So, today, I am not going to post a little story. Today I want to speak about something that’s been bothering me for a while now and I just came across this post on tumblr (yes, I am on tumblr) that brought back all the feelings. This is about Johnny Depp and him still being a part of the Fantastic Beasts franchise.
See, the thing is before I came to know about his other side, I used to like him for being Captain Jack Sparrow. However, recent years have led to some startling and genuinely upsetting realisations. That no matter how much I love the character he portrayed that does not and should not be enough to excuse his actions in real life. And the most bothersome thing is, that’s exactly what people in Hollywood are doing. Or rather people at Warner Brothers are doing. How this is still a thing in 2018 in a post-Harvey Weinstein era is still a mystery to me. See, I understand that it’s really hard to associate the man who portrayed some really good roles to the man who has been less than ideal as a human being.
I am not going to rehash everything that happened regarding the Depp-Heard divorce because frankly, it’s none of my business except for the fact that he abused her. That becomes everybody’s business, he should have paid for that sort of thing by not getting roles and yet, that’s exactly what’s been happening! I don’t understand this selective alienation in Hollywood. Why is he still allowed to work if people like him are not? If there had been proof and it’s been common knowledge then why is he working still? Until he made some joke regarding assasinating the president of USA, nobody really paid any serious attention to Depp. However, shouldn’t they have done that when it was really needed? During the case? Everybody was quick to ignore or even bash Heard but when it came to the president, suddenly that’s crossing a line.
See, the thing is, both of the incidents were crossing a line! And both should have been received with equal amounts of shock. I think it’s reasonable to assume that he wasn’t actually going to attack the president when he had actually abused his ex-wife. Why is a man like that still allowed to be free to work in the industry? Is domestic violence less important than the president? How do you think that? Maybe I am not the best person to write about this but really, this is important and worth talking about.
I recently re-read an article that made me come back to the issue at hand.
Why is a series that’s associated with such good memories being ruined by a domestic abuser? Why is this still a thing? Even J. K. Rowling let me down with her opinions regarding this, all of this makes the whole #metoo movement rather at odds. On one hand, Hollywood is all up in arms for all the right reasons and on the other hand, a part of Hollywood is still going in the same direction they had been going for years. Ignoring everything and continue hiring people like Johnny Depp. And I am not even going to start anything remotely connected to Woody Allen. (Because that would just give me heartburn and rage that’s not going to be properly contained. Again, selective alienation comes to mind.)
I would like to end this with saying that I am not personally attacking Johnny Depp, I am only talking about the unfairness of it all. How Hollywood actually influences a vast number of people across the globe and how this sort of thing could prove to be a very big problem.
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P.S. – I am aware I am not eloquent enough to write about things like these but I really needed to get this off my chest or else I would have exploded.
bookwormmuse 