Forty-one years after the death of little Grégory, a new hearing relaunches one of the darkest mysteries of French justice. Behind the collective thrill, a question remains: why do these tragic stories obsess us so much?
The Grégory affair, a ghost that continues to haunt the collective memory
Forty-one years have passed, and yet, the affair of little Grégory continues to fascinate the whole of France. This tragedy, which occurred on October 16, 1984, remains an unfinished legal enigma, where twists and turns follow one another over the decades. Friday, October 24, the court ordered a new hearing of the child’s great-aunt, Jacqueline Jacob, 81 years old. Already arrested in 2017 for “kidnapping and sequestration followed by death” with her husband and indicted last June, she has always denied her involvement.
But large gray areas persist: an uncertain alibi on the day of the events and recent graphological expertise which possibly links his writing to that of the mysterious crow. Without knowing the finality, this new hearing revives the speculations of those passionate about the case, convinced that a detail could finally reveal everything. Forty-one years later, the child in the blue sweater remains the symbol of unfinished national mourning.
Why do news items capture our attention so much?
From the Grégory affair to that of Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès, including the disappearance of little Émile, news items regularly appear in our conversations and our screens. They create a form of national communion around the inexplicable. This fascination is not new: “Not so long ago, at the end of the 19th century, public executions attracted crowds“, recalls psychotherapist Ana Evangelista. Today, these stories “arrive at home”, in the newspapers and on our screens, and continue to disturb our peace.
For the therapist, this attraction has a deep root: “The majority of us are attracted to these tragic stories because they question the great mysteries of our existence: life, death, sexuality and violence. These themes, exposed in broad daylight, awaken in us a natural and human curiosity. As Freud describes very well, human beings like to see and be seen“.
The news item, by its nature, awakens powerful and contradictory emotions: fear, compassion, sometimes repulsion. And because it often takes place in a familiar setting – a house, a village, an ordinary family – it blurs the line between “them” and “us”. This emotional closeness explains why each new twist rekindles the flame of collective curiosity.
Between fear, identification and catharsis: the hidden sources of this fascination
The news story disturbs as much as it attracts. It exposes the gray areas of human nature, while offering the security of observation from a distance. “The news resonates within us. We project ourselves, we identify with the victim and their family. We tell ourselves that this could happen to us too“, underlines the therapist.
For many, these stories play an almost therapeutic role: “Experiencing these horrors vicariously brings relief: the atrocities are happening outside our homes“. Watching the tragedy from your living room means confronting the unimaginable while remaining on the right side of reality.
But behind this curiosity there is also a more intimate quest. “We all have a dark side within us, which education, socialization and our physiological and psychological maturation help us to control from childhood.“, recalls the expert. The news item, by exposing the transgression, allows these repressed areas to be explored without consequence. By contrast, it reassures: “No, I couldn’t behave in such a monstrous way!“.
This fascination is not necessarily unhealthy. “It’s not voyeurism, but natural curiosity“, reassures Ana Evangelista. According to her, “Our desire to understand what makes some people slip up is stronger than the disgust it inspires in us“. The news item, by shaking up our routine, brings us together in the same questioning: how far can humans go?
The psychotherapist, however, highlights a limit: when this curiosity becomes obsessive. “From the moment a person puts this before other aspects of their life, we can truly speak of addiction.“. At that moment, the need to know turns into a compulsion, and the thrill turns into control.