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American Hustlers: Meghan and Harry
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Anonymous
The end paragraph made little sense to me “If Harry’s burden is the soft oppression of no expectations, Meghan’s might be the opposite: the betrayal of not living up to an unachievable ideal. “I think the whole world was waiting for her to be that person, and then she never jumped,” the source who worked in media says. “Diana walked amongst land mines. Meghan couldn’t even say the word slut.” |
Anonymous
It makes perfect sense to me. Nobody ever expects anything from Harry: always the spare not accomplishing much or needing to accomplish much, which is totally fine and he could have easily spent his life as such, and very much continues to do that now. His position has not really changed, he traded rich and idle in the UK for rich and idle in Montecito. He resents this position but he cannot escape it. Meanwhile Meghan is seen as more ambitious, more intelligent, more able, and all eyes were on her to accomplish great things like Diana. The issue is that Diana succeeded because she ultimately defied conventions, was brave in both her opinions and actions (like the land mine thing). Meghan talks a lot about doing all this, but she doesn't actually do it, won't even take small risks (like the slut example). I think part of the issue is the greatness Diana achieved was based on some degree of impulsivity and vulnerability Meghan just doesn't have, which is probably a good thing for her privately but bad because people want some degree of vulnerability or she won't ever seem authentic. |
Anonymous
Meghan was 35 when she met Harry and Diana was 36 when she died. She did all these things at a much younger age and people knew her as a teen. Meghan was never going to pull off what Diana did since there is almost no similarities between the two. You can't be the wide eyed vulnerable innocent at that stage of life. It just won't work, as we can see. |
Anonymous
I disagree with this assessment because I think it's silly to compare Diana and Meghan. Two different women in two different roles in two very different eras. And very different marriages! Diana was practically a child when she married, it was NOT a love match and Charles didn't want to marry her, and for years in her marriage and role she actually didn't do much at all beyond having children (understandable, she wasn't really encouraged to do much and she was dealing with serious mental health issues and a loveless marriage). Her work in AIDs awareness was important and courageous but was also born out of her personal failure and misery -- I think she was just so unhappy and lonely in her marriage and in the BRF that her work with HIV patients came from a desperate desire to connect to other people and also identifying with being treated as a pariah by others. She didn't get into her work with landmine survivors until the 90s, after her marriage had ended. She was clearly empowered by the end of her marriage and did a lot to step out on her own. And I also think that's the aspect of Diana's story people connect the most to -- she married very young and it was a bad marriage and then she got divorced and got to be her own person for the first time in her life and that really resonated with people, especially women (and there are many women from the 70s and 80s who had similar stories with their own marriages). Diana also lived during an extremely different era with regards to media. She didn't have it easier, it was just different. Meghan met Harry in her 30s (almost as old as Diana was when she died), he wasn't the heir, she had a whole career and had been married previously, she chose her marriage and her husband appears to love her and want to be with her (and they are close in age and seem to actually share interests and values, unlike Diana and Charles), she does not seem to have the same mental health struggles Diana did, she's been treated very differently by the press, she's American, she's mixed race... it's just a totally different situation and this desperate desire people seem to have for Meghan (or Kate, or anyone) to follow in Diana's footsteps and fill whatever void people seem to feel due to Diana's untimely death is honestly weird. Diana was a singular person, the result of a very weird sequence of events that no one would *want* to create because it involves a fair bit of misery and tragedy. I just find the desire to draw comparisons between this people bizarre. Like if your problem with Meghan is that she's not Princess Diana, then is there anyone Harry might have married that would have fit that bill? Why is that even something you want? |
Anonymous
| Why are posters calling her Rachel/Meghan? |
Anonymous
Her first name is Rachel, middle name is Meghan. I think it’s a “what ELSE is she lying about?!” thing? But c’mon. |
Anonymous
I feel like both Harry and Meghan WANT the comparison though, they draw it themselves in interviews, especially Harry. Obviously they are very different people, and yet he does compare a lot: their personalities, their commitment to helping people, their mental health struggles, their treatment by the media...Look it up and you will see many quotes by him explicitly comparing. |
Anonymous
She did!!! |
Anonymous
Source? Other than an unstable YouTuber? |
Anonymous
Yes but that is completely different, because Diana was his mother and Meghan is his wife. When he makes that comparison, he's viewing them personally as people in his life. And I think he's most often talked about it in terms of how the press has treated Meghan and it being particularly upsetting to him because it reminds him of how his mother was hounded by the press and of course the way that she died. Like it's all just completely personal and immediate to him. But people on this thread didn't actually know Diana and they don't know Meghan. It's not personal. It's like "does this person fill the same pop culture role as Diana did?" And the answer is obviously no and also why would you expect her to? |
Anonymous
I get that, but you're expecting too much in terms of how people view celebrities in general. Of course nobody knows them personally, but people do project, based on interviews, public behavior, quotes, little moments. It's fundamentally unfair, but just how fame works. |
Anonymous
She goes by her middle name and they think that this is some sort of 'gotcha'? What's the big deal, they're both pretty typical names given to women of her generation? |
Anonymous
I guess. This one seems like a weird one to project upon in my mind. Or maybe I am just surprised by the degree to which people project upon Meghan and find her wanting. She just strikes me as not worth it. She's not an artist making interesting art (like Taylor Swift) ,or a politician using power to effect policy (like Kamala Harris), or a business woman seeking power and influence in the corporate world (like Sheryl Sandberg). I just don't understand why people care so much about this person who is ultimate just a lifestyle influencer with royal title. |
Anonymous
I don't think that's it. The comparison is often around how Meghan is treated and how his mother was treated and how that ended up for her. So everything Harry does is to "protect" his family to avoid the same outcome. He thinks his mother was murdered. A lot of other people don't view it in quite the same way. |
Anonymous
I thought this last para came in the context of the preceding arguments that the last five years have made Meghan overly anxious about offending anybody, about her image, and about giving fodder to the unhinged haters (some of whom seem to be joining us today). To the point where she's made herself ineffective. |