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Lady Di: A Media
Consecrated Icon
Michael A Rizzotti
In this essay we explore how
the media has dislocated the legitimate role of religious
institutions in providing traditional forms of religious
experience to the masses.
Diana Spencer was
launched onto the world stage when it became known that
Prince Charles chose her to be his wife. Who can forget a
first sight of Diana stretching her long legs out of a Mini
Austin, her body unfolding in front of a horde of cameramen
lying in wait. A slim five feet ten inches tall blond with a
wry smile, instantly made the headlines news around the
world. In retrospect, who could have conjured a more tragic
story than the one about her short and luminous life.
The fairy tale began
when Prince Charles, being of a certain age, was feeling the
pressure from the Queen to finally settle down and provide
the kingdom with an heir. There were several prospects among
the eligible ladies. For his choice the Prince had to abide
by certain requirements. He could not marry a Catholic. She
would have to be a Protestant, preferably a member of the
Church of England. The bride to be was expected to have
aristocratic background. And she would also have to be a
virgin. Diana Spencer met all of the qualifications. Once
the requirements were met he would need the royal court’s
approval.
They married at St
Paul's Cathedral on July 29th 1981. The ceremony
was viewed by a global audience of close to a billion
viewers. It turned out to be among the most watched
religious ceremony ever broadcasted.
From her obscure life as
an aspiring ballerina, and later a part-time aide at a
nursery school, Diana was swiftly swirled into the
limelight. Lifted out of lonely anonymity, and cast into the
royal intrigue of Buckingham Palace. Ironically Diana would
eventually be baptized with the nick name Lady Di, a homonym
that spelled out the omen of her tragic destiny. Unaware
that she would be irreversibly ensnarled in the abyss of
fame, the victim of her own popularity.
To this day it is hard
to determine whether Diana was lonely girl or solitary
woman. Either might have been due to the fact that she had
been a motherless teenager. This may explain why she then
dedicated her life to search of a knight in shining armor.
Not an uncommon trait among teenage girls. She did find one
eventually, to the envy of millions of women around the
world.
Part reality show and
part Sleeping Beauty, the stage was slowly being set
for a most enduring postmodern fairy tale. A rivalry between
a beautiful and stylish young princess and a severe Queen
mother-in-law. Both competing for the attention of a prince
and favorite heir. Unbeknown to them that Charles was in
love with another woman. The discovery of the love affair
would eventually spark all around feelings of betrayal and
recrimination.
From the start Diana
indulged in the fame game. Faced with the infidelity of her
husband, she used the media to her own advantage. She
deliberately courted the paparazzi when she felt abandoned
by the royal family after her separation. How else could she
stand up to the most powerful woman of the land. Although
she used the media she also blamed the paparazzi for the
lack of privacy she sought. The ambivalent quest for fame
and privacy would eventually lead to her tragic death.
Lady Di had a knack for
cultivating her image of accessibility and vulnerability
that charmed her devoted fans. Her increasing popularity and
openness made her an outcast from the royal family who were
sinking in popularity in the eyes of their royal subjects.
The humorless, orderly and sheltered images of the royal
life where no longer popular and remnants of the past. While
Lady Di was portrayed as passionate, fun loving and
vulnerable. A star quality that led to her adoption by the
media who crowned her with an aura of fame.
Diana embodied the dual
nature of a saint and sinner. Saint, to the great majority
of world fans who were devoted to her. Sinner, to the
aristocracy who shunned her for her public spotlight and
personal disclosure. The upper crust is known to be a
conservative lot. They believe that royalty should behave
properly by setting a good example of stoic composure and
stiff upper lip.
A Postmodern Celebrity
Cult
It was with her tragic
death on August 31st 1997 that Princess Diana was
consecrated as a popular icon. In her essay
Lady Di et Mère Teresa, Christine Pina makes a
persuasive analysis of the funeral ceremony of Diana viewed
by billions of spectators. She sees the event as a
rediscovery of a cultic practice in a post-modern world.
These observations according to Pina, point to a “media”
induced form of religiosity. What Jacques Ellul described as
the shifting nature of the sacred that morphs into other
modes of cultic expression.
Among the noted
dignitaries attending the funeral service, was a visible
Prime Minister Tony Blair, an emotional Elton John and
Diana’s brother who vented out his frustration in an eulogy
full of reproach in front of an applauding crowd. A service
that included readings from the Bible, prayers and moments
of silence. All viewed by billions of viewers who
participated in a service typically reserved for an intimate
few. Making the ceremony one of the most viewed religious
service in history, surpassing the Princess’ wedding
ceremony.
The broadcasting of
people, some in tears, some visibly moved, laying their
bouquet of flowers over a huge floral display in front of a
gated Kensington House, are visible signs of heartfelt
sorrow, a viewers’ communion of sort, a novel brand of
religiosity. What to say about the bridge of Alma in Paris,
where Diana’s car fatally crashed in its underpass, which by
some twisted turn of fate is the Latin word for “soul”. A
place which has since the accident been a popular shrine
where devoted fans congregate to commemorate the death of
their beloved princess.
The princess’ trademark
of walking among the lepers, aids patients, holding maimed
infants with a passionate embrace rekindled the old English
tradition called “touching” the sick. The practice was
associated with the king’s magical healing powers over his
subjects by laying a hand on them. He being the earthly
representative and the embodiment of divine power. The
practice dates back to the medieval times and went out of
fashion at the turn of the 19th century.
All the while, the drama
is unfolding under a Queen’s reign who happens to be the
head of the Church of England, a similar role as the pope in
Rome, blurring the separation between the temporal and the
religious.
Mother Teresa
Barely six days after
Diana’s tragic death, Mother Teresa passed away on September
5th 1997. Worn out by years of humble service
dedicated to the outcasts in the slums of Calcutta. The
overwhelming popularity of Diana’s tragedy overshadowed the
death of an old and exhausted nun. Unable to compete for
attention, the funeral had to be postponed for three days.
Prompting a local journalist to write that there were hardly
any tears left for a little and unassuming nun who died in
silent anonymity. In stark contrast to a life at the Ritz, a
speedy car chase and the violent death of a young and rich
princess, a world away from the glitter and hordes of
paparazzi.
Shortly after her death,
Mother Teresa was beatified by John Paul II, the second step
towards sainthood. The nun was known to be a staunch Roman
Catholic with an uncompromising position on abortion. She
faithfully submitted to the teaching of the Church with a
stoic acceptance of poverty and the established order. These
positions raised criticism about the real nature of her
missionary work that were seen as a promotional flagship for
a Church mired in sexual scandal and declining popularity.
As for the people of India, they were weary of a Catholic
nun displaying to the world the slums of Calcutta as if
there were none in other countries.
By 2007 Mother Teresa’s
Missionaries of Charity resulted in a ministry that included
approximately 450 brothers and 5,000 nuns worldwide,
operating missions, schools and shelters in over 120
countries. In 1979 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for
her humanitarian work. A remarkable accomplishment for a
tiny nun born in the obscure town of Skopje in the Republic
of Macedonia on August 26th 1910.
The two funeral
ceremonies revealed two worlds, literally poles apart. The
first in London, the center of the British Empire of old,
the second, in a former British colony. The princess’
Anglican ceremony was all glitter and mass appeal and was
televised to a good portion of planetary viewers. On the
opposite side of the globe, a Catholic mass attended by
15,000 people at Netaji indoor stadium in Calcutta.
Two funeral services each with their own religious
historical backgrounds. Both exhibiting a comparable
postmodern media induced form of religiosity.
Funeral Ceremonies
The funerals reveal two
distinctive Christian displays of ritual expression. A
simple and rudimentary example of the difference between
Catholics and Protestants can be illustrated by the
symbolism of the crucifix and the cross. The figure of
Jesus-Christ typically appears on the cross for Catholics
whereas for the Protestants the cross is bare and absent of
an agonizing body. The first stresses sacrifice, suffering
and the surrender to God’s will. The second suggests an
absent body of Jesus who has conquered death and heralds a
resurrected body of Christ. The former entails an acceptance
of suffering and submission to fate. The latter implies
redemption and the glory of the risen Lord.
Two different mediated
forms of salvation suddenly come to the fore in succeeding
funeral services: In one, an exalted princess presented in
all her glory. Reigning on a global audience, crowned by the
media with a halo of fame. The other, images of sacrifice
and poverty, a visible imitation of Jesus’ presence
among the powerless and outcasts.
The disparity of the two
outlooks become clearer in view of the doctrinal difference
between Protestants and Catholics, one that dates back to
the Reformation. The predominant reason for the split in the
Church was the means of salvation. For the Holy See, one can
only be saved by action, specifically through the sacraments
regulated by the Roman Catholic priesthood. Martin Luther
insisted that one could also be saved by faith alone,
without any priestly intermediation.
The two perspectives can
be seen as:
The first by a mediated
salvation without the need of priestly intermediary.
The other by a nun’s
priestly ministry through the Church.
Sainthood
Both heroines point to a
postmodern reinterpretation of sainthood. The term saint
typically refers to an individual whose motives and actions
reflect the will of God. One who possesses some powerful
divine attributes. A person who is a model of religious
behavior. Miracles attributed to the candidate after his or
her death is an important criteria for sainthood. It reveals
the saint’s ongoing saving presence of God. This is
especially valid in the case of a martyr or someone who died
a tragic death.
In a postmodern sort of
way we can make an analogy of Diana’s posthumous miracle in
terms of the influence she had on the British parliament on
the favorable outcome of banning land mines. Also, soon
after her death, the Parliament refused to cover the
expenses of the royal yacht Britannia paid for by the
commoner’s taxes.
As for Mother Teresa,
the Vatican is currently reviewing the instance of a miracle
that occurred with her intercession. The healing of a tumor
of an Indian woman named Monica Besra, who attributes her
cure to the application of a locket containing the nun's
picture.
Since her death, Mother
Teresa’s personal letters became public and revealed a
person with a deep sense of doubt about her faith.
Disclosing long periods of longing to feel the presence of
Jesus Christ. A presence she sought more than anything else.
The letters reveal moments of “darkness” and “loneliness”
which she could not dispel. In the end, these doubts did not
alter her dedication and commitment to God’s will embodied
by her presence among the poor and outcasts.
Sacred Media & Profane
Audience
One can narrow the
meaning of religion, or religio as the Romans called
it, as the cultus deorum (the cults of the gods).
Defined as the scrupulous performance of prescribed rituals
to the gods. They include a rigorous separation between what
belongs to the gods and the mortals. All implemented by a
strict juridical boundary between the sacred and the
profane. This separation is illustrated by the boundaries
set by the templum or the pomerium (religious
boundaries). A boundary that the mortals
cannot cross or transgress. Any transgression is enforced by
the vengeful wrath of the gods. And is also implemented by
the unforgiving punishment set by the law. Additionally,
sacrare signified to segregate what belongs to the
sphere of the humans in order to be consecrated to the gods.
This key aspect of the
separation between the sacred and the profane can be found
in most world religions and agnostic beliefs. In a
postmodern world, the arbitrary separation between the
sacred and the profane is seen as being imposed by the
media’s technological boundary. This separation is even more
radical than the one imposed by the Romans through mythical
or juridical means.
As Pina points out, the
funerals would not have been omnipresent without the help of
the media. As a result, the media has juxtaposed itself onto
the world as the gateway to the sacred. A self-ordained
tele-vision of religiosity. And in the process
transformed the home into a shelter, a dwelling, a stadium,
a temple or a church. Keeping the separation between
the sacred icons and the profane audience complete. Making
the sacred physically inaccessible to the profane viewers
that lay outside its boundaries.
True religious
experience is lived by a process of communication between
the human and the divine. And is based on a set of sacred
instructions and ritual practices inherited by historical
tradition. Spiritual experience can only be authentic if
communication, community and communion are present. With the
broadcasting of the funeral services, the media has
displaced traditional religions as the purveyor of ritual.
As a result it has fragmented the idea of communication,
community and communion.
As such the “media” is a "quasi" religious
content provider. Quasi indicates a genuine similarity,
without sharing religion's ultimate spiritual goals. As a
result the media is a "pseudo" spiritual medium. Pseudo indicates an intended but deceptive similarity. Whose credo
can be summarized in “seeing is believing” (there is something to be said about
how the experience of “seeing” that could be construed as a
“true” religious experience).
A Media’s Icon
Tony Blair who is a
gifted politician, referred to Diana as the “people’s
Princess”. He recognized in Lady Di a talented ambassador to
England. The glamour, the fashionable balls and the
paparazzi promoted an ongoing fairy tale. She became the
greatest national export since the Beatles and other British
rock bands that followed.
The Prime Minister
interceded on behalf of Lady Di’s fans in the showdown about
the protocol of lowering the flag at half-mast at Buckingham
Palace. The public showed a similar impatience in respect to
the Queen’s long awaited TV address. Signs of remorse and
grief were finally seen in Prince Charles’ tears and the
Queen’s visit at the floral display at the gates of
Kensington House.
Since Diana’s death the
movie “The Queen” was released absolving the royals. Tony
Blair has since left public office. He is working as a
public relations man for some of the biggest corporations in
the world with a multi-million dollars a year compensation.
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To conclude, it seems that Diana
would have been content in being a passionate wife and
loving mother. Her discovery that Charles was in love with
another woman shattered that legitimate dream.
It turned out that the
adulation of her fans made her an outcast of the royal
court. Perhaps because no matter how much status or money
one has, it cannot buy you grace. It’s a gift. Keeping in
mind that Diana came from a sheltered background. She hardly
had to work in her life. Her charity work was largely a
product of circumstance rather than character. And in her
ordeal with the Royals, she was left with a generous
settlement. And because she was married to a royal, she was
able to meet and date the son of a billionaire.
Diana was sacrificed at
the altar of the established order. She was guilty of
temporarily blurring the lines between the aristocracy and
the commoners, the sacred and the profane. A
separation that must not be breached.
Since the tragedy,
Prince Charles married his former lover Camilla. The Queen is still among
us. She rules alongside a sovereign media who
inconspicuously dominates as a "quasi" religious medium, one
that is devoid of any spiritual content. Relentlessly searching for another disposable victim to be
sacrificed at the altar of ratings and advertising.
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