MemberI think Caroline's story further highlights the reason why we all need to be kind to each other. You never know what battles someone may be facing on a daily basis and in her case, the media treated her like shit.
To all those who don't know who she is, she was a TV presenter in the U.K. and she ended her life at 40 years of age yesterday. All those in the media along with all the trolls online who hounded her should take a long hard look in the mirror today.
I saw this posted on Facebook earlier and thought I'd share it here:
Caroline Flack asked for kindness. She got none when she was alive, but has it all now she's died.
Beautiful. Talented. Rich. Famous. Only 40 years old.
Caroline Flack had it all going for her and yet last night she took her own life.
If you watched comedy programmes at the turn of the century, kids TV a few years later, the X-Factor, Strictly Come Dancing or Love Island more recently, then Caroline Flack was someone who graced your life.
Always smiling. Always confident. Always outgoing.
And yet last night the news came through that she had died all alone in her London flat. Watched by millions of people every week, yet nobody there for her when she decided to take her own life one month before she was due to face trial for assaulting her boyfriend.
Today you will see hundreds of headlines, thousands of minutes of television interviews and millions of social media posts dedicated to Caroline Flack.
Yet, 24 hours ago, what was there?
David Walliams making jokes at her expense during the National Television Awards.
Newspaper headlines describing her as 'dead behind the eyes'.
Memes that damned and humiliated her before she had even gone on trial.
There was no empathy, sympathy or support when she was alive- even her famous friends kept quiet in their public support of her- but in death, it has all come forth, in the hope that a quick tweet or hastily written headline will make all the prior criticism and cruelty be forgotten about.
Caroline Flack took her own life not knowing any of this support was there for her. Yet now, as her body lies on a slab in a London morgue, it has all come spilling out.
The same newspapers that revelled in her fall from grace yesterday morning went to print last night with headlines of fake sorrow and feigned sympathy.
Tomorrow they will be onto a new victim and seeking their next celebrity scalp.
The online trolls will follow. Eagerly hoping that someone famous will make a mistake so they can try and detract from the hollow emptiness of their own lives by projecting the bitterness and hatred they feel of themselves onto others.
And the cycle will start all over again. Build up stars just to knock them down. Follow people on social media just to criticise them.
The newspapers will say that their reporting is 'in the public interest' and the trolls will say they are just 'exercising their right to free speech'.
But is anyone's life really richer for either...
Was your day made better by hearing about how Caroline Flack presented in court?
Did in enrich your life to read a tweet from a troll about Meghan Markle?
Is it really important to know who Taylor Swift was sleeping with last night?
I don't think anyone needs to know those things. We are told we need to and served it up by a hateful media, but it doesn't make our lives any better.
At best we feel jealous that our lives seem meaningless in comparison to the stars.
At worst we feel depressed that our lives seem meaningless in comparison to the stars.
In one of her last Instagram posts, Caroline Flack called out for kindness. She wrote:
"In a world where you can be anything, be kind"
Caroline Flack asked for kindness. She got none when she was alive, but has it all now she's died.
If we are to take anything from this tragedy, let it be a lesson from Caroline Flack's call for kindness.
Let it be a change in our attitude towards our fellow human beings, be they celebrities or not.
Let it be a refusal to accept the hatred, bitterness and bile served up by our tabloids and trolls.
Let it be love.
Be kind to each other folks, and check up on your friends and family from time to time. And if you see a homeless person, buy them a sandwich and a drink as it's little actions like these that can really make a persons day.
To all those who don't know who she is, she was a TV presenter in the U.K. and she ended her life at 40 years of age yesterday. All those in the media along with all the trolls online who hounded her should take a long hard look in the mirror today.
I saw this posted on Facebook earlier and thought I'd share it here:
Caroline Flack asked for kindness. She got none when she was alive, but has it all now she's died.
Beautiful. Talented. Rich. Famous. Only 40 years old.
Caroline Flack had it all going for her and yet last night she took her own life.
If you watched comedy programmes at the turn of the century, kids TV a few years later, the X-Factor, Strictly Come Dancing or Love Island more recently, then Caroline Flack was someone who graced your life.
Always smiling. Always confident. Always outgoing.
And yet last night the news came through that she had died all alone in her London flat. Watched by millions of people every week, yet nobody there for her when she decided to take her own life one month before she was due to face trial for assaulting her boyfriend.
Today you will see hundreds of headlines, thousands of minutes of television interviews and millions of social media posts dedicated to Caroline Flack.
Yet, 24 hours ago, what was there?
David Walliams making jokes at her expense during the National Television Awards.
Newspaper headlines describing her as 'dead behind the eyes'.
Memes that damned and humiliated her before she had even gone on trial.
There was no empathy, sympathy or support when she was alive- even her famous friends kept quiet in their public support of her- but in death, it has all come forth, in the hope that a quick tweet or hastily written headline will make all the prior criticism and cruelty be forgotten about.
Caroline Flack took her own life not knowing any of this support was there for her. Yet now, as her body lies on a slab in a London morgue, it has all come spilling out.
The same newspapers that revelled in her fall from grace yesterday morning went to print last night with headlines of fake sorrow and feigned sympathy.
Tomorrow they will be onto a new victim and seeking their next celebrity scalp.
The online trolls will follow. Eagerly hoping that someone famous will make a mistake so they can try and detract from the hollow emptiness of their own lives by projecting the bitterness and hatred they feel of themselves onto others.
And the cycle will start all over again. Build up stars just to knock them down. Follow people on social media just to criticise them.
The newspapers will say that their reporting is 'in the public interest' and the trolls will say they are just 'exercising their right to free speech'.
But is anyone's life really richer for either...
Was your day made better by hearing about how Caroline Flack presented in court?
Did in enrich your life to read a tweet from a troll about Meghan Markle?
Is it really important to know who Taylor Swift was sleeping with last night?
I don't think anyone needs to know those things. We are told we need to and served it up by a hateful media, but it doesn't make our lives any better.
At best we feel jealous that our lives seem meaningless in comparison to the stars.
At worst we feel depressed that our lives seem meaningless in comparison to the stars.
In one of her last Instagram posts, Caroline Flack called out for kindness. She wrote:
"In a world where you can be anything, be kind"
Caroline Flack asked for kindness. She got none when she was alive, but has it all now she's died.
If we are to take anything from this tragedy, let it be a lesson from Caroline Flack's call for kindness.
Let it be a change in our attitude towards our fellow human beings, be they celebrities or not.
Let it be a refusal to accept the hatred, bitterness and bile served up by our tabloids and trolls.
Let it be love.
Be kind to each other folks, and check up on your friends and family from time to time. And if you see a homeless person, buy them a sandwich and a drink as it's little actions like these that can really make a persons day.
