Wow, 7 pages so far and I'm not going to read all of them. But regarding the OP...
I was a JW growing up as a kid in the 70's and teen in the 80's. There was an air of mystery to the GB. I'd be surprised if my parents could name one or two of them, except the president. I only knew the president myself. Which, IMO, made them more mysterious. I thought they pretty much talked with God like Moses did. Only the hardcore suck-ups knew who they were.
But, now they're on videos. They are semi-celebrities in JW circles. There's so much less mystery as to who they are these days. Which makes the whole org more human.
Not that the GB is on reality TV, but the camera takes the mystery away. Like when cameras went into Ozzy Osborne's home. He was no longer the musical prince of darkness. He was just an old bumbling dad.