Can we talk about role models? This is not one.
Social media is trembling with the weight of content arising from the Depp -v- Heard defamation trial, and I am not about to get in to the rights and wrongs of that, but I do want to talk about role models and who and what we value as a society.
A role model is defined in the Collins English Dictionary as “a person regarded by others, especially younger people as a good example to follow.” Its a lofty responsibility to be a role model, people look up to you, they emulate your behaviour, they may even aspire to be you, they look to you for guidance and you set the standard for others to follow. When I think of a modern day role model I think of someone like Nelson Mandela, Michele Obama, or Marcus Rashford. I do not think about Jonny Depp.
How, from the damning ashes of this case, Jonny Depp has risen like a phoenix to cult status as a role model is beyond me. Every time I log in to my Facebook, I am met with a barrage of adverts encouraging me to buy clothing and other merchandise with his face emblazoned across the front depicting him as someone to be adored, his victory to be celebrated.
And yet …. let us not forget this man sent the most awful text messages depicting violent fantasies of rape and murder, he threatened to kill his wife and burn her body. He won this case on public opinion, in a trial that convention says should rarely, if ever, be televised, and despite a previous defamation case in which twelve out of fourteen allegations of abuse were proven to be “substantially true.”
He is most certainly not someone to be worshipped and adored, he is someone who lawyered up, fought a good fight, had fortune and luck on his side, and won the battle of public opinion against a woman who did poorly on the stand, and who also behaved badly, very quickly becoming a figure of public hate and ridicule.
Many will say he deserved his win, it is still the talk of the town and big, big news, but let’s not lose sight of the fact whilst Amber Heard has clearly made some terrible mistakes, Jonny Depp is not without fault either. Yet, I do not see him ridiculed so vociferously or caricatured in countless MEMES despite his behaviour falling way short of acceptable. Instead he is held up as a figurehead for domestic abuse, a cause which over recent days and weeks has become almost tribal, a male -v- female issue rather than an #AbuseHasNoGender issue, setting us back generations.
Depp should not have his face emblazoned across fashion, no matter how disposable that fashion may be! He is a not a role model for young people to emulate, he is not a cult figure, and he is not an all-round good guy. He did some terrible things, yet for reasons I cannot understand as a society we’ve chosen to ignore them, and instead we’ve lifted him up to dizzying heights, whilst relentlessly villifying Amber Heard as delusional, toxic and manipulative for very similar behaviour.
Victorious Depp may be, but it leaves society with some very serious questions. I for one, do believe he is not a role model for a 21st century world. My next tote bag, cup or T-shirt purchase will definitely not include his image!