A man and woman fall in love, presumably, and announce their forthcoming marriage.
The world’s media, led by those in the couple’s home country, prepare to turn the wedding into the biggest non-event of 2011.
The man’s sole and exclusive claim to fame is the accident of his birth.
The woman’s, that she is, like the deceased mother of her husband-to-be, a fashionable commoner set to add her good looks to her future family which, according to some uncharitable observers, is badly in need of it.
I have nothing against the young couple. They are probably nice people. I wish them a long and happy married life. Greater success, in this endeavour, than many other similar celebrity couples have enjoyed.
They will need it; for in the coming months; they will be subjected to, and we will be saturated with, an endless stream of related trivia from newspapers and TV, everywhere.
How they met. Their first quarrel. How they made up.
Where they went–together, and apart. Their former loves.
What they wear. Their favourite night spots.
What they eat for breakfast. For lunch. For dinner.
The engagement ring. The wedding ring. The wedding dress. The bridesmaids’ dresses.
Their friends and confidantes will be interviewed for all the intimate details of their lives. Some will make money revealing the juicy tit-bits to a salivating tabloid press.
It will all build up to the climax of a wedding, complete with pomp, ceremony and glitter, costing several millions-which of course they will not be required to pay-attended by several heads of state and other high officials from dozens of countries. And watched by over one billion people in the planet.
An adoring public will revel in the vicarious enjoyment of their fairy-tale world.
A desperate government will use it to try and restore the fading prestige of an empire long since in terminal decline; over which the groom-to-be’s ancestors once presided; secure in the knowledge that sun would not dare to set on it..
Who knows, some export sales might be generated amidst all the euphoria.
Meanwhile, the death toll from cholera in Haiti has passed 1,000-and still counting.
Dozens die every day as a result of stupid, futile imperialist wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Wars in which the couple’s home government participated with self-righteous zeal.
Tens of thousands in Pakistan grapple with the aftermath of devastating floods that afflicted them as a result of a global climate spinning out of control.
Seventeen million families in the United States of America, the world’s richest nation, are officially certified to be food insecure.
In other words, their members do not have enough to eat.
In Jamaica, the organisation Families Against State Terrorism records 270 killings by the security forces this year so far. And 2,000 in the past ten years.
There is such a thing as ‘bad news fatigue’. We all need distractions from the pain and injustices in the world, brought to us daily, courtesy of the wonders of modern technology. Especially when we feel powerless to do anything about it.
The media of course, understand this very well. Their competitive games of Trivial Pursuit are justified by the mantra, “this is what the public wants”.
Still, there are distractions and distractions. Some call us to celebrate the world as it is. Others, to imagine what it could become.
For myself, I prefer the occasional highs afforded by West Indies cricket; and other similar accomplishments.
At least Chris Gayle’s triple century was the result of talent combined with application and style.
Certainly not to an accident of lineage.
But it doesn’t make as good footage as the forthcoming, biggest non-event of 2011, does it?
Norman
17/11/2010.
