Hi all. I hope you’re all doing well. I wanted to start today with an idiom I’m sure you’ve all heard before: sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. On the face of it, it’s a nice turn of phrase, which has a worthwhile message behind it. Essentially, don’t let what other people say affect you. Today, however, I’m going to explain why this phrase is outdated and wrong. I hope you enjoy:
Words can hurt people. I don’t think there’s any real debate to be had regarding this. Bullying and insults can lead people on the receiving end to depression, anxiety, or even suicide, in extreme cases. Words can – and often, do – make an impact.
My blog has a very modest readership; my posts tend to get between 10 – 40 views each. So, I’m not exactly out here changing hearts and minds. But still, I choose my words carefully because I am conscious of the fact that words matter. I’m conscious that certain things, once said (or written and posted in my case), can’t be unsaid.
This is why the truth is important. Not perhaps so much in a small, personal blog (although I do endeavour to be as honest as possible when I write). But, in bigger publications, such as in newspapers, or even on a celebrities’ Twitter feed, given how many viewers these may get, lies or half-truths have a way of becoming legitimate. It feels a bit like a philosophical question, but how many people need to believe something is true before it effectively becomes the truth, even if it is something that started as a fabrication? I’m going to talk about a few of these instances throughout recent history, some more serious than others.
Let’s start off with a fairly inconsequential one. A few years back, actress Dakota Johnson appeared on Ellen DeGeneres’s talk show. She was talking about a big party she had thrown when Ellen, probably jokingly, asked why she hadn’t been invited. Without missing a beat, Johnson revealed that she had invited DeGeneres but never heard anything back from her. They went back and forth, Ellen saying she never received an invite, Dakota saying she absolutely did invite her.
This wouldn’t really have mattered (and, in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t), but Twitter ran with this story, mostly with the narrative that Ellen DeGeneres had been revealed to be a liar and Dakota Johnson was a hero for exposing her. A few weeks later, someone asked Johnson if she had really invited DeGeneres to her party, and she said no and that she had only been kidding around with Ellen.
And, this is fine with me, by the way. I have no problem with Johnson making a joke like this, and I don’t attribute any blame to her. However, despite her confirming she had only been joking, I still see people sharing that clip online with a caption like, “Remember when Dakota Johnson cooked Ellen live on air.” The point being, even though the true version of events is out there, people still believe the lie. This one is fairly low stakes, all things considered. There are other lies that have much more far-reaching consequences.
In the mid-1800s, there were three sisters in America, known as the Fox sisters. They claimed to be able to commune with the dead, and they would perform what we now know as séances for people. Spiritualism seems fairly common these days, with all manner of people who say that they can talk to the dead. But the Fox sisters were the very first mediums.
Not long after the Fox sisters made a name for themselves, other people started coming forward with so-called psychic abilities. Séances became very popular, and spirituality was born. It must, therefore, be slightly awkward for mediums that, decades after bursting onto the scene, one of the Fox sisters confessed to the whole thing being a hoax. She even demonstrated how they duped the masses.
It was too late to put the genie back in the bottle, though. Despite the confession, there were too many believers by that point. Even though the foundation was all built on lies, the bricks of the spirituality house were unshakeable. And it persists to this day.
Now, I suppose it’s possible that even if one of the founders turned out to be a fraud, there could still be real mediums and psychics out there. But I highly doubt it. I’m definitely a sceptic. I don’t have a problem with people who do believe, as I know it can often bring them a lot of comfort, hearing supposed messages from beyond the grave.
What I do have a problem with are the Charlatans who have no magical powers, but they happily take peoples’ hard-earned money, conning them into believing they are in contact with their dead relatives. That, for me, is utterly shameful. And, speaking of shameful…
Quite possibly, one of the most harmful lies told in recent history was given to us by a former doctor called Andrew Wakefield. In 1998, Wakefield published an article in the respected medical journal The Lancet. The article linked the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) jab to children being diagnosed with autism. He further compounded this shortly after by giving a press conference in which he said MMR vaccines should be paused while the situation was reviewed.
This caused a wave of panic with parents, some of whom opted not to vaccinate their children. This was problematic for two reasons. Firstly, diseases like measles, which we more or less had under control, started to spread again. This is a problem that persists to this day. In 2016, we had completely eradicated measles in the UK. It is now back, with a vengeance, mostly because not enough parents are vaccinating their kids.
I don’t want this blog to devolve into a vax vs. anti-vax debate. But, I have to say that I would be fine with parents not vaccinating their children, if those children were the only ones who might come to harm. That might sound harsh for those kids, but if their parents make that decision, they have to live with any consequences.
Unfortunately, not too dissimilarly to Covid, diseases like measles don’t work that way. Even though getting vaccinated yourself decreases your risk of catching the disease, you can still catch it from someone who hasn’t been vaccinated. In short, the more people who get the vaccine within a community, the lower the chance that people within that community catch the disease.
It can be difficult to know who to believe at times, particularly if you are from a family/area that are generally distrustful of authority figures, such as doctors, police officers, or politicians. But, do you know how it is obvious that the MMR vaccine doesn’t cause autism? Just look at the numbers (if you can believe numbers! etc. etc.).
10 years ago, England had 92.7% coverage of kids having the MMR jab. Today, that is down to 89.3% coverage. So, clearly, fewer children are receiving the jab. 10 years ago, the number of people diagnosed with autism was roughly six per 10,000 people in England. In 2018 (the latest year The Lancet has detailed figures for), that number was up to 11 per 10,000 people. Why, if the MMR jab caused autism, would falling jab numbers lead to increased autism diagnoses? The simple answer, of course, is that it wouldn’t; there is no causal link between getting an MMR vaccine and having autism.
You don’t even need these fancy facts and figures. Just ask yourself this: if the MMR causes autism, why doesn’t everyone who gets the MMR vaccine end up with autism? Nearly 90% of the UK has had the MMR jab. Yet, even taking into account those who have potentially not been diagnosed, less than 3% of the UK population has autism. I’m no statistician, but that’s a huge disparity in the numbers. And should be enough to shut down anybody who is anti-MMR.
Alas, MMR sceptics remain. Because of the words that were put to paper over a quarter of a century ago. Because of the words that were spoken in a press conference. Once those words seep into the public consciousness, no amount of additional words can dissuade people of their beliefs. So, I guess I’ll stop trying and will leave it there. Remember, folks: Be careful what you say. You never know what ramifications you could be unleashing.
Thanks for joining me, as always. It was slightly heavy material, so thanks for persevering. I’ll be keeping it a bit lighter next time, when I’ll be talking about travelling with kids. I hope you join me then. Until then, take it easy.
Rob Recommends
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Film – 7/10
This is a very difficult film for me to rate, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I absolutely love the first film. I think Ryan Coogler’s directing and storytelling are great. I genuinely believe that Michael B Jordan’s Killmonger (stupid name aside) may be the best movie villain since Heath Ledger’s The Joker. There are some top performances from a very talented supporting cast (Forest Whitaker, Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Sterling K Brown, Andy Serkis, and Daniel Kaluuya, to name but a few). And, of course, a wonderful star performance from Chadwick Boseman, may he rest in peace. In short, the sequel had a lot to live up to.
The second reason this is difficult is because this movie is sort of two things at the same time. It’s a tribute to T’Challa/Boseman, and it’s a story about finding a new Black Panther and dealing with a new threat. As a tribute to the fallen hero, it is near perfect. I had tears in my eyes at multiple points. But, as a story, I’m not too convinced it was that good.
Without spoiling anything, the Wakandans end up in a war with a bunch of blue-skinned water people. It’s as ridiculous as it sounds. I’m sure these creatures are a part of the Black Panther canon, but it just wasn’t really my cup of tea.
Fresh Off the Boat – TV – 8/10
This sitcom follows the Huang family, starting with them moving to Florida to start a restaurant business in the mid-90s. With the first season focusing mostly on the eldest son of the family, Eddie, this show has the fish-out-of-water elements of The Fresh Prince and, being set it a bygone era of the not-too-distant past, the nostalgia kick of something like Everybody Hates Chris (big man!).
As the show goes on, there is more emphasis on the parents’ lives, which is great because Constance Wu and Randall Park are both an absolute delight! The show does suffer slightly in the later stages, like a lot of sitcoms do, where the characters become caricatures of themselves. However, boasting a superb hip hop soundtrack, this show is well worth a go.
Here We Go – TV – 9/10
This is going to sound like a ridiculous thing to say, but this show gives me hope. This BBC sitcom is all the proof that I need that there are a lot of very talented and creative people out there. And that it is still possible to make comedy that isn’t vulgar or insulting; it’s just very funny.
You do have to suspend disbelief a little bit, as the show would have you believe that everything you see is being filmed by the son of the family for a documentary he is making. But, this is generally pulled off very well. The cast is top, and there are a number of quirks to this that you don’t see in many programmes these days. I highly recommend.
Toast of London – TV – 8/10
Just mad. It’s my second watch of this, and I was still surprised by how ridiculous this show is. Ridiculous, but also laugh-out-loud funny.
Matt Berry, at the peak of his powers, plays ageing actor Steven Toast, who routinely finds himself doing terrible acting jobs to get by.
If the crazy storylines don’t get you, the character names will. Toast’s agent is Jane Plough (pronounced ‘Pluff’), his nemesis is Ray Purchase, and one of his sound engineers is called Clem Fandango.
Every episode is a journey into the surreal. If you can deal with the randomness and silliness, you’re in for a real treat. Yes, I can hear you Clem Fandango!
A Rob Blog 