A body language expert shared his analysis of the moment in the Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Netflix documentary when Meghan cried. Was it real emotion or was she acting?
Meghan Markle cried in the documentary when she recalled death threats about her
In the documentary Harry & Meghan, the Sussexes shared their experiences about life in the royal family. At one point, Meghan explained what it felt like when bad press prompted death threats on social media.
“Just a couple of days ago, I was going through the manual for our security team at home, and on one of the pages that I happened to flip to, it was about online monitoring,” she continued. “And they’re like: ‘If you see a tweet like this, please report it to the head of security immediately.’ It just said: ‘Meghan just needs to die. Someone needs to kill her. Maybe it should be me.’”
She added, “And I was just like, OK.’ That’s, like, what’s actually out in the world because of people creating hate.”
Meghan broke down in tears as she recalled how scary it was that people wanted her dead.
“And I’m a mom. That’s my real life. And that’s the piece when you see it and you go, ‘You are making people want to kill me. It’s not just a tabloid. It’s not just some story,” she explained. “You are making me scared. Right?”
Meghan continued, “That night, to be up and down in the middle of the night, looking down my hallway, like, ‘Are we safe? Are the doors locked? Is security on?’ Is every — that’s real. ‘Are my babies safe?’”
She added, “And you’ve created it for what? Because you’re bored or because it sells your papers or it makes you feel better about your own life? It’s real what you’re doing. And that’s the piece I don’t think people fully understand.”
Body language expert provides analysis of documentary’s ‘polarizing clip’
In a video for The Behavioral Arts YouTube channel, body language expert Spidey shared his analysis of what he called “the most polarizing clip in the entire documentary.”
He noted how people either don’t like her and think that she’s “fake” or they do like her and support her. “I think those who don’t like Meghan are looking at this going, ‘I can’t believe anybody would buy this, it just looks so fake,’” Spidey explained. “And I think those who support Meghan are looking at this exact same clip, going, ‘I can’t believe anybody would doubt this. Look at her, she’s falling apart, she’s so emotional.’”
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The body language expert noted how there are arguments for either side. “There are things here that look and feel real and there are things here that look and feel fabricated,” he said. “So what you focus on is how you’re going to interpret the entire thing. It depends on the goggles that you’re putting on.”
He pointed out Meghan’s “dramatic pauses and that emphasis” when she speaks that look put on. “On other hand, we’re seeing little bursts here of sadness that we haven’t seen in other overly dramatic scenes that she has,” Spidey explained. Meghan’s eyebrows come together and up, but he said “it’s hard to know if that’s real sadness.”
Was Meghan acting?
Spidey went on to look at how Meghan was moved to tears and discussed whether that was her acting or if she was showing real emotion.
“Meghan is not an exceptional actor. She’s not an Oscar-winning actor,” he said. “She’s a good actress, she’s good at what she does, but I’ve never seen anything from her that made me go, ‘Oh my god, wow, performance of the century.’”
He also pointed out how she “randomly” says “I’m a mom,” which he perceived as “a call for sympathy.”
Meghan’s voice quivered and trembled while she was recalling the terrifying death threats, which also could point to real emotion. “You could be a great actor — that’s not something that’s really easy to fake,” Spidey said.
“So is it real, is it fake?” he asked. “I think it depends on the goggles you have on.”
The expert added, “As for me, my position on this is the following: I absolutely think that there was a real fear there when she saw the death threats. I believe there was a real fear, I believe there was a real sadness… I think the base of it is real but she’s throwing some sprinkles on top and really trying to sell how emotional this is.”
Showbiz Cheat Sheet acknowledges conditions and cultures can impact body language and is sensitive to all backgrounds.
