With the combining forces of the internet, television, and countless paparazzi throwing fuel on the media fire that leads up to–and will surely include–the wedding of Prince William Arthur Philip Louis of Wales and Kate Middleton, only time will tell before it all blows up in their faces.
It’s an inspirational story to many who pump up this Disney Princess story of a young woman raised in poverty who finally, after years of struggle, becomes a real live “Somebody!” Truth is, Middleton had a more comfortable, privileged upbringing than most–and pairing that with her objective good looks, she’s almost certainly better than you in almost every way.
We keep the delusion because it gives us a warm fuzzy feeling inside, and that’s fine. We’re in a shit pit and we need some redemption, or at least a pleasant distraction.
The danger we face now is pushing our fantasies and our desire to know every insignificant detail about their lives. This is what we did to Princess Diana (make no mistake about it, paparazzi killed Princess Diana); and if there’s anything we can say about our civilization is that we never learn from our mistakes, and never act in our own best interest.
When Prince William and Kate Middleton finally tie the knot, people will gradually lose interest. The magic will die down, and people will become spiteful. They’ll want to see the worst in people and not the beauty, glitz and glamor. Every media outlet will be looking for any kind of marital spark or squabble to “prove” that your fantasy love story was a huge lie.
The press will become urchins of the sewer, watching and waiting for that perfect moment when Kate gets drunk, throws up, and stumbles into a limo. Headlines will read “Royal Family: UNHINGED/EXPOSED/CLUSTERFUCK” or any combination of brazen demolition of anything that people hold dear. And it’s only going to get more bizarre from there.
(Don’t believe me? One of CNN‘s top stories today is that most people name their cats “William” and their dogs “Kate”)
It doesn’t have to be this way, of course. But it inevitably will. How soon we forget the media frenzy at this time in 2007 when William and Kate broke up for a couple months. This degradation will be slow and assuredly heartbreaking. The most important thing is the safety of Middleton, and that relies solely on our ability to separate reality from our desire to witness the degradation of human life.
The answer is simple. Take a step back, sacrifice your own savage blood lust, make the future for these people pleasant and without tragedy. Save Kate.
