Convicted sex offender Thijs Römer is suddenly back. His uncle Paul Römer announced his comeback very enthusiastically on the radio. “Do his victims know this?”
Thijs Römer, who served time in prison for sexual offenses involving underage girls, has been performing a new theater performance since last week in which he looks back on the past years. He did this secretly in front of 150 guests, his proud uncle Paul Römer said today. Speech makers on NPO Radio 1.
Incredibly beautiful
The intention is that Thijs will now go public with ‘A form of loneliness’, as the theater show is called. “It is a very vulnerable subject for him. It is also a vulnerable moment for him, because these are his first steps back on stage and in public,” says Paul.
He is filled with pride. “We played it — or, well, they played it and I watched — and I was really blown away. It turned out to be an incredibly beautiful, honest, emotional and almost unrelenting performance.”
Crying people
Everyone present loved Thijs’s play, according to Paul. “That was a very special experience, because people were all impressed. I saw people crying in the room and people who were confused by the whole setting. That was very beautiful.”
Thijs has prepared really well for it, he continues. “It took him two years to create this. The piece was born last weekend and what we wanted is for him to be able to do it in the peace and concentration he needed.”
Publicity
Now Thijs is ready for media attention. “We deliberately said: ‘We are not going to do any publicity at the front, because then there might be a lot of fuss and interview requests will come and that will distract from the making of the piece.’ But now the piece is there, it has been made for the public and we can go public with it.”
What is Paul’s role in this anyway? “I helped them in the organization and make it possible for them to do this.”
Media strategy
Presenter Roos Abelman is critical. “Are we looking at a careful media strategy of the Römer family? Why did you want to tell it here? Because you have a reason for that.”
Paul: “Media moments are often about television and radio, but media is more. This affects me very much, I am involved, I think it is beautiful and I am lucky that I have the opportunity to talk about it. That is not a strategy, but it comes from me.”
Narrative
Media expert Elger van der Wel, who is also in the studio, is annoyed by it. “You are now taking complete control over the narrative surrounding Thijs by also telling it here now.”
Paul: “What exactly is the problem if you make something and you want to tell the world about it?”
Elger: “It is a very sensitive subject for the women. It feels very much as if the family is trying to control the narrative and I have difficulty with that, especially because of the position you are in now.”
Much respect
Paul states that the theater show is extremely respectful towards Thijs’ victims. “The performance has also been made with respect to everyone who has been involved in this history.”
Doctor Heleen Koudijs, who is also in the studio, wonders: “You indicate that it was made with great respect for everyone involved, but what about those girls? The then underage girls for whom he ended up in prison. Has there been contact with them? Has there been consultation with them?”
Media moments
For Thijs’s victims, a period is now coming when the case will be stirred up, Heleen explains. “I can imagine that a performance that is played in private is really different from a performance that will lead to media moments and talk shows and attention.”
Paul does not think contact with the victims is necessary. “The performance was created by Thijs, so there was no consultation with everyone involved at the front. It is his story that he tells. When you see the performance, you also see how he deals with it. I think that is with a lot of respect for everyone.”
Sensible
Roos thinks very differently about that. “Wouldn’t it have been wise to contact those girls? He didn’t appeal at that time, they thought that was very nice so that they could put it behind them. And now this.”
The conviction and prison sentence have provided the victims with enough relief, Paul concludes. “After that point, everyone has to get on with their lives. The satisfaction has been taken and now you have to move forward again.”