Yeah that figure is wrong, I think it was 14 Australians held in indonesian prisons. I think 153 is a global figure.
A prisoner exchange deal should help more of them than just Schapelle.
There are several reasons why this case has particularly kicked off the media bandwagon, and risen to such a cultish state
-Schapelle is pretty
-She is young
-She is well spoken, confident
-She is basically a girl next door type figure
-Ron Bakir played a major role in creating this media hype.... if he ever comes out and attacks the media coverage, he should get his ass kicked because he has driven a lot of it. Notice when the media might have been quiet for a little while about Schapelle he would come out with this massive allegation that would get it back on the front pages again. The media coverage was not huge until Bakir got involved.
-If Schapelle was from a foreign background you would have never seen this amount of support....
-Her white Australian girl next door qualities appeal to the tribal minds of the general Australian public. Fear and loathing of Indonesians comes easily to a large proportion of the general public. This case was sort of set up as Schapelle vs the evil Indonesians. From day one this story had the potential to be a ratings winner.
-Schapelle made a very good tv personality... she was brave, cried sometimes which everyone likes to see, and had a likable personality.
If Lindy Chamberlain had cried a bit more and wasn't part of a strange religion, the media may have found her innocent. Her story had the ratings winner aspect as well, especially since "the lost child" in the harsh Australian environment is somewhat a colonial narrative about European insecurities. It's another them vs us story, except it is us vs a harsh landscape.
