Does It Do Any Good When Celebrities Like Oprah and George Clooney Defend Meghan Markle?
It seems like it’s been Meghan Markle vs. the media over the last year, with both sides having major reinforcements to try to win their side. On the media side, you have staid royal insiders who claim Meghan doesn’t really fit British traditions, plus her seemingly fame hungry step-relatives. Meghan’s side is arguably stronger with many A-list celebrities standing up for her and criticizing the paparazzi for repeating their old Princess Diana ways.
Just how effective are those celebrity warnings, though? A decade or two ago, hearing a warning from George Clooney about paparazzi dangers would have made the press wallow in shame.
Nowadays, there’s one big problem: The paparazzi are a new generation who look at Clooney as a barking grandfather.
Many celebrities see what’s really wrong
With Oprah Winfrey recently calling out media treatment of Meghan Markle, we have to wonder if they see more there than just a ravenous media wanting to cause controversy. In the case of Oprah, she may see a real racist bias there that could become dangerous over time.
Maybe Oprah doesn’t want to say so to disrupt things, but the world has already opened this Pandora’s Box wide in the last year.
Instead, Oprah confirms something many of Meghan’s defenders swear
While we all know no one is perfect, the public evidence clearly shows this positive side of the duchess, despite her step-family saying otherwise. You could suggest her family is working in conjunction with the media to try to smear her name.
The question is, will the media listen to people like Oprah and George Clooney as influential people, or as older celebrities blowing hot air?
Some members of the paparazzi probably didn’t exist when Diana was alive
It’s still hard to contemplate that Princess Diana died 22 years ago. An entire generation has lived through those two decades, including current members of the British media being hired as young 20-somethings.
Yes, it’s stunning to think some members of today’s paparazzi were just glints in their parents’ eyes in 1997. For them, the death of Princess Diana doesn’t have the same emotional impact it had for those who lived through it.
Celebrities like George Clooney and Oprah may seem like grandparents warning their grandchildren about the dangers of life. These warnings may go on deaf ears, only because there’s no comprehension on the reality of what could happen again.
Princess Harry continues to show disdain for the paparazzi in Britain because of this lack of cooperation.
Celebrities speaking up may not help, but more awareness will
The fortunate thing about this seemingly stalemate situation between media and Harry/Meghan is the latter are taking proactive steps to maybe repair things.
Part of this starts with Oprah and Harry teaming up to do a documentary for Apple’s upcoming streaming service. It’ll be a docu about the importance of mental health, a very long overdue concept from influential people.
Let’s hope this connects mental health with what Meghan has gone through and why the media process should stop to create some semblance of peace. This should also make effort to touch on mental health and the connection of online harassment, something Meghan still endures on social media.
Maybe nothing will work with the paparazzi other than outwitting them
Awareness about mental health and the connection to proper media treatment will likely feel like another lecture for the younger paparazzi. With them, careful strategy will be the only way to avoid any kind of disasters.
From all indications, Harry and Meghan have an entire strategy mapped out to deal with them without causing direct discord. Even if British media doesn’t like the couple being so evasive, it may be the only way to send a strong message beyond compelling documentaries or celebrity finger wagging.
We’ll know whether it works once Baby Sussex enters the picture and causes a new media storm.
