“Oh, Caroline.” That simple tweet from writer and broadcaster Danny Wallace spoke for many of us on hearing that TV presenter Caroline Flack was dead, having taken her own life. Such waste.
Very few of those tweeting, including me, will ever know the lifelong route to that hopeless moment but there is no doubt that in the last few months (and even before) Caroline had felt the cold hard chill of exposure, meanness, cruelty and exploitation.
She said it herself after an incident at home had led to her facing assault charges and a trial. She said the subsequent media and social media focus on her was too much for one person and she was right. In a separate post she said she hated talking about her feelings and her biggest fear was “being a burden”. How her friends and family will be wishing she was here and able to let them listen to her. Not a burden but someone loved and worthy of their time. How often we confuse those two things.
20 February 2020, The Tablet
The press and the millions on social media don’t get to judge whether or not you deserve love
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