It makes you wonder... - Jules O'Brian Comedy

It makes you wonder…

14 July 2023 bbc, fame, hate, media, privacy, publicity, tabloids

Over these past couple of weeks, the mainstream media has been obsessed with a man who has been cheating on his wife. It’s happening every day all over the world in millions of marriages, but this bloke happens to be a household name, a respected journalist, and known for being particularly good at his job. None of that has changed—it’s just that he got caught without his halo.

If I think about all the things I’ve ever done that I’m ashamed of or embarrassed by, I feel the urge to pull the duvet over my head. None of it is illegal… just cringeworthy and often mortifying to think that there are some people will only ever know me for those things. But it’s very few people… not even enough to warrant a few inches in the local midweek freebie newspaper. It still horrifies me, but that’s as bad as it gets. The thought of having millions of people know about my shenanigans, make jokes about them, categorise me alongside people who have done far, far worse, hurtful, illegal, dreadful things—well—I can’t begin to imagine.

The bloke’s been a bit of a tit. That’s it. Were I his wife, one of his kids, or a friend of his wife or kids, I’d be devastated. But as an everyday person who has no knowledge of this man beyond him doing his job incredibly well, it’s fuck all to do with me.

It’s scary. It makes you wonder, “Why do I want to be well known? Why do I want to be ‘out there’?” There are certainly stories people could share about me that would not paint me in a good light (to say the least); photos that could be dissected; anecdotes galore. Because I’m human!

I’m desperate for validation, kindness, respect… love, I suppose. This media frenzy and public outcry, the judgement, the vitriol and spite is beyond anything I can imagine.

Let the tabloids at any one of us and we’re all vulnerable to public scandal, surely?

Or is everyone else’s halo perfectly intact?