth where everyone can be happy together.
I live quite near to where this girl was killed. I'm afraid that any romantic notion you had of England doesn't exist any more - we are under siege from feckless, moronic, feral youths who engage in low levels of criminality (and the occasional high profile case) with near impunity. God help you if you ever decide to take one of the little bleeders down a peg or two, though, as you'll more than likely be the one who ends up banged up.
Edit: That's a cringe-worthy related link at the bottom of the page; Sophie Ellis Baxter's Murder on the Dancefloor? Only if they play your song..
joe2says...how profoundly sad the mother must be... to lose a child for nothing
jimnmsDid the video start muted for anyone else? The volume slider was all the way up, so at first I assumed it was just a silent animation. Then I moved the slider down and there was the sound.
fjulesThat's what you get for trying to "different" and "edgy".
Inb4 series of downvotes.
Asphyxium913"we are under siege from feckless, moronic, feral youths who engage in low levels of criminality (and the occasional high profile case) with near impunity."
I figured that all the rednecks in this country had to come from somewhere.
Hearing about an innocent girl beaten to death like this makes me angry enough to reciprocate their behavior on them.
It makes me want to smash their faces into 10 thousand tiny broken shattered pieces.
I feel less inclined to try to do so however, as I've seen a video of someone being murdered by actually having their face smashed and I must say: it's really not the great idea that it sounds like.
I don't think things would have been any different in this case, but watching that video of the Russian teens slamming a heavy wrench into the face of a helpless old man ought to de-stomach most people to such notions.
Especially during the part where he regains conciousness and tries to shake his head, completely unaware of what's going on, as his battered broken face bleeds down and squirts out a pale pinkish arterial spray.
Raaaghhaha. Cunts.
So what is this and how come i have no sound?
yellowcsays...>> ^jimnms:
Did the video start muted for anyone else? The volume slider was all the way up, so at first I assumed it was just a silent animation. Then I moved the slider down and there was the sound.
If you don't have sound and want it, follow those steps, happened to me also.
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