I watched the Oprah interview, and while I have issues with Oprah in general, I thought it was well done and revealing. A long time in coming. Then I read some of the aftereffects.
Should it really come as any kind of a shock (especially Oprah and her dramatic open-mouthed reaction at one point) that such a lengthy and haughty a tradition as “The Royals” (aka “The Firm”) would behave in such a manner? History and reality are replete with all manner of secretive evil-racist-et cetera practices-versus-public practices. And people are people, no matter what they do, what language they speak, or what clothes they wear: some are nice and some are not. And when someone says they thought about suicide, who the hell are we to reject that? Are you freaking God?
You are not in her head.
Even if perhaps exaggerated (as some claim), place yourself in that kind of situation and be honest:
· You’re used to doing as you please, what you want. Come and go as you please. Now…marry into a family with extreme rules and traditions that require you to give up who you are (note that Meghan was even willing to go All-in with doing the Royal biddings!).
· You could only do what was approved, and much was not.
· You no longer have an individual life.
· You no longer have your identity.
· No longer have any freedom.
· Your every movement is prescribed, analyzed, and refined. Restricted.
· And when you feel you’re having serious issues adjusting and go seek help from your employers, you’re told, no, no one can help you and you just have to suck it up... “We’ve all been there”…put on your Big Girls pants.
· Oh, and BTW, that child of yours? We think her skin tone may be just a wee bit too off-white.
· Then have your status cunningly and insidiously reduced to a non-person and your security detail yanked, yet you’re still demanded to go out into the public….
What would you do if all of the above were done to you?
How would you feel?
I’d be swinging figurative fists left and right and taking all manner of people out with me.
I don’t like being caged or ignored or manipulated. Dismissed for age, background, experience, or anything else of that caliber. In my employment history I have a documented history of not taking shit from anyone, boss or not. Yes, it’s gotten me in “momentary trouble,” but I didn’t care. If shit was wrong, I identified it. That doesn’t mean all things were all fixed. Big corporations are Big Corporations, just like The Firm is. So, if inequities had been thrown my way like this, yes, I would have found “a way out.” And were I utterly unable to find a way, then I am pretty damned sure I’d be thinking similar thoughts. You cage a tiger, you kill that tiger. Tigers—all life—need space and freedom to be a tiger or whatever animal or lifeform they are, and when you restrict that, that thing dies.
So, yes, while I might—in a single dramatic moment of epiphany—mentally voice “not wanting to be alive”…I would have actually been thinking of alternate ways out—escape—and that is exactly what they eventually did.
Who could fault a person not brought up in The Firm’s highly restrictive environment to conform?
Meghan was not raised in that environment but was raised to think and act and be herself.
The Royals were not.
Even Harry didn’t realize his predicament until he saw its effects on his wife and children. And now that he’s left that circus, he is totally aware of how “trapped” he was—and how all of his family currently is.
You only know what you know…until your perspectives are broadened.
None of this is farfetched, and I do credit Meghan for bringing that clarity to Harry. I do not “blame” her for anything other than for giving Harry and the world a much wider perspective to The Firm and what has been and is currently going on there behind closed doors. The fact that The Firm hasn’t yet commented tells me that there is truth to their words, otherwise they’d have been outright condemned from the get-go. I mean, why wouldn’t they, if these really were all fantasies? Delusions? A power struggle?
Then to have someone like Piers Morgan say and behave as he had on global TV is exasperatingly [expletive!] reprehensible.
Sure, he “apologized” and backtracked-the-hell afterwards…because you can bet he had time to be coached/talked to and/or maybe even reconsidered his own bullying, Freudian behavior and words. How someone initially reacts to any situation speaks volumes about that person, and how he and others like him reacted was utterly deplorable and angers me. I have never been a fan of him for this reason.
The fact that he and others took the issues they did with that interview and did not hear…actually listen to the words and emotion and content of the interview, without regard to who was asking the questions or giving the answers…stuns me. Is this really the beginning of the end for our race where the idiots are taking over and drilling our civilization into the dirt and rock and dust, like the ancient Roman Empire?! What the hell is wrong with everyone? Why are we giving voice to the Crazy out there? I could have sworn there used to be a nobility to the media, years ago, where they only put creditable, honest content on-air. Now it’s all about ratings. Stirring things up. It’s not about reporting anymore. It’s about weaponizing.
This saddens me…but in the long run I do believe things will be as they will be and everything happens for a reason. Things do need to change…it is the nature of Life, the prime immutable. And if people—institutions—are not willing to change, they die. It’s that simple. That said…if we end up wiping ourselves out, then so be it.
We have it coming.
Great points, Frank -- especially your larger, overarching point: many of us have forgotten how to listen. Maybe it's a symptom of living in the social-media age. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter thrive on gut reactions and aren't great at allowing for nuance and thoughtful reflection. They encourage us to speak before we've thought things out or listened to the people we're allegedly responding to. Fortunately, though, blogs like yours are a bastion for those of us who are truly interested in hearing what others have to say and engaging in real dialog.
I have been saying this for years - humans have had a few thousand years to show what they are capable of, and Duck Dynasty and billionaires launching themselves into space is what we have built ourselves up to. And don't even get me started on "royalty." Inbred narcissists with god complexes.