We live in a highly political and polarized world in which many people try to push their own agendas by creating a “perfect victim” to prove their points. Unfortunately, this is often done at the expense of real people.

Manipulating others to advance personal agendas is a tactic as old as human civilization, often veiled in guises of friendship, partnership, or altruism. Some people exploit trust and emotional bonds to leverage support before subtly coercing compliance. Others resort to deception to engineer consent through an intricate web of half-truths and falsehoods. Agendas are also discreetly amplified by constructing images of a “perfect victim,” which can be used to push political, social, or personal points through someone else’s tragedy.

When a perfect victim is created by the media, a person has their traits stripped down to fit a popular narrative. Their story is then twisted to convey a very narrow-minded message at the expense of that person’s reality, as well as at the cost of other people being overlooked. This exploitation undermines the fabric of society, eroding the foundations of mutual respect and integrity upon which genuine growth, trust, and progress thrive.

Therefore, I aim to examine several cases of real people whom the media made to be perfect victims to shed light on how dehumanizing this practice is.

How A Deceased Teen Had Their Story Manipulated For Agenda

Nex Benedict had their name splashed all over social and traditional media following the death of the teenager one day after a bathroom brawl turned physical. The high school student’s cause of death was eventually ruled a suicide. But in the wake of the tragic death before this was announced, it was understandable that many people couldn’t fathom how the seemingly healthy 16-year-old died from causes unrelated to the physical trauma they experienced.

However, what shocked me about the incident (apart from the obvious tragedy of a vibrant teen losing their life) is the fact that thousands of people ran with a narrative that claimed authority over the event that seemingly led to Nex’s death as they pigeonholed Nex into a position of martyrdom by erroneously claiming Nex was killed by people who had chronically been bullying them due to Nex being nonbinary.

As a nonbinary teen who had engaged with bullies and received a physical beating, Nex was immediately portrayed by social media users and news outlets alike as the victim of a hate crime. Countless so-called activists used Nex’s name to push their personal narratives as they used the horrible tragedy as an example of how many trans people are made to feel unsafe in their environments, particularly trans youth. While I am not denying this very real reality, I find it disrespectful that such a narrative was forced on a deceased teenager who was made a martyr for being nonbinary when Nex themselves said otherwise.

Released bodycam footage of Nex speaking to a cop after the incident revealed that Nex admitted to starting the physical altercation with the bullies by throwing water. They explained the teens who went on to assault them were older students they did not know well who had made fun of the way Nex and their friend had laughed. Nowhere in this discussion did Nex mention being the victim of a hate crime, nor did the physical injuries end up leading to Nex’s death.

Western Society & The Perfect Victim: Yet Another Agenda

It is my opinion that the media ran with such a story because people found their perfect outlet to push their personal narratives and agendas. Not only is this depiction extremely narrow-minded and often rooted in racial bias, but it disrespects the person who was victimized by forcing an impossible-to-maintain and unrequested characterization onto them even after death.

A similar situation happened when 22-year-old Gabby Petito was tragically murdered by her partner. The media ignored Gabby’s flawed behavior leading up to her death and painted the beautiful, young, white woman as a “perfect victim” that fit the agenda they wanted to depict. She ended up garnering worldwide attention in the time leading up to her body being discovered and her ex being found after taking his life.

While Gabby in no way, shape, or form deserved to be abused or killed, the fact that her abusive behavior was glossed over is infuriating. Gabby admitted on police cam footage to being abusive, which I believe should have been a part of any public narrative, because it is important to realize that Gabby didn’t have to be “perfect” to have her life lost and to be a victim. Portraying Gabby as an idealized version of who she was is once again a disservice to the young woman.

This obsession with idealization, creating perfect victims, and skewing tragedies to fit agendas also contributes to the phenomenon of “missing white woman syndrome,” in which society becomes immersed in the stories of beautiful white women who disappear. This led to Gabby’s case gaining a massive following, although 710 missing indigenous people in Wyoming have been overlooked in the past decade. Why do people get to decide which victims are more “deserving”?  

Why The Perfect Victim Agenda Is Dehumanizing

Although some cases of public victimization lead to important discussions occurring, they are inherently flawed due to the nest of lies they are constructed upon. Furthermore, creating the “perfect victim” involves reducing an individual to a set of traits or circumstances that fit a predetermined narrative of victimhood. This process strips away the complexity and humanity of the person, erasing their unique experiences, agency, and deserved dignity.

By pigeonholing someone into a narrow archetype of victimhood, their individuality and autonomy are disregarded by society’s expectations or biases. Further dehumanization occurs when people are seen as mere objects or symbols rather than individuals with thoughts, feelings, aspirations, and flaws.

This devaluation can perpetuate harmful stereotypes, reinforce power dynamics, and impede efforts to understand and address the root causes of injustice or suffering. Therefore, creating a perfect victim is a dehumanizing that actually limits empathy and inhibits meaningful engagement with one’s experiences.

The idea of the perfect victim also causes people to rapidly switch sides when their illusion of perfection is shattered. (And it is inevitable that such an illusion will be shattered, because all people are flawed.) For example, many people used the murder of George Floyd to speak against police brutality, especially towards black people. This was actually a relevant and much-needed cause in the United States, and it seemed George Floyd’s brutal murder was the tipping point for many enraged and exhausted Americans.

However, an issue arose when some people made George Floyd a “perfect victim” and martyr to the cause. When it was later revealed that he had a criminal past, some people stopped supporting the cause and didn’t mourn his death. Others went as far as to say he deserved to die. People were unable to comprehend how someone could still be a victim if they weren’t perfect as they weren’t able to comprehend the duality of humans.

Closing Thoughts On The Perfect Victim

In closing, I want to emphasize that I am in no way using the death of the aforementioned people to share my personal ideologies. I extended full sympathies to their family and do not consider them in any way responsible for what news outlets portray. I instead argue that they are being disrespected by the people who are inventing their own narratives because they were multifaceted human beings and not ideologies or concepts.

Nex, the most recent death discussed, did not exist to be used to push an agenda of victimization. It was clear from the way that Nex spoke with the officer that they took responsibility for their actions and didn’t seek pity or the moral high ground that accompanies being a public victim. Nex was a truly commendable person, but even if they weren’t, they still deserved to live a full life. The same goes for Gabby, George Floyd, and all others in similar positions.

It is a real tragedy that these victims did not get to grow up and live full lives. I also think it’s depressing that such people have their deaths misrepresented to suit other people’s interests. They were complex and flawed human beings who deserve to be recognized and remembered for who they were.

Perhaps the most depressing part is that people rarely use the manipulated perfect victim agendas to bring about peaceful and productive change or education, as they instead forcefully and angrily spin lies from half-truths or half truth from hyperboles and run with whatever story best suits their needs. And to me, this is inherently selfish and damaging behavior that should be met with serious self-reflection.

Continued Reading: Victims Without Villains