The Tears of the Blade Runner

Ah, Oscar Pistorius… The South African athlete who surprised the world by competing in the Olympic Games, although both his legs were amputated when he was 11 months old. His life was a dream, a fairytale. He had it all, the fame, the money, the respect. It was impossible not to look up and respect Pistorius. 

But on February 14 2013 that fairytale has gone terribly wrong. Pistorius shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, who he thought was a burglar. Now, over a year later, the trial continued after a two weeks break. Several times the South African athlete broke down in tears during his trail and a lot has been written about those tears. “He should get an award for this performance” some said. According to others Pistorius even followed acting classes before his trail. Sounds a bit over the top, I think. But hey, people are prepared to do crazy things when their freedom is at stake. 

Is Pistorius faking his tears in order to convince the jury of his innocence? Could be. Maybe he’s a murderer and is willing to put up a show to stay out of jail. But there is also a chance that he’s just a broken hearted man who still can’t live with the fact he killed the woman he loved. That he’s a victim of his own horrible mistake. There are two sides to every story, we shouldn’t forget to also listen to Pistorius his side before we assume he’s a coldhearted murderer. 

Catya Leroux