A few weeks ago, I made a comment on Facebook, stating my beliefs in the (then) hottest court trial in the world, the Amber Heard / Johnny Depp Defamation Court Case. I never blatantly chose a side. I only stated that I believed Amber Heard. Well, you'd think that I had murdered a puppy on a live stream, given all the f*cking hate that was directed my way. Seems the world only sees things in black and white, not shades of grey.
People claimed that Heard was "acting" on the witness stand and that her facts were getting jumbled, but given the fact that she's trying to recount occasions where she felt threatened or abused, all the while, the man who (allegedly) victimized her, is shooting dirty hateful looks her way, is going to rattle even the strongest of wills.
I'm familiar with abuse. Both physical and mental and though I'm not a psychologist or anything alike, I think I can recognize it. Many people are lucky enough to never have experienced an abusive partner or parent and good for them. They're among the lucky ones, but I grew up in an alcoholic family, my dad, more specifically and life as a kid was not all rainbows and sunshine. I can recall on many occasions when I stepped off the school bus and saw that he was home. Then it was a crap shoot. Either he'd be sober or drunk and if he were the latter, f*cking watch out!!
The abuse wasn't always physical, though I do have some scars to prove otherwise. Sometimes, I think the physical abuse would have been preferred. Scars heal, but mental wounds seldom do. I'm not claiming that Johnny Depp was a monster, beating his spouse about, but sometimes, the mental anguished thrust upon a partner is overwhelming. Leaves scars that people and loved ones never get to see. And again, I'm not claiming Depp to be a monster, but maybe he could be mean sometimes.
I've always called it, "The Jekyll & Hyde Syndrome". My dad, when sober, was the greatest man on Earth. He was happy, jovial, always ready for a laugh and generous, like no other. Sometimes people would take advantage of his kindness, but when he got the drink in him. Sucked back a few brewski's or a 26oz bottle of whisky, ho-ly f*ck, the monster would come out and you'd not wanna be around the man. I feel terrible revealing this factoid about the man, considering in his final few years, he was sober and attending a few A.A. Meetings and he was the sweetest man you'd ever be lucky enough to cross paths with.
All those years of tip-toeing around and being on the receiving end of threats, beatings and just plain mental hockey, I doubt anyone around me would have ever suspected. It's all about perception. If people haven't the experience with something, chances are, they're not going to recognize it.
I don't think Johnny Depp is a bad guy. I like him. He's a fantastic actor and seems pretty cool in interviews, but when laced with alcohol and drugs, who the f*ck knows what he's like? It may be the Jekyll & Hyde Syndrome, all over again.
I only watched one episode of some show on CNN that recounted the days events. It showed video of Depp, speaking calmly, but I sensed some ominous tone to his voice, all the while, he's slamming cupboard doors and swearing and throwing shit about. Never laid a hand on Amber in that video, but the overtones of his actions were obvious. I outweigh Depp by about 40lbs and tower a couple of inches over the guy, but I'd be intimidated if the guy was behaving this way around me.
There's a guy in my class, right now. He's from what he claims is 'The Eastern Bloc', but the Russian accent is a dead give away. He's always rude to me and snaps at me constantly. I've confronted him once on it, addressing it respectively, but it fell on deaf ears. He continues to be rude and I take great offense to his attitude toward me. I mentioned it to my instructor, who laughed it off and claims to not notice it. His perception doesn't matter, only mine, in this situation. Maybe the fella doesn't even realize that he's being a dick to me. Maybe in his culture, this is the way they treat others. I used to work with a fellow from the Ukraine and he'd treat me like complete dogshit, until he needed a favour or a ride home. Same thing.
Maybe there's that guy in your office or workplace who tells off colour jokes. He does it to be funny, never thinking that he's making others uncomfortable, but all it takes is one person to perceive the humour as aggressive or offensive, to make in inappropriate.
I had an instructor, years ago, in a Parts Management class. She refused to call a grease nipple, grease nipple. Apparently, nipple was offensive to her and she preferred the term 'grease zerk'. I never knew it as a zerk and in the years since, when I call them zerks, nobody knows what the f*ck I'm talking about. Whatever, I'm off topic.
The fact that Amber Heard was ruled against, that her mental status was not taken into consideration and that all her claims of mental and physical abuse was denied, is offensive. Yes, she's a celebrity, but so what? She's a human being, first and foremost. I believe her. I sympathize with her. And I'm ashamed to be a man, in some sense, because she was victimized all over again. Having to recount moments where she felt she was a victim of abuse, only to be shunned and abused further by the populous. I just hope she can bounce back from this.
On Facebook, all I said was: As a person who was abused mentally and physically, I believe Amber Heard. That's all I said and I received about 80 negative comments that were nasty. Just plain nasty and rude and abusive. I'd click on some of the profiles of those ripping into me and I couldn't believe some of the quotes on their profile. "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." Or "I keep an open mind and listen to all opinions because they matter." Bullshit, like that. Ever single person contradicted themselves and wrote some of the most hateful shit I've read on social media in ages. Why do they call it 'social media' when it's the most anti-social concept in history? 🤔
I've never considered myself an overly nice person. I can act appropriately when I need to, but life has beaten the shit out of me and I'm not always the nicest guy. There'll be people, friends and acquaintances who'll claim this statement false, but like the make-up of a clown, I've learned to hide the pain and the strife. Much like growing up, nobody knew what horrors were happening at home, until that one fateful day that I showed up to school with two black eyes and a broken nose. Should've seen the people kissing my ass that day.
No comments:
Post a Comment