Celebrities are like you and me

“As details about an alleged assault of Rihanna by her boyfriend, Chris Brown, emerged, fans and the entertainment industry grappled with what it could mean for the future of the young star’s career.”

Really? That’s not what I’ve been “grappling” with.

I’ve been “grappling” with why the media is so sympathetic to an asshole who beat up his girlfriend, causing her injuries and public humiliation. Could it be that he’s a man and we’re used to blaming the victim and assuming she must have deserved it? I’ve been “grappling” with why her privacy has been totally shredded when she was an innocent victim of a crime, why it’s her face on countless tabloids, not his. Is it because tabloid readers are titillated by bruises and tears? Why aren’t they more interested in bringing a criminal to justice and denouncing his actions? I’ve been “grappling” with why supposedly respectable news outlets would frame this story in such a way as to make it sound like Chris Brown is actually the victim. Maybe he was just minding his own business and he was possessed by a violent demon that forced him to beat up his girlfriend and now he is unfairly paying the price. Or maybe he was just minding his own business when his girlfriend talked back to him and he was forced to teach her who was in charge and now he’s being unfairly portrayed as the bad guy. I sure hate it when women argue with me.

I especially like that the events in question is now well-known and clear-cut, yet news reporting continues to use words like “allegations” and “alleged beating,” as though some new evidence could be uncovered. Maybe she beat herself up. I think I like that even more than I like the use of the term “slapped around” in news reports about assault against women.

The most sticking “grappling” point for me is the suggestion that Brown’s error was in failing to provide the correctly apologetic PR statement immediately. I thought his error was in punching his girlfriend repeatedly in the face. I guess there are lots of things to “grapple” with here. Looks like CNN and I don’t see eye to eye on what’s important, as usual.

ETA: This is depressing, though not surprising: 46% of Boston teens surveyed say it’s the woman’s fault. I wonder how many of them bothered to read the account of what he did to her or if reading it would make a difference.

Originally published at IRENE KAORU. Please leave any comments there.