Jacqueline Onassis as soon as gave me some sensible recommendation: She informed me that whereas tabloids, magazines and newspapers typically offered ridiculous lies, they have been nothing greater than chook cage liner by the following day. On the time, I discovered nice consolation and comfort in these phrases.
However at this time they now not maintain true.
Within the digital age, tales don’t disappear, yesterday’s information isn’t tossed out with the morning paper, and lies stay on-line ceaselessly. They’re archived, streamed, clipped, memed and resurfaced endlessly. A dramatized portrayal can grow to be, for thousands and thousands of viewers, the definitive model of an actual particular person’s life.
I’ve typically chosen not to reply to media protection of me. I’ve lengthy believed that participating with distortion typically amplifies it. However a current tragedy-exploiting tv collection about John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette includes a character utilizing my identify and presents her as me. The selection to painting her as irritating, self-absorbed, whiny and inappropriate was no accident.
In discussing the present, “Love Story,” one in all its producers defined: “Given how a lot we’re rooting for John and Carolyn, Daryl Hannah occupies an area the place she’s an adversary to what you need narratively within the story.”
Storytelling requires pressure. It typically requires an impediment. However an actual, residing particular person isn’t a story gadget. There’s additionally a gendered dimension to this pondering. Common tradition has lengthy elevated sure ladies by portraying others as rivals, obstacles or villains. Isn’t it textbook misogyny to tear down one girl to be able to construct up one other?
The character “Daryl Hannah” portrayed within the collection isn’t even a remotely correct illustration of my life, my conduct or my relationship with John. The actions and behaviors attributed to me are unfaithful. I’ve by no means used cocaine in my life or hosted cocaine-fueled events. I’ve by no means pressured anybody into marriage. I’ve by no means desecrated any household heirloom or intruded upon anybody’s personal memorial. I’ve by no means planted any story within the press. I by no means in contrast Jacqueline Onassis’ demise to a canine’s. It’s appalling to me that I even must defend myself in opposition to a tv present. These should not artistic gildings of character. They’re assertions about conduct — and they’re false.
When so many individuals watch a dramatization that makes use of an actual identify, real-life penalties observe. Within the weeks because the collection aired, I’ve acquired many hostile and even threatening messages from viewers who appear to consider the portrayal is factual. When leisure borrows an actual particular person’s identify, it might completely influence her fame.
I do know that as an actress I shall be within the public eye. I’ve endured quite a lot of outrageous lies, crappy tales and unflattering characterizations earlier than. I selected to not battle them however to give attention to my work and respect my family members by protecting my personal life personal. However my silence shouldn’t be mistaken for settlement with lies. Apparently, my discretion makes me a goal.
For many years, my work has centered on environmental advocacy, documentary filmmaking and animal-assisted remedy for seniors residing with dementia and Alzheimer’s. My skilled life is constructed on compassion and accountability. Fame isn’t about ego; it’s in regards to the capacity to proceed doing the significant work I really like. Like all profession, doing good work requires an intact fame. For this reason I’m selecting to face up for myself now.
The Kennedy household can also be notoriously personal, and I’ve at all times honored their proper to privateness. Know that the majority (if not all) of these claiming to have any intimate data of our private lives are self-serving sensationalists buying and selling in gossip, innuendo and hypothesis.
Many individuals consider what they see on TV and don’t distinguish between dramatization and documented reality — and the influence isn’t summary. In a digital period, leisure typically turns into collective reminiscence. Actual names should not fictional instruments. They belong to actual lives.
Chook cage liners biodegrade. On-line lies endure. Might love and reality prevail.
