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Both parties seem to have committed despicable acts but at the end it appears that Amber Heard is paying the price for not only her indiscretions but for his too. Are we calling this justice now?
Like most people in India, I too was not interested in the Depp vs Amber trial, it all seemed too silly – pretty people fighting over who said what. But unfortunately for me, my Facebook page insists on showing me articles and short videos on the most irrelevant topics.
Take for instance the British royal family, I am convinced that the royal family spends copious amounts of money on social media. Why else do I see articles on not only the Queen and her immediate family, but Princess Diana and some random duchess and duke and whatnot?
However, it is not Her Royal Pain that we want to talk about here, but rather about Team Depp who skilfully used social media to paint Depp, a man 20 odd years older than his wife, as a gullible victim.
We have all heard of the famous “outrage of modesty of a woman” but this case was built on the premise that “outrage of reputation of a man” is 100 times worse than the outrage of modesty of any woman.
If Depp’s lawyer listens carefully she can hear the collective sigh of relief from men from all over the world. #MeToo had a moment in the sun, but the boys tweaked it to #MenToo and it’s not going anywhere now.
It is a fact that Depp consumes alcohol and drugs in large amounts and has had violent episodes repeatedly. This is in fact the very definition of the term “abuser”, so how do we go from this to a verdict that awards him 15 million dollars on an Op-ed article that did not even mention his name?
The verdict brought a sense of deep foreboding and the image that comes to mind is of Amber Heard as June and Camille Vasquex as Serena Joy from the Handmaid’s Tale. It might be a lazy comparison and nowhere in this case does Amber Heard come out spotless, but that does not mean that she is not entitled to a fair trial.
The hate from the misogynist sections of social media (both men and women) makes her a victim all over again, and for this there is a no court she can appeal to. Depp’s PR team have completely turned the public vote against her, and it is beginning to dawn on everyone just how good of an actor Depp really is! He may have been the perpetrator of a crime in one scene but cut to court, he was the very embodiment of victimhood.
Depp is a brilliant actor and might be a decent human being on most days but there is no way he can say that he has overcome all his demons as evidenced by his multiple stints of rehab. His rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle of blackout-inducing drug binges, trashed location homes and detoxification regimes shows an unstable mind.
However, it is Amber’s bipolar disorder and histrionic personality disorder that we are fixated on. Histrionic personality disorder (HPD) is a mental health condition marked by unstable emotions, a distorted self-image, and an overwhelming desire to be noticed. By this definition everybody on social media has HPD!
#MeToo came as a tsunami and receded just as quickly, but #MenToo ambled along and is now sitting comfortably in our midst. It has appointed women as its handmaidens and guards, who chant “Boys will be Boys” and find lost and confused teenage boys in 58-year-old men who take no responsibility for their actions.
Indeed #Mentoo is a giant leap for Men!
Roopa Prabhakar describes herself as a mother, a working woman, a closet feminist and blogger. read more...
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