Is it indeed?
I have neither the ability or the wish to be in the public eye - marriage, motherhood, friendships, hobbies and now what at ninety I can only call Super-retirement have suited me fine. But watching Phillip Schofield being 'hauled over the coals', seeing his demeanour and his face in the few clips which were put on the News over the last couple of days has made me think a lot about things. Sitting in the sun, unable to be active, leaves me with plenty of time to think and, I can tell you, I have been thinking. That tortured face left me feeling 'drained'.
Has 'ordinary' life always been like this? I suppose it has. Are we 'above' animals? We certainly think we are. But sex has always 'reared its ugly head'. There have always been what we will call 'indiscretions'.
At one end of the scale is what I will call 'Physical Attraction'. For the unattached then this is, of course, the beginning of a relationship. But once in a loving relationship that doesn't mean that one never again meets/comes across other people to whom one could become attracted. And that feeling can often be mutual. But the 'loyal' personal even if they recognise the fact, doesn't follow it up.
"We aren't animals, we don't let our instincts take over"! Or something like that.
But who are we to judge? There always have been what I will call 'Broom cupboard incidents', the looks, the touching inappropriately, the things one regrets instantly.
But if one is in the public eye then the slightest thing becomes instantly public knowledge. Now we read of remote controlled sex toys in Parliament (really?), of indiscriminate sex - often regretted instantly -.
It is easy to stop reading about all these indiscretions, easy to push the off switch on the TV remote control.
With our politicians do we expect them to be 'whiter than white'? With public figures in Show Business do we expect them all (folk dressed to kill, made up to the nines, often in situations where they are almost expected to advertise their availability) to be innocent?
I am not speaking here of the Jimmy Savilles, the Rolf Harrises and the like. I am speaking of Law Abiding citizens who pay their taxes.
Can any of us, hand on heart, say there have not been some situations in our lives when temptation has been put our way? Some of us can say we did not carry it through, other may have done but regretted it. That doesn't matter - it is personal choice. What does matter that - providing the law is not broken - should it become public knowledge?
I am not arguing for or against. And, frankly, I just do not care how many children Boris Johnson has fathered. But what |I do care about is the public 'hounding' of individuals in the public eye just for the sake of a 'good story'.
Anyone breaking the law deserves investigation whoever they are - and punishment where any offence is proven. But seeing Phillip Schofield's face and demeanour in that TV interview just made me think, probably selfishly, 'thank God he is not my son' - because I fear for him frankly.