“The more things change; the more they stay the same”
Cartoon pen and watercolour 9″ x 12″
All artwork & content Copy right Jean Burman 2008
I haven’t bought a women’s magazine since 1997. Not since the day after the Princess of Wales’ tragic death in Paris at the hands of the paparazzi. What difference my one small protest was going to make… I knew to be insignificant. But I also knew…right there and then… that there just had to be something fundamentally wrong with pursuing a person “to death” in an attempt to gain access [and a voyeuristic peep] into the most private aspects of someone’s life. Even if that life was for all intents and purposes a public one.
My refusal to buy magazines… of course… would mean diddlysquat. Magazines would continue to be published. People would continue to buy them. And people would continue to be relentlessly pursued. And not just by the paparazzi. The quest for “the dirt” has now reached epic proportions in a multi-media industry hell-bent on being the first one with it.
And then the news that Heath Ledger was dead. And in recent days… Brittney Spears… committed for psychiatric evaluation. Two very different people… with little in common save for the relentless media intrusion that had become the hallmark of their very existence. And in Heath’s case at least… the demise of it.
[Sure there might have been mitigating factors... there always are in the ebb and flow of life... but the constant media attention could not have helped].
Heath at least was still riding high on the wave of good public opinion… whereas Britney had well and truly arrived at the bottom of that slippery slope… the sad victim of our thinly veiled mirth and the media’s unbridled derision.
But what preempts the turning tide of public opinion about people? One day they are nobody… then they are somebody [and we can't get enough of them]… and the next day they have fallen from favour. No longer famous [but rather... infamous] in the eyes of a fickle public… the media… like a pack of wild animals descends upon the prey… and pursues them until all the dirt is dug… and the worst is known and exposed for all to see… [and judge].
But what I want to know is… what makes us so perfect? And what makes us so interested? Why do we buy it? Worse still… why do we enjoy it?
Away from the spotlight… in the everyday world… one might expect things to be different. But they aren’t. You don’t have to be particularly famous to experience the sting in the tail of “perceived” success. Everyone loves an underdog it seems… but no-one likes it when their poppies grow too tall! Sad but true.
“Tall Poppies”
Cartoon pen & watercolour 9″ x 12″
Copyright Jean Burman 2008
In the workplace… in schools and universities… in politics and business… at home or abroad… wherever… in whatever sphere one seeks to achieve and excel beyond the average… there will always be those who make it their purpose to bring others down.
Surviving the final year of her studies in High School was a learning curve as steep as one gets for my youngest daughter. It should not have been so. She should have been able to rely at the very least upon her school to support and encourage her in her relentless strive for excellence. It was they, afterall, who would enjoy the spinoff from any success she might have. She was a bright and enthusiastic student. With her enquiring mind and eagerness to participate she was reportedly a delight to teach. It was disappointing therefore… upon notification that she had been awarded the coveted Vice Chancellor’s scholarship to a prestigious university in the south… [a huge honour and one which would pay for her entire university education]… the School Principal’s only begrudging remark was “well… that should be good for your ego” [True story] Needless to say [at the time] she was devastated… needless to say that was his intention! A wise and enlightened educator would have known better!
It’s human nature I guess. Tearing down the tall poppy [apparently] keeps things equal… makes people feel “less inadequate”. Afterall… who needs to be reminded of what could be achieved with a little bit of risk… and an awful lot of effort? It’s uncomfortable. And easier by far to attempt to level the playing field… by fair means or foul… rather than take the needed steps to rise up out of the mediocrity of an “unventured” life.
Personally… I think we should nurture our tall poppies… and love them for the exceptional blooms that they are! We should wish them well! Instead of seeing in them our own inadequacy and failure [and fearing it]… we should delight in their achievements… and use them as a springboard of inspiration toward our own endeavours… however humble they might be.
With more than enough success to go round… what on earth are we waiting for?
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