I don’t particularly have an interest in Caroline Flack. She kind of got on my nerves when I watched her in the two seasons of Love Island I’ve seen. I didn’t really know much about her other than she always looks beautiful, has amazing clothes, she dated Harry Styles, and of course most recently, that she has been centre of a domestic abuse case. Despite my indifference towards her, I cried when I learned of her suicide.
Caroline Flack’s death has left me feeling devastated, afraid, and most of all, angry. I am angry at people who didn’t know her, but still trolled her because of what they read in the papers and on socia media. I am angry at the people who targeted her, whilst she was publicly dealing with the destruction of her career and reputation, and clearly struggling mentally, to make her situation worse. And I am angry at the British media, who are absolutely culpable for her death.
Following the abuse scandal, she was completely annihilated by so-called journalists, who make a living by bringing other people down. These people are paid to manipulate the nation by publishing hurtful opinions, gossip and lies, knowing full well that they will spread like wildfire because people apparently believe everything they read. They ripped her apart piece by piece, like a pack of ravenous wolves, undeterred by the fact that she was so clearly crumbling. I don’t believe they even cared about whether she was punished for what she did, they just wanted another opportunity to tear someone apart.
Those same journalists who were frothing over her mistakes and highlighting her flaws for the world to see, are now unashamedly mourning her death. They don’t even have the decency to stand by their words and own the utter drivel that they’ve spouted for the last few months. The fickleness is astonishing, and every single one of them should hang their heads in shame. Their behaviour is the reason that a 40 year old woman saw no other option, no other way to overcome her mistakes, than to kill herself.
I don’t condone what Caroline Flack did to her partner, and I don’t know or really care to find out the full story at this stage. But this woman clearly needed help to get her life back on track, a task that ultimately became impossible due to the never-ending bullying from the media. Caroline Flack was pushed, bullied and backed into a corner so dark, that she felt the only way out was suicide. It is abhorrent and unacceptable that she was made to feel like this. The media have been getting away with this for far too long, and it has to stop.
We all make mistakes. But when someone’s mistake is that they bullied another person so badly that they took their own life as a result, there needs to be some accountability. If any good can come of this, it needs to be that people start to think differently about the way they report on things, and the way they behave towards other human beings.
Think about what you post. Think about what you say to people. Think about what you believe without questioning. Think about the media’s agenda before you are quick to judge someone. Think about kindness.
Think about Caroline Flack. Her death can’t be in vain.
Reflect and Introspect 