When it comes to highly publicized cases, activists want to make symbols of the people in the case to advance their narrative.
But the people in the cases aren't symbols of anything, they are individuals with a mind of their own, who make choices, whose choices have consequences, who have positive & negative qualities, and who may or may not fit a stereotype.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are not symbols of everyone of their gender. They are not symbols of a politically convenient narrative. They are individuals with a mind of their own, who made choices, whose choices have consequences, who have positive & negative qualities, and who don't always fit a stereotype.
And because of this, their case doesn't neatly fit the politically correct narrative of the activists.
I'm not going to pretend to know everything about the case.
But we all know about the viral video clips of Depp's lawyer Camille Vasquez aggressively questioning Amber Heard.
That's what I will demand every lawyer I hire to be like before deciding to hire them.
Meanwhile, Heard's lawyer just didn't question Depp or his witnesses effectively or aggressively. If they did, it would've gone viral.
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One of Depp's lawyers said that his case is a #metoo without a #metoo.
Meaning, that even in the 6 years since the allegations surfaced, no other person said that Depp abused them. This includes Depp's multiple celebrity dates from over the decades.
Meanwhile, there are multiple allegations against other celebrities like Harvey Weinstein, R Kelly, Bill Cosby, Jerry Sandusky, Donald Trump, and other slimebags.
This is not to say Depp is perfect. He is an admitted drug addict and had past allegations of vandalizing hotel rooms. Depp was also recorded hitting cabinets in front of Heard.
Meanwhile, Amber Heard had multiple inconsistencies that just didn't hold up under scrutiny. She also has other allegations of violent behavior towards others over the years. She was also recorded admitting to hitting Depp and telling him to stop being a baby.
People siding with Depp isn't just "misogyny", "celebrity culture", "stans & fans", paid bots" and other cliches. We all saw the viral clips of Camille Vasquez questioning Amber Heard. That sealed the deal. Why couldn't Heard's lawyers aggressively question Depp?
And nobody likes a person who didn't keep one's promise to donate their declared amount to a children's hospital. If you want to be known as a humanitarian, you have to keep that kind of promise.
And even if you're mad at a person for legit reasons, please don't exaggerate.
It's like the Duke Lacrosse case. The male lacrosse players hosted a party and some were being rude to the strippers they hired. But the stripper claimed she was raped, but there was no DNA evidence that matched the men who were at the party. She had legit reasons to be mad at the men for their rude comments at the party, but there was no rape. She exaggerated because she was angry and thought that just simply telling the truth wasn't going to punish them enough. She wanted to make them look worse than they really are. But her exaggerations backfired!
I'm sure Amber Heard had legit reasons to be angry at Johnny Depp but she most likely exaggerated details to make him look worse than he really is. That backfired.
Some activists worry that the televised trial and the verdict would discourage real victims from coming forward. But trials are about the technicalities of an individual situation, not about "sending a larger message".
When questioned about this, Camille Vasquez noted that abuse has no gender and encouraged abuse victims to come forward and have their case in court. Hopefully, for abuse victims, their lawyers will be aggressive like Camille Vasquez against their abusers.
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PS: I doubt Jussie Smollett's story of being a hate crime victim turning out to be a hoax has led to real victims being reluctant to come forward. Even if it did, it is Jussie Smollett who needs to apologize for allowing that to happen.
