If you’ve been keeping up to date with celebrity news, then I’m sure you’ll have seen the stories about Amber Heard’s request for a restraining order against Johnny Depp being granted, and there’s been a lot of stories whirling around about physical abuse, bruising, and narcotics abuse. With that in mind, one thing I’ve really noticed a lot of since the story was released is victim blaming.
Of course, it’s incredibly important to remember that we don’t know every inch and detail of what happened, especially with the way modern media twists things out of context on a regular basis. We’ll never know because we weren’t there, and there will always be two sides to every story. But why is it that whenever a person makes a claim of abuse against their partner, physical or verbal, do we instantly search for a reason to blame the victim? I say “person”, rather than female specifically, because I don’t think it’s something that’s primarily aimed at women. Whether you’re a man or a woman, we always seem to try and blame the victim.
Let’s think hypothetically; if a person is raped, especially a female, people are often quick to jump to the assumption that they deserved it because of the way they were dressed, or the way they were acting. In the case of abuse the situation can be similar and they deserved it because they provoked their abuser, or they did something out of line. In my opinion, when thinking of these cases, the victim is never to blame. If someone is raped, it’s because the rapist didn’t understand that the person said “no” and commuted the crime anyway. If a person is abused, it’s because their abuser has underlying issues that leads them to abuse.
When reading comments on the case of Heard, I’ve seen a lot of people jumping to the assumption that she’s a gold digger and is only after Depp’s money. This accusation is especially crude as just because Johnny Depp is an incredibly popular actor, it doesn’t make him immune to being abusive.
I think one of the main reasons that people have been quick to jump down Heard’s throat is because Depp is so highly adored by his fans, that people forget that he is prone to the same problems as any ordinary person, including becoming abusive to a partner. I absolutely love Johnny Depp as an actor, but this doesn’t make me believe any less that he could have abused Heard.
She claimed, in her report, that Depp had been abusing alcohol and drugs for some time, especially after the death of his mother. This claim alone was enough to set fans off on a spiel of protection against Depp, that he couldn’t possibly have a drug or alcohol problem all because he was Johnny Depp. But whether the claim is true or not, no-one is immune to addiction, not even the great Johnny Depp.
This event particularly irks me, considering both of them are famous. Victim blaming happens often enough but, with this case revolving around such a renowned actor, this time it’s at an all time high. People have been so quick to read the information that the media have provided, finding holes in her story and questioning her claims. And this isn’t just coming from men, this is coming from women too – and this irks me even more.
The lack of empathy we seem to have as a society is astounding to me, and people accused Heard of lying purely because she was seen smiling with family only days after being granted with her restraining order. Why wouldn’t she seek out people to make her happy after supposedly enduring what she has? If someone breaks up with you, you don’t wallow in self pity for months and then come out and find someone new. You find comfort in those who are close to you, as part of the process of moving forward – just like Heard was seen doing with her family.
If this happened to an ordinary woman, who’s partner was an addict, the essence of blame towards the victim would still be there. But with the popularity of this couple, and the hype that surrounds them, it has been magnified by a thousand and it’s so much easier to see how we tend to react as a society.
I think we victim blame because we find it so much easier to find a reason for the victim to be at fault, than we do to find a reason for the abuser to do what they do. It’s not that we don’t think about why someone could be a rapist, or a paedophile, or an abuser, we just tend to blame it on their psych and this is often the culprit’s “get out of jail free” card. We think; how can we put the full blame on someone who obviously has some sort of psychological deficiency, it’s not their fault as a person, their mind just isn’t all there.
But with the victim, they’ve just found themselves in an unfortunate situation. They don’t have the option of blaming underlying issues or their mental health for being a victim, their obviously has to be some sort of cause for this to have happened to them. They had to have done something to warrant the situation they’re now in.
And with the case of Amber Heard, this is just what’s happening. People will use Depp’s apparent addiction as an excuse for his behaviour – if it’s true what he’s done – and that simply cannot be. An incredible actor he may be but, if he has been abusive like it’s claimed, he deserves to face the consequences like everyone else.
lilyisabellaaa 