I have always took an interest in criminal cases. When I was younger, my father and I were obsessed with shows such as "Criminal Minds." So when I heard about a YouTube star being kidnapped, I was intrigued to see what people had to say about it.
One day I was scrolling through Twitter and saw the hashtag #savemarinajoyce. I started seeing tweets about how the Youtuber, Marina Joyce, was giving out subliminal messages throughout her videos and live broadcasts that she was in need of help and that she was in some sort of danger. So I started to investigate.
The first thing I looked at was her video called "Dating Outfit" Ideas. Throughout the video, you see her trying on different dresses from a company that she is advertising. You see her twirling around in the outfits and showing them off to the camera. But you can tell that there is someone directing her on where to stand and what to do. Her fans seemed to think that was strange. Around 0:11 seconds into the video, as she does a curtsy, you hear a faint whisper saying “help me.” Also towards the end of the video you can see bruises on both of the backs of her arms and upper back.
If you compare this video to videos that she has posted in the past, you see a big change in her personality and how she edits her videos. Her editing style now compared to when she first started posting videos is very sloppy and unprofessional. Also her personality has completely changed. She stutters a lot and is often repetitive when saying sentences. Some people suggested that maybe her boyfriend or "kidnappers" took over her YouTube channel.
In other videos she has also had bruises on her legs, possible chains on her ankles and her boyfriend had markings on his knuckles (possibly from hitting her). Others have posted pictures of her live feed saying their are strange people filming her. People have also claimed that she would often draw two blue lines on her face. Two blue lines can represent that you are in danger and need help.
Her audience has said that whenever she has a meet and greet, a bad shooting occurs. So in her videos, when she would say to go to one of her meet and greets, she would use use the sign language for "don't come" as she's saying it. Also, in some of her live broadcasts, her fans would type in things like " make a heart if you're in danger" or "clap if you need help" and she would perform those actions.
Everyone started saying that she was in either being kidnapped by ISIS, or being kidnapped and domestically abused. The hashtag #savemarinajoyce went viral throughout Twitter. So many people were worried for this girl. After multiple calls were made to the police, the cops finally got involved. Joyce, her family and the police all claim that she is perfectly fine even after many people who claim to know her claim she is either on drugs or is schizophrenic. Towards the end of her most recent video and on her Twitter, she has addressed that she thanks all of her fans for the #savemarinajoyce and that she is safe and okay.
In a recent interview with Phillip Defranco, she says, "It made me realize how concerned everyone was for me and it actually made me so happy that everyone was concerned for me...and yeah... and I almost hit a million subscribers!"
Her saying that filled me with such anger. In my opinion, I believe that it was a huge publicity stunt that she pulled. There are 258,115 kidnappings per year. 43 percent of college women who are dating report experiencing violent and abusive dating behaviors. Dating abuse and kidnappings are not something she should be mocking and faking for more fans as she has these past few weeks. Whether she is on drugs, schizophrenic or not, this is not okay.
Throughout the interview with DeFranco, she answers a lot of personal questions about if she is on drugs, about the bruises and how she reacted to the scandal. Her answers were not very clear. She seems so happy that she has her viewers rather than being concerned that her viewers think she is in danger.
But this is just my personal opinion about the topic and I do not judge anyone with mental illness and/or a drug problem, but I am just stating that if this is a publicity stunt that it is completely wrong and could be disrespectful towards people who have been abused, kidnapped or have a mental illness.
