Kriti Mehrotra
Inspired by the controversial true story of Michelle Carter’s “texting-suicide” case, Hulu’s ‘The Girl From Plainville’ digs deep into the then-teen who encouraged her boyfriend, Conrad Roy III, to take his own life. It’s essentially a limited series that reexamines the bizarre 2014 matter that has mental health struggles and complex navigations of social situations at every step of the way. So now, if you wish to know more about the then 17-year-old (convicted of involuntary manslaughter) and her fascination with Lea Michele as well as ‘Glee,’ in general, we’ve got the details for you.
Was Michelle Carter Really Obsessed With Lea Michele and Glee?
Like almost every teenage girl, Michelle Carter did take a lot of inspiration from different films and television shows in her day-to-day life, but ‘Glee’ was the one that stood out the most. It wasn’t just that she liked the idea of a bunch of misfits coming together; it was the fact that she was (almost creepily) infatuated by the lead character played by Lea Michele, along with her on-screen and off-screen relationship with Cory Monteith. Moreover, she often referred to the actress on her social media platforms as her “woman crush Wednesday (WCW),” as depicted in the Hulu original.
It seemed like Michelle connected with Lea Michele and her role as Rachel Berry on a deeper level, which is why she couldn’t help but directly incorporate some of their phrases into her real life. In fact, court documents reveal that one of her messages to Conrad Roy verbatim quoted Rachel by expressing: “You were my first love, and I wanted more than anything for you to be my last.”
What’s even more morbid is that these imitations by the teen started the month (October 2013) ‘Glee‘ paid tribute to Cory after his accidental overdose death. And then Conrad was found dead inside his car from carbon monoxide poisoning exactly one year to the day the actor passed away — July 13. Michelle’s texts to her boyfriend further implied that it was much more than just him.
The “idea that [Michelle Carter] would be the person in ‘Glee’ who had a boyfriend… who had sort of tragically died I think was kind of more real to her than it probably is to most people,” journalist Jesse Barron said in HBO’s ‘I Love You, Now Die.’ That’s because Conrad himself had been suicidal for a couple of years, which was ultimately seemingly only encouraged by his girlfriend.
As if that wasn’t enough, after Conrad’s demise, Michelle had messaged her friends, “He was the greatest man I ever knew, and I literally lived every day feeling like the luckiest girl in the world” — a sentiment taken directly from Lea’s interview with Ellen DeGeneres after Cory’s passing. Back then, the actress had stated, “I literally lived every day of my life feeling like the luckiest girl in the whole world; I just — I just thought he was the greatest man.”
“I think the reason why [Michelle], and probably so many of us young people loved ‘Glee’ or ‘Fault In Our Stars‘ (a movie where the lead calls his girlfriend while dying in his truck) – the YA world – is because you can be the star of that show. You can put yourself in that fantasy; it’s such an escape for people who feel alone,” Elle Fanning, who plays the part of Michelle Carter in ‘The Girl From Plainville,’ explained. “Glee throughout [the series] is so essential. Reading through Michelle’s text throughout, she was a Gleek.”
Read More: Who Was Conrad’s Girlfriend From Ohio? Is Lily Based on a Real Person?
