#lmk if i need to tag anything else
The fact that there is captured recordings of Johnny attempting SH, showing signs of depression and mental break episodes, using alcohol and substances as a coping mechanism, and the most common symptom of depression - lashing out, and it’s being used to damage him in this trial….
This just goes to show you how society treats people suffering from depression, especially men. It’s all “he is so aggressive and angry and violent,” rather than “I wonder why he is acting this way and should we look into it more?”
the number of men whose abuse and violence have been chalked up to them being poor wounded souls etc is astronomical. yes, we need to care about men’s mental health, but we do not need to perpetuate the classic tactic of taking violent men and using their poor wittle troubledness as justification or excuse for their actions. yes, he wanted to self-harm. do you know why i know this? because there’s a recording of him where he, after threatening to cut amber w a knife, tries to force her to cut him as she, through tears, begs him not to hurt himself. now, i know many men who have suffered from depression. none of them have ever tried to force a knife into their partner’s hands and begged the partner to cut them, then called their partner a “pussy” for refusing to do so. that is not typical depressed behavior and should not be excused as such. that is a deeply traumatic situation to put heard in, and saying “he was depressed” as the reasoning for his behavior maligns people with depression everywhere, turning them into violent monsters with no control over their actions. stop perpetuating the narrative that people suffering from depression are incapable of self-control, empathy, and human decency. it allows people to get away with horrible things and simultaneously puts even greater stigma on mental illness than there already is. i don’t want people to be afraid that i will hurt them because i’m depressed. being depressed has never made me hurt anyone. correlation is not causation.
it’s easy to make amber heard the sacrifice thrown to the fire to prove that women care about men being abused too, and it’s easy because she is the first major metoo victim that does not in any way follow the “perfect victim” archetype. she clearly has said and done bad things, sure. and it definitely is true, men can be abused as well, and abuse is not committed solely by women. but jumping on this case as your excuse to show that you believe that to be true is incredibly fucked up. these are real people and a real relationship, and this is a real woman you’re vilifying to prove your righteousness despite all the evidence to contrary. amber has done many shitty things, sure, but i spent hours going into the weeds of everything and, despite coming in leaning towards depp (!!!!!! i really was originally!!!), i’m now deeply appalled at social media’s response to heard and this trial in general. while the mental health of men does matter, and does matter a lot, it does not justify or excuse the suffering they inflict on those around them. and from depp’s texts to third party members to witness testimonies to photo evidence to video and voice recordings, it is very clear that he has inflicted a LOT of suffering, and his mental health is besides the point. and also, this is not a case about his morality or happiness. this is a trial in which depp sued heard for defamation. his mental health has nothing to do with the facts of whether he did or did not abuse her. this is not the “believe men!” moment you think it is. do not take that genuinely good and important cause and stain it by making johnny depp its mascot. this case is not the time we’ve all been waiting for to show how important it is to support men too. it is a brutal smear campaign against a victim of abuse and in ten years, all of you will be talking about how awful it was that everyone fell for it at the time.
so stop making excuses for men so you can get your Good Feminist card and prove you’re not like those other Bad Feminists Who Shouldnt Be Taken Seriously, that you’re a GOOD woman, and therefore you shouldn’t be lumped in with the stereotype because YOU, you’re not a typical crazy woman — you’re logical and rational and you care about men. but the thing is, saying depp is innocent is not logical or rational. you are virtue signaling too, yall. that’s what all of this is.
