“Harry & Meghan”, a Confession to Talk About Bullying and Racism

This Thursday, December 8, Netflix premiered its miniseries "Harry & Meghan", which consists of an extensive interview with the royal couple combined with archive images. The documentary touches on topics such as racism in the Crown and the story of Diana, seen in retrospect by her youngest son. So far, Netflix shared three episodes of the production.

The first topic that is addressed is the contextualization of the pressure that someone outside royalty can carry when they belong to it, and for this the antecedent of what Diana experienced is used. Throughout the interview, Harry tries to make a claim on his mother. He points out how strongly attached he was to her. At times those in charge of editing the documentary give weight to that facet with the contrast of an eloquent William and a grieving Harry after the death of their mother. Harry also emphasizes that, like his mother, most of the things she did come from her heart, while throwing some taunts at how royalty prefers to put logic over feeling in a relationship.

One of the key moments in Harry's claim to Diana comes when he describes Meghan as someone with a similar personality to her mother. He names qualities that both have in common and concludes that this item was the reason for their relationship to flow in the best possible way. Oedipus complex, some will say.

The episodes feature moments that may upset Meghan's critics, such as being so naive about royal etiquette. When she was invited to meet Elizabeth II, she took it as a joke and made fun of the bow, she did not know what was done during the “royal walk” and discovered that the royal protocol was kept private.

The Mess with the Race

The first chapter puts together a kind of 'millennial' version fairy tale with Instagram as the protagonist. For the second, the central focus ceases to be romance and becomes Meghan, with a couple of situations that hinted at racism in royalty and in the press. In addition, the story reflects an episode of self-discovery, when the actress says that only when the press investigated her family tree did she feel treated as a black woman. She understood a certain privilege that she had, despite the fact that her mother is black. She approached the problem from a situation of racism that she witnessed with her mother when she was a child, and since then the subject has gone a little unnoticed in her life.

Being fair-skinned but saddled with racism after going public with her relationship with Harry prompted her to address her identity as a biracial woman and how difficult it can be to fit in. By having the eyes of the world on her, Meghan ceased to be the actress with whom Harry had committed herself and became the daughter of a black woman, inspiring for some and terrible for others.

For this reason, Harry advocated for her before her family when they claimed that Meghan had to endure what other women endured when they became royalty. He protested because the treatment of the press with the harassment of the paparazzi had added the discourse of racism.

Also read: Merry Christmas 2022!: 7 Christmas Movies to Enjoy on Streaming Platforms

The Trauma of Divorce

Something that both wanted to make clear to us is how hard it can be to be children of divorced parents. In fact, Meghan recites a poem she wrote as a child about it. This problem, in addition to being something they have in common, generates a mutual empathy that they reflect during the interview.

They each lost a parent to some degree: Harry his mother in the tragic accident, and Meghan her father after he agreed to do press stunts days before the wedding. With this background, both would like not to make the same mistakes as their parents with their children.

In the absence of several episodes, the intention of the documentary is clear: Harry and Meghan want to tell what happened, from their point of view. They do it at times sincerely and at others it seems somewhat forced, especially when they show a private files of when they are dating or the engagement scene. With his testimony exposed, the world will decide what truth to believe.