Lot's Wife Edition 6 2015

42
ARTS & CULTURE
By LISA HEALY
Celebrities and the
Get Out of Jail Free card
Content Warning: Sexual violence and sexual absue
If you were asked, ‘What do Floyd Mayweather, Chris Brown,
Bill Cosby, Roman Polanski and Sean Penn all have in
common?’ what would you answer? No, the answer is not
that they are all (assumedly) worth millions and drive cool
cars and that their whole lives are well-documented for
us mere peasants to constantly view. The correct answer
is that each of these men, at some point in their careers,
have allegedly committed acts of violence towards others,
those being predominantly women. While we may remember
Chris Brown’s vicious attack against Rihanna, have some
inkling of an idea about just how crappy a human Floyd
Mayweather is and are constantly being updated on the Bill
Cosby saga, these men can still circulate in their glitzy and
glamorous world. Many of them do not receive the scrutiny
they deserve or are legally punished for their actions, and
if they are, most earn a slap on the wrist in comparison to
non-famous offenders and are sent back into the world of
fame. This is not to say that fame is the be-all and end-all
and I myself supporter of the ‘Just Say No’ campaign when it
comes to poisonous aspects of the celebrity world. Yet, when
these perpetrators’ actions are made public, society does not
react in the way that it should or that it would if it was your
average Joe committing the crime.
This may be because we hold celebrities up on a pedestal
and fail to view them negatively yet interestingly, if a celebrity
does do something wrong, it is occasionally regarded as the
utmost blasphemy and individuals outside the fame realm
often personalise the issue by acting as if the consequences
have somehow affect them. Going way back to the noughties,
when news broke that Brad Pitt left Jennifer Aniston for
Angelina Jolie there was widespread outrage; albeit mostly
from gossip columnists. "HOW DARE Angelina steal Jennifer’s
man? What must have gone on behind closed doors? How
will Jennifer go on!?" And what has continued since is the
10-year long weekly update on Jennifer’s romantic life, with
important questions such as, ‘Will she ever find love? Is he
the one? Does Jen want children? Is she truly happy!?!!??!’
being asked. Celeb enthusiasts treated the divorce like Jen
was their best friend and Angelina was the wench from work
who was just so awful for stealing Brad. Of course, Brad didn’t
really do anything wrong, y’know, being the one married and
all. He just stood there looking pretty and that evil temptress
just swooped in and dug her claws into him. So why do we
‘pick and choose’ when it comes to what celebrity issues we
truly care about and consider worth our time and attention
and those that we are happy to sweep under the rug?
The case regarding Bill Cosby has seen one cat come out
of the bag, followed by another 46. People have come forward
to relate their experiences of date rape, sexual harassment
and abuse at the hands of the 77 year old pervert and his
Quaaludes. Some cases even stretch back to over 40 years
ago. Ex-America’s Next Top Model hard-ass judge Janice
Dickinson came forward stating that Cosby assaulted her
in 1982 and when she finally wanted to share the assault in
her 2002 memoir, Cosby and his lawyers pressured her and
the publishing company to remain hush-hush about the
incident. With the first allegations arising in the mid-2000’s,
it has been a long process for victims, who would presumably
have felt alone, ashamed and isolated in their experiences, to
finally speak out against someone who has been held in such
high regard by the public. And because of his persona, it has
been a long and arduous process for people to believe that
perhaps ‘good ol’ Cosby’ did commit these crimes. Many have
lampooned the alleged victims as money hungry nobodies,
hoping to destroy his career. Big name celebrities like Whoopi
Goldberg have stuck to their Cosby-supporting guns and
preached of his greatness. While there has been a great deal
of support for the alleged victims and celebrities and network
channels have been pulling the plug on their support and
airtime for the star, the Cosby debacle has shown a particular
reluctance by many to take the victims’ word seriously.
Then there is Floyd Mayweather, who actually likes
to spend his days being physically violent. Whether it’s
hitting a punching bag in training practice, trying to knock
out one of his opponents in the ring, or brutally beating
innocent women, it’s not a full day for the boxer unless he’s
somehow released his aggression in an extremely negative
fashion. Ruby Rose, who was once championed by people
everywhere has recently come under fire for posting a photo
on Instagram of her and Mayweather together, labelling
him ‘the champ’ and clearly demonstrating her support for
the boxer. While it is good we are having the conversation
about how celebrity endorsements of other celebrities with
disreputable histories (or present actions) can be extremely
damaging, there is a string of celebrities who have flaunted
support for Mayweather. Moreover, a surprising amount
of these supporters are women. Beyonce, along with Jay Z
both cheered for him at his game and Mariah Carey and
Nicki Minaj haven’t been afraid to take a few snaps with
him and act like bffls. What is most irritating is that all of