When Things Should be not Seen or Heard

Hello Everyone, I hope you're all well and that life is smiling on you, I hope those mothers outside of the UK had a wonderful Mother's Day on Sunday, just so you know, ours happens in March. As always, the news is filled with talk of war, political shenanigans, epic struggles for power, and the chronic rise in the cost of living. It seems wherever you might be in the world, the price of just about every essential is now a cause for grave concern. As an aside, I do think certain politicians should be focused more on how much the people they allegedly represent are suffering rather than spending their time trying to trash the reputations of those on the opposing team. 

But beyond all of this, the world of celebrity has been its usual round of either unending praise or unified dismay. As always Kim Kardashian has caused a considerable uproar, this time by her decision to wear the late Marilyn Monroe's famous dress. For myself, I think the garment should be in a museum, it's iconic in the truest sense of the word and should never have been allowed out of its protected environment. What did strike me as strange, as it's since been revealed, despite frantically dieting, Ms. K was unable to fit into the dress and so had to process up the red carpet wearing a coat to cover up the unzipped seam. This seemed odd, as to why would anyone want to be out in public, being photographed from every possible angle, in something you couldn't fit into properly? It seemed she had already had a replica made in her size, so surely it would have been easier to just wear the copy. But I'm assuming, as her life is really dominated by a seemingly insatiable need to create headlines, wearing Marilyn's own dress was always going to result in more attention. Speaking personally, I do feel the gown has lost a tiny spark of its magic, now we are left with the mental image of Kim and her team of dressers, desperately attempting to shoehorn her into it! How much better it was, to think of a real icon, slipping effortlessly into the custom-made dress, hopefully, sure she was going to take the world's breath away with her undeniable beauty.

But this post, as you might have guessed, is not about the frantic headline-grabbing of a Kardashian, its focus is on the ongoing legal issues between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp. Although it does feel much more like a circus act than any kind of serious procedure of law. The crowds of fans outside the courthouse, the endless supply of memes featuring them both, and perhaps most damaging of all, the hundreds of articles, YouTube videos, etc all expressing opinions on every word spoken by the two main characters. There are body language 'experts' analysing every eyebrow raise and lip curl, so they can say with alarming conviction that someone is either lying or revealing some previously unknown truth. The whole thing is just tasteless but so much worse than that, it is undoubtedly damaging for those of us in the real world. 

Now, before I go on, I have absolutely no intention of speculating on whether one or the other of them is telling the truth. I will only say, their relationship appears to have been so incredibly toxic, it's probably for the best, they divorced. But what this courtroom drama has provoked is a global reaction to several real issues, including domestic violence and substance abuse. For those far away from the rarified atmosphere of celebrity, people are struggling with these life-changing problems on a daily basis yet now, they are being reduced to a meme or TikTok video. I would ask you to think about women who are living with an abusive partner who might well be considering bringing charges but then, they see the treatment Amber Heard is receiving. She's been called a liar, a manipulator, she's been accused of being less the victim but the actual perpetrator of horribly violent acts. What effect might seeing all this have on the abused? How many are going to be put off from ever seeking help because they fear they won't be believed?  Whatever the truth might be about Ms. Heard, there are potentially thousands of women who will continue living in their personal hell because of the sheer level of vitriol served up to her.

Secondly, there are those who have been diagnosed with one of the many mental health problems ascribed to both of the protagonists. I have been genuinely shocked to see how casually these issues have been thrown around social media, people with absolutely no medical training talking -at length- about how it's 'obvious' one or the other of them suffer from PTSD, BPD, etc. What's worse is when they conclude, that the fact they allegedly have these conditions explains the violence or the substance abuse or the conflicting witness statements. What message is that sending out into the wider world? That anyone who has been diagnosed with PTSD will be prone to violent outbursts? That someone who has to live with BPD is a serial liar? It's unbelievably damaging and appallingly ignorant, yet the speculation and misinformation go on without pausing for a breath. It goes without saying, people with those psychological issues are no more prone to aggression, lying, or in fact any other kind of damaging behaviour than anyone else.

When I sat down to write this post, I read several articles on the case and it soon became clear, that the primary motivation for this sorry excuse of a case, is money. Two people with already sizeable fortunes want more from each other, so one has sued for £50 million while the other is aiming for $100 million- sums that the majority of the world will never know. It's blatantly clear whichever side emerges triumphant, the only winners will be their legal teams, as the loser will undoubtedly appeal the ruling and the whole circus will start again. Granted they can afford to drag this out for months to come but at what cost to those I've already mentioned? It would be nice to think one of them would look at the mess that's been created and decide to end the court proceedings now and walk away, but sadly I think that's unlikely. Unfortunately, they both seem to be almost enjoying all the attention, it's just tragic, their need to be in the spotlight could prove to be so damaging to many others across the world.

Finally, I do want to stress I am not anti-celebrity, but I do hope a time comes when people are famous because of their talent. I am more than happy to call anyone a star who can sing so beautifully it's impossible not to listen or whose acting skills are so profound, you completely forget the film you're watching isn't real life. People with genuine artistic talent have always held a special place in every society, both ancient and modern. Wouldn't it be good for the world to be like that again? I appreciate it's a dream but I'll always hope it comes true. 

Anyway, that's more than enough from me, so until the next time...

Take care out there xxx