Why People Trash Amber Heard for Speaking Up About Her Domestic Abuse
Being a domestic violence victim is hard, especially if your husband is the beloved Jack Sparrow.
All gossip blogs and tabloids broke loose two weeks ago. The 15-month marriage of Amber Heard and Johnny Depp has ended bitterly, with Heard filing for divorce and reporting her husband for domestic violence. Depp married Heard, who is almost half her age, in a private LA ceremony in 2015, four years after their first meeting at the set of The Rum Diary.
The hot dad and beautiful young blonde. They make the perfect walking cliché.
Even though they have been relatively low profile throughout their relationship (until the dog smuggling incident last April), everybody has always been questioning their decision to get married. And when it ended, these people have the opportunity to prove themselves right (to nobody, apparently). The media got their supply of story for attention-grabbing cover in the newsstand. And of course, they have to pick sides.
Social media stir was unavoidable. People started to voice out their support for Amber through #ImwithAmber hashtag. But then, the hashtag #ImwithJohnny started to emerge.
It’s easy to see why so many people are supporting Johnny Depp. He is the beloved Captain Jack Sparrow, the eccentric Edward Scissorhands, the quirky Willy Wonka, the crazy Mad Hatter. We’ve watched his movies, we ‘know’ him, we love him. But does it mean that we can trash Amber Heard, call her names, and recklessly accuse her of fabricating this whole incident to gain anything that she wants?
The attack towards Amber Heard is utterly baffling yet so predictable in the same time. There are several reasons on why many people root for Johnny Depp and trash Amber Heard in this scandal:
1. Because Johnny Depp is Not a Monster
Johnny Depp doesn’t fit the typical stereotype of a villain. Even as the bad guy in the movie, you’ll always root for him somehow. His daughter from previous relationship, Lily-Rose Depp, testify against the allegations through an Instagram post last week, referring to his father as ‘the sweetest most loving person I know.’ Accompanying pictures in the media shows Depp, dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow, visiting sick kids in the children’s hospital (which is very noble of him) even though is has little to zero relevancy towards the body of the article itself. Everybody believe that although he is not always the protagonist, he is definitely NOT an antagonist in this story.
Yet, nobody questions whether or not Chris Brown hits Rihanna.
Arguably one of the hottest R&B pairing ever, Rihanna and Chris Brown’s relationship crumbled down after the shocking 2009 incident. Her battered face is shown everywhere as a definite proof of his doings and everybody believe so right away. I don’t recall tabloids and gossip blogs making any accusations that Rihanna fabricated this unfortunate event. Despite having no history of violence and made some of our favorite love songs in late 2000s, Brown has been charged as a wrongdoer in the court of public opinion before he pleaded guilty himself. What made Johnny Depp more believable than Chris Brown? Both of their victims presented pictures of their bruises and there are eye/ear witness to testify. Does their skin color and demeanor have any part in shaping the vox populi?
The Gone Girl-like situation is exactly like what happened in the early part of the book. The media and most people in the ‘jury box’ has decided that the actual victim is lying. But is Heard the Nick Dunne or Amazing Amy in this story? Much like the book/movie, we don’t know what’s the truth until it unveils itself in front of us. But one thing we know, that Depp’s unlikelihood of committing crime has earned him a favorable position, just like Amazing Amy.
2. Because Amber Heard is a gold digger
Aaahh..the old gold digger narrative to slur Amber Heard!
As an actress, Amber hasn’t made her ultimate breakthrough that rocketed her to join the A-list just yet. Until now, most people associated Amber Heard as a female sidekick for many B-rated action movies or as that blonde, ‘she-looks-like-Blake-Lively’ bombshell that always dress-to-the-nine on the red carpet. Johnny Depp is on the other hand has been Hollywood’s ‘it boy’ since 1987 after his breakthrough on 21 Jump Street TV series. Depp has been widely known as Tim Burton’s muse, playing one quirky characters after another, starring in one iconic movies after another. Depp is a three Academy Awards nominees, one time Golden Globe winner, and the recipient of ‘Generation Award’ on MTV Movie Award 2012. His movies have garnered 8 billion in worldwide box office. Bottom line, he is an accomplished actor both critically and commercially.
He’s one of the rare actors that produce $20 million paycheck per movie with $400 million net worth. Amber Heard’s estimated net worth however is only at $9 million. So when this case exploded, it’s a “natural thing” for the media to twist the narrative about Heard faking her bruises to milk Depp’s fortune through the separation process. Want to add fuel to the fire? There is no prenuptial agreement in Depp-Heard’s marriage and that means Heard would be entitled to half of what Depp earned during the course of their marriage. Scandalous, right? According to Steve Mindel, Hollywood family law specialist, Amber Heard could get until $10 million in for Johnny Depp’s divorce.
The whole ‘gold digger’ narrative is bombastic and cheap yet it is so easy to invest in, especially for a couple with a huge age and income gap like Depp & Heard. It’s unbelievably tempting to blindly trust this dramatic narrative, but please note that up until now, Amber has provided photographic evidence, verbal accounts completed with a police complaint to prove the abuse. What we got from Depp’s camp so far are formulaic PR statement regarding this issue and personal testimonial from Depp’s close friends.
3. Because Amber Heard Speaks Up
The witch-hunt of Amber Heard started once the public learned that she sold information such as pictures and text messages, landing her a front cover in one of the biggest selling magazines in USA. This, in contrast to her decision to decline giving statement to the police, as if amplifies that her motive has always been money-oriented.
But what if that’s not the case?
What if, hypothetically, her silence is being used against her and her only choice is to speak up soon and big, before she has no chance to tell her side of the story? As stated above, his husband’s status and public’s perception of her place her in an unconventional spot. And she had done it later, the public would’ve made up the narrative too much. It’s a she said, he said situation. But that’s the point.
The victim has to say something.
Because domestic violence is not just a personal affair between a couple, it’s an issue that needs to be talk and it demands attention to be solved. Silence will only let abuse flourish into a bigger monster than they already are.
Right now, nobody knows the actual truth. All publicists and legal team from both sides have been firing arguments back and forth to defend themselves and discredit the other party. But the point is, the case has been saturated with too much confirmation bias. There is something truly dangerous in defining truth based on our selected beliefs. Both Heard and Depp has their fair share of role in the situation and neither might be innocent, but let’s not shy away from the bigger issue of solving the problem of victimization in domestic violence.
If you’re a victim of domestic violence or you know someone who need help, go to http://www.helpguide.org/articles/abuse/domestic-violence-and-abuse.htm
Author: Septhiria Chandra
