Do you feel Anastasia's tragic death is somehow cheapened by Anna Andersen?

[Cornholio]

Anastasia was not a cartoon character. She was a real girl with a real face, a real mind and a real life. She died tragically at only 17 in a brutal way. She should be remembered with sadness and respect. The way I see it, the stories of Anna Andersen being Anastasia, and living a long life, and ending up the way she did, is a discredit to the life and memory of the real Anastasia. A girl who should be rememered sadly, and honored as a Holy Martyr, is now in a way a joke because of Anna Andersen and her false claim. To think that there are still those to this day who believe that Anna Andersen was Anastasia is a sad disgrace to the real life of a murdered girl. Can't we have more respect for a real person than to pretend she lived as somebody else? This is how I feel. Do you agree?

[Phil_tomaselli]

Whatever her (possibly) many faults Anna Anderson wasn't a cartoon character either.  Anastasia wasn't a martyr, she was a murder victim & the two things are not identical. 

Phil Tomaselli

[Cornholio]

I didn't mean that Andersen was a cartoon, I was talking about the Anastasia cartoon, though it was most probably Andersen that gave them the idea for the cartoon.

I also know that Andersen was a person with feelings too and as long as we can speak of them as two separate people and not one n the same that is ok. I only feel it is wrong to act like Andersen really was Anastasia alive because the real Anastasia died so horribly and we need to have reverance for that fact.

[Holly]

I feel the exact same way, Cornholio.
Phil, Cornholio never said Anna Anderson was a cartoon character... and to many people, Anastasia IS a martyr. She is now a martyr in the Russian Orthodox church as are the rest of her family. You may not see NAOTMAA that way, but many people do. I've always felt that people who believe such a crazed woman such as Anna Anderson could be Anastasia, were being disrespectful to the real Anastasia's memory. Anna was mentally ill and I feel sorry that she had to live a lie for so long. I hope that soon, Anastasia's remains will be found for sure and then she can be remembered for who she really was; a lively and promising young girl whose life was tragically cut short just because she held the last name of Romanova.

[Penny_Wilson]

Anastasia and "Anna Anderson" are only "jokes" if you treat them as jokes.  I've written about both, and have treated neither that way.  And I fail to see how bypassing "Anna Anderson" accords Anastasia greater respect.  Both are dead and belong to history; both are fair game for books, articles and discussions.

[imperial angel]

I think that it is unfortunate that the name of Anastasia is associated with Anna Anderson. It has made her the most famous of the Romanov girls, so her name lives on. But, I agree that her name might live on in a bad way. I think lots of people not very familiar with the Romanovs throw her name around, and perhaps think she was Anna Anderson, if they are not very informed. Anna Anderson wasn't the only Anastasia impostor, since there were lots of those. But although impostors are inevitable, Anna Anderson was worse than most. I think Anastasia herself would not have been saddened by it, at least at the age she died, she might have been surprised or even amused, by the impact Anna Anderson had on her memory. I feel though, that it does cheapen Anastasia, by making her into something of a cultural figure, but one wholly misunderstood unless you know something about history.

[Olishka~ Pincess]

      I think Anna Andersion lied to everyone including the royal and imperial families just to get attention and probaly money. She was not Anastasia she was a imposter.That woman was a poor pesant. She do not even look similar to Anatasia at all. In movies about her they make Anastasia seem slow and retarted. Like three I seen Anastasia(1997) the cartoon Fox movie , Anastasia the mystery of Anna, and the 1956 movie with Yul Banner and Ingrid Bergman. I disliked those movies they were so stupid and had nothing to do with what realy happened. They are trying to make Anatasia look bad and get money off of her. In all three of those movies she does not know her name , who was her family , how did they look, she just forgot everything. Thats just wrong!!!!   It is a shame how much people are using others just to get what they want mainly MONEY!!! Anastasia would have been angry at them. I believe Anastasia realy died at 17 along with her family in 1918. But her bones are missing probaly because the executioners creamated her and Alexei's body's and buried it a long distance from where they buried the other nine dead bodies. According to Yakov Yurovsky's note they buried two corpses separte from the rest of the bodies.

[Louis_Charles]

I don't think her memory is exactly honored by discussions in a thread started by someone with the screen name "Cornholio", either. Think of the expression of Alexandra's face if she had to explain to her daughters what that means.

[Holly]

I don't think her memory is exactly honored by discussions in a thread started by someone with the screen name "Cornholio", either. Think of the expression of Alexandra's face if she had to explain to her daughters what that means.

A screen name has nothing to do with this thread; it's just a name. What does it matter which name you choose?! I don't think any of them would care what name someone has if they're compassionate about them and their memory. Completely off the point...

[Eddie_uk]

What does it mean 

Anyway AA did a wicked wicked thing. Imagine if it was your loved one she was defrauding. Thats the last thing the surviving Romanovs needed after all they had gone through. Mean, mean, mean!!!

[Penny_Wilson]

What does it mean 

To be as polite as I can, Eddie_Boy, "cornholing" is a sexual activity involving what Cornolio would call his "bunghole."

And despite what you may choose to think, Holly, the choice of this particular screen name is howlingly inappropriate for a person who has decided to come here and lecture on what might or might not be disrespect for the Grand Duchess.  However, if you insist that "Cornholio" is an entirely appropriate user name because it's the intent of the individual behind the name that really matters -- then cut "Anna Anderson" a similar break.  I hear a heck of a lot of "crazy" and "insane" attached to her name in these parts -- and if you believe that, then you can not also believe that her intent was to "disrespect" Anastasia.

~Penny

[duchessclotho]

But on the flip side the story of Anna Anderson has created a lot of interest in the Romanov family.  I myself would never have wanted to learn about the Imperial Family if Anna Anderson hadn't been such a visible character.  Over the years I have evolved in my interest.  But the fascination and the willingness to learn about this vibrant, loving, wonderful family would not have been possible if Anna Anderson never existed.  They just would have been another footnote in history.

Duchessclotho

[Eddie_uk]

Thank you for the explanation Penny!!

[lexi4]

Ah... but it does matter...the screen name. It is based on characters known to be disrepsectuf and while that may or may not be funny on television, it is inappropriate here. The name itself implies disrespect.

[Eddie_uk]

Well if FA's permitted it who are we to judge on what is or isn't an exceptable screen name?