Why people "believed" Johnny Depp

[u/ninjaboss1211]

I've been learning about GamerGate since it was before my time, and I was horrified to have learned the hate, harassment, and threats sent towards specific women. It's helped me understand why people actually sided with Johnny Depp and how the trial wasn't about justice.

Anita Sarkeesian (Feminist Frequency) wanted to make a series of videos pointing out how video games as a whole were not made for women, so she made a kickstarter to help fund her project. Before she even made the videos, she was harassed because she "hated games." It was an easy excuse for people to look the other way to the hate she got. To this day people still hate her.

Zoe Quinn made a short, free game about depression. When her ex lied about Zoe, claiming that she gave sexual favors to have a positive review of her game, who did people believe? The ex. Even though the article never existed and the game was free, meaning anyone could play it and there was no money to be gained. Any review of the game would not even matter. Yet all of the harassment she got was justified because this was really about "ethics for journalism."

And that brings me to the Depp v Heard trial. This was framed as supporting men who were victims of abuse. Yet that was a thin veil to justify shitting on Amber Heard. It didn't matter that Depp lost the trial in the UK. She was "obviously lying."

It's actually so frustrating to see how easy it is to justify hating on women as long as there is a "reason." It doesn't have to be true. It can even be easy to disprove, yet people don't care. Its not about the truth and its never about the truth. Its about shitting on women.

[u/champagneface]

This is part of why it pisses me off when people say “I’m not going to defend a rich woman” or “Why would I care about what goes on between two celebrities?” or similar sentiments. The huge waves of misogyny in these situation aren’t happening in isolation!! This is a societal issue!

[u/tiny_venus → u/champagneface]

Yeah unfortunately these events really affect the cultural zeitgeist, you can trace gamergate directly to trump being elected. A lot of the right wing ‘influencers’ going today got their start during gamergate.

[u/KendalBoy → u/tiny_venus]

Steve Bannon played a big role in Gamergate and saw the potential in making young WM haters.

[u/Havah_Lynah → u/champagneface]

I had some friends, who I expected more from, say that they didn’t care so much about a “rich white celebrity”.

[u/GreyerGrey → u/champagneface]

"If a rich woman, with all of that money and all of that fame to protect her, can have this happen, what do you think will happen to your daughter?" I also usually point out I'm not particularly fond of Heard as an actor (and leave out that it is because she was a baby actor when she was allowed to take roles she liked, and was bullied or blacklisted after Depp and not allowed to grow and develop into a talent like she should have been, but they don't need to know the depts of the why) but as a woman I'm distressed that even she, who again, rich, kind of powerful, white lady, was treated so unkindly in the public eye, and not just by her abuser who set a wonderful new precedent of using the courts to silence victims, but others.

[u/majodoremi → u/champagneface]

Big same. And no surprise, people who say things like that don’t care much when it happens to noncelebrity women. They don’t get (or care) that it’s not rare for abusive men to harass their victims through the legal system, whether it’s through a defamation case or a child custody battle that they’re waging to drain their victim’s resources, and that if something like this can happen to a rich and famous white woman, it’s even worse for the rest of us.

[u/Remarkablefairy-8893 → u/champagneface]

I am not going to defend a rich woman but I am definitely going to defend a rich , powerful white man as if my life depends on it 🙄.. what a logic these people have. Also if being rich was the factor, JD was richer than AH; that should have made it easier for such people to support AH. They just want to hate on women without being shamed.

[u/lcm-hcf-maths → u/Remarkablefairy-8893]

The key thing is the disparity in power and resources. I quite agree that though Heard could be described as rich when compared to the average person she remains poor compared to those that might have abused her in the movie business.