Main Attraction

This chapter focuses on the main show in each episode. Here the lynching case from Maryland takes center stage, mainly because the rich detail that the source materials provide enables one to see people moving in and out of different roles in a given moment and over time. To put this display in comparative perspective, the chapter also discusses violent displays in Rwanda and Bosnia. Both pale in comparison to the lynching in terms of their brutality and extralethality. And yet, these less-spectacular displays, the chapter argues, still express notions of power and belonging. Here, the chapter develops and applies a theory of casting. This theory is less about individual nobodies becoming somebodies and more about the diversity of people who help to constitute a violent display as such, including those who happen on the scene unwittingly or unwillingly. The casting process does not guarantee anyone a particular role; some might try but fail to grab a starring role, for example. What it ensures is that everyone becomes part of the show, whether they want to be or not.