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The right to offend and be offended
The recent evolution
of the case with Kate Middleton’s hospital prank has left me shocked. But not
for the reasons everyone is, but for quite a different point of view.
For those who don’t
know what I’m talking about, the story started when Kate Middleton -who is recently
pregnant- was hospitalized due to acute morning sickness. A pair of Aussie DJs
decided to play a prank and called the hospital impersonating the Queen to try
to talk with the Duchess of Cambridge. A nurse answered the call and bought in but
instead of passing them with Ms. Middleton, she just gave a report on the
Duchess’ evolution. Outrage followed and two days later the nurse appeared
death after apparently killing herself.
Now the public
opinion, championed by the British media -and we are not talking only the tabloids-
is asking for the head of the DJs, Scotland Yard wants to question them and
everyone in Britain blame them on the death of the nurse.
Bullshit.
For starters, a
suicide is more complex than all that and it would be stupid to blame it on
only one reason for it. That one reason may have been the trigger, but it’s
just the tip of the iceberg.
Moreover, the ones who
snowballed the incident in the first place -British media and British public
opinion- are the ones to blame. They created the social pressure on the poor
nurse who was just a victim of an innocent -and not that much funny, but neither cruel- prank.
 |
| No one complained about this |
It is not either that
uncommon. No one seemed outraged when half of the world laughed at that poor
Spanish woman who botched a master piece of art in a church. And they were
vicious with her. It even reached the other side of the Atlantic and appeared
on Conan O’Brien’s show.
Ideally, this prank
should have made sound the alert on the bodyguard team of the Royals, who would
have tightened the security around them. And that should be the real debate, why
two simple radio DJs managed to reach a sensitive information provider so
easily. Where was the secret service?
Instead, the same
public opinion and newspapers that built up the social pressure that maybe triggered
the suicide of the nurse, they now are building up more social pressure to get the
two DJs fired. Who will be next?
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