Displaying emotions

W11girl.
Money will not bring back a life.
What money will do is to assist those in replacing the material things that have been lost and however provided should not be an issue

I am pleased that the Queen went to Manchester - she is a representative for every one of us and it is therefore acceptable and proper for her to do that.

Celebrities on the other hand represent only themselves and should not use their status to comment on such tragedies, apart from an expression of sympathy etc. They often start to make assumptions of events which have no basis in fact but are then expressed as true by their media followers.

Creepy Corbyn is everywhere............

I never doubted that people in the public eye or just ordinary citizens lack emotion. I don't look for proof!

But the original question was - do the public have a right to demand people show their emotions publicly ,not should people have or not have emotions

I do not have issues of royalty or for those in the public eye showing sympathy, in person, to those suffering from the recent terrible events.
It will not change anything for those poor souls affected but at least it shows, contrary to the belief of so many with their heads stuck in the sand, that what ever their status who ever they may be these persons too are capable of emotion.

I'm always quite impressed when celebs use their celebrity to support the rest of us in times of trouble. Arianna Grande has no doubt enhanced her career after Manchester, but she did a lot of emotion and financial good. I don't think she did it for her own gain. Rita Ora was an immigrant, wasn't she? Adele grew up poor. They kept the problems in the spotlight. Lily Allen grew up round there, not particularly privileged, and lives there now, just in a much bigger house. She was very articulate on Channel4 News. Good on her. Let's focus on the positive

Finally Hugh Grant has kept Hacked Off in the media eye, when plenty of media would really like it to go away. OK he was a victim, but so were many many others

Interesting comment that there are many ways to show our emotions - not in the public domain, Teresa May was lambasted for her 'robotic' response, so even if she had met those poor angry, grief-stricken relatives, I am sure she would have found it difficult to respond in another fashion.
Society is seemingly less tolerant of the actual behaviours that make us individual. - we must all be the same. Many tears will have been shed in private - as a retired nurse, patients in those days they never saw me cry as my role was to soothe, act and respond with empathy, not sympathy: but I did cry over events in the privacy of my own home. It was a professionalism that we were schooled in - doesn't mean we had no feelings.

I agree with you Anniebach. The song for Grenfell Tower comes out on Wednesday (produced by Simon Cowell)...Bridge Over Troubled Water...I know it will raise money which will go directly to the survivors after admininstrative fees have been taken out, but they need homes....money isn't always the answer.

I give up, Corbyn has now said in an interview - I feel their pain. Nooooooo you do not, why oh why do people say this

Logistically trying to get on an do stuff when VIP's keep turning up gives you more to do, if the Queen visits, then the Mayor, the the PM it is all time that people have to find to meet and greet etc.

I don't say that I warm to Teresa, but honestly what she has had to see and hear about in her time as PM is harrowing, she must have PTSD herself, she isn't prepared for anything like that (not many people are) but at least emergency services are clued up.

The great touchy feelies, like Eva Peron.......Jimmy Saville etc have had their own motives for being so 'huggy'. It is not a new phenomenon.........but I think it is ghastly. Just as I cringe everytime Macrom kissed his missus full on the lips at state events........why can't people just get on with their jobs and leave their emotions at home, unless, that is part of their role.

I suspect we will have some sort of 'hug o meter' in future party manifestos as it seems that this is what matters to the electorate.........seems to me a strnge way to evaluate people but very on trend.

I agree roses, hugging and wailing don't get the job done. In a crisis it is the practical things that matter.

Good post TerriBull
I think the survivors of the fire ( and residents of nearby tower blocks) actually want to be heard and not hugged by strangers.They want fears allayed and reassurances, on the safety of their homes, and where they will be living.That's the more important thing.

I feel it started with Diana's death, we seemed to change as a nation at that point. However, social media has exacerbated "public grieving" greatly, everyone wants to add their two cents worth and sometimes in a "very look at me" kind of way. Example, when Amy Winehouse's death was announced, Kelly Osbourne tweeted something along the lines of "so upset can't breath right now", but had a enough breath to get on her phone, to briefly deflect the attention on to her, she is of course not alone in that sort of announcement and as I said just an example. Sadly George Michael is no longer with us, he was the antithesis to all of that, and I had so much respect for his quiet, anonymous magnanimty, it gave us a glimpse of what a kind soul he was.

Turning to the Queen, I think we should remember she grew up in a time of stoicism she was moved enough to put in a very "soon after" visit to the victims in hospital in the aftermath of the Ariana Grande concert. She is of her time, her life has been constrained by protocols, but that doesn't mean she doesn't care. William and Harry belong to a different tactile age.

Nowadays there are piles of flowers all over the place marking a tragic event, although I'm of the opinion all that's kind of futile, never more so than in the case of Baby P were teddies and other soft toys were added, possibly a cathartic effect for some, but nothing changed the fact that poor little baby died in pain at the hands of people who should have cared for him, so maybe the money would be better spent in donations to RSPCC.

Grenfell Tower was an unprecedented horror and the reaction of public grief by those affected is understandable, as is the feelings for all those who witnessed recent terrorist acts. I did at the time think the heads of state marching through Paris after the Charlie Hebdo attack was gratuitous posteruring.

What limit Eleothan?

Thank you Jane, at least we were spared rolling news and Google mad Internet sofa experts, but it was very distressing.

That sort of tragedy tourism sounds appalling anniebach. No wonder you feel as you do.

You really are the limit anniebach.

There we are then, some want the - I feel your pain approach , others think public demands for displays of tears and hugs are not acceptable, myself I am in the latter, I have no right to demand anyone expresses their emotions publicly , but new have been a controller

I will add a personal comment since Eleothan for some reason thought the public was Londoners not all people of the U.K. . Following the Aberfan disaster we had coach tours from London bringing sightseers , children were asked if they had brothers or sisters who had died. the sightseers munched on food as they read the inscriptions on the graves, could be this caused me to feel as I do about the - I feel your pain lot.

They're damned if they do and damned if they don't.

For my taste its necessary for some heads of state or government to visit physically and show solidarity with the victims, but hugging and kissing from celebs doesn't seem caring to me, it looks like virtue signalling.

Lets not forget the publicity means cold cash for some people....

Sorry Wilma I love your sentiments but I'm a bit of a cynic!!

As a nation I think we are moving away from the stiff upper lip, and dignity first, towards the American style of let it all hang out.

And in answer to your question no WE don't need it, but I suspect the victims would feel moved that someone took the time and trouble to come and hug them and recognised their plight.
We cant deny how powerful the human touch is, whether its genuine or for show.

I pity the young royals fitting into this brave new world.

William comforting an old woman separated from her husband during the evacuation
Her husband is missing. William reached out to comfort her. I'm no Royalist, but I do admire him for doing the right thing at the right moment here. Some people just need to feel that others do care.

I don't know why you feel it necessary to keep having a go at Diana all these years after her death Anniebach. Just because you are a great fan of Charles doesn't give you the right to ridicule other people's feelings about her death. And "queenie" would hardly be expected to give anybody a hug - since she was reported to have proferred a gloved hand to her little son Charles on her return from a trip abroad. I think I prefer a little emotional warmth myself.

Following this terrible disaster it was individuals from the local community and other parts of London, charities, churches, community groups, etc., that came to the aid of the residents of the tower block. Some well known people who had links to the area also came to assist.

Isn't it strange that instead of focusing on the way the views of the residents - expressing their well-founded fears regarding safety - were apparently ignored over a period of years, those that have come to give comfort and practical help are now being criticised for being too "touchy feely" "over emotional" or "playing to the cameras".

Nobody knows how George Michael would have responded if he were alive - he was a Londoner and he may well have felt the need to give his support.

It's an interesting topic Annie. As you say, queenie quietly just gets on with doing her job. She has little choice in having a barrage of cameras following her; newspapers commenting on her every move and a general public who all expect something different from her. Her advisors are there to prompt her on what the public "expect" and, as we all know from what happened after Diana died, she wasn't advised very well in the beginning.
I have no problem with "famous" people coming forward, at any national fund raising event, if there aim is to raise awareness of that event, and not their own profile. George Michael; Sir Tom Hunter; JK Rowling are all huge supporters of very worthwhile causes, but they do so quietly and without fuss and without the need of a camera team to catch their every kind words or deed. They are the ones that I admire. Others may not though!

I imagine Annie would probably hit Corbyn if he tried to comfort her - except that he wouldn't get close enough to her!
However, the woman he comforted obviously needed it, and did not stiffen up at all. Corbyn is good with ordinary people.