Harvey Weinstein & Co

Public shaming and condemnation of crimes committed, regardless of the crime—we tend to metaphorically stone our celebrities to death as individuals in our society. Along the stories of #MeToo, the public eye got a fair piece of Weinstein & CO. One of the men in these stories was Louis C.K. Out of many comedians, his work has reflected feminism more than most comedians. It was a true shame to read about his sexual misconduct as Louis is often someone I trust to pick me up when I need it. I was discussing the humiliation and condemnation of these men with a friend the other night, and we agreed it still doesn't change that he does, what we think to be, great comedy.

But to come to these issues—our society demands these celebrities to be removed from the scene. So many of us absolutely believe that their work shouldn't be shown anywhere at all anymore, considering what they did. Like how we hated Casey Affleck winning an Oscar despite his sex crime—how could the Academy overlook this? Casey Affleck is hardly the first case, nor the last, to have committed such crimes in Hollywood, and if we think about it, the Academy is meant to look at his performance rather than anything. They aren't there to judge your character. After all, that's what it's there to do. But things are changing now. We, the people, demand that change.

I'm not saying it's okay, what they've done. Sexual misconduct, ranging anywhere in between inappropriate advances to rape, is never OK. I'm addressing the fact that how we actually prevent those types of behaviors is to simply call each other out every time we see something concerning. Not to tear the other person apart. Not to stone them until they're dead. The answer is to take personal responsibility and to be brave when you're scared to say anything. I don't think the answer is to take away someone's career completely, and to condemn a person, regardless who it is, for crimes they've committed. Is that not more vindictive and spiteful, to actually condemn someone in their whole entirety as a person? Is it really not more to do with each and everyone of us feeling like we get to be these righteous people when some major figure in the public eye messes up big time? It’s almost as if it's become a loophole for us to make ourselves feel as the good guys to completely tear down a person.

Mainstream pop culture has brought many lovely things with it, and we are the ones that have shaped it. It’s also brought a great deal of shaming. Shame—one of the most powerful tools to make someone tremble and shrink until they’ve lost their self esteem completely. We use this frequently on one another, but more so on public persons. It’s social-dynamics, it’s the easy “non-threatening” way to make someone feel bad without us actually having to admit to ourselves that what we might be doing is possibly out right abusive. Ironically enough, that would mean that what we were initially whistleblowing, which was abuse, is something that we might be taking part in ourselves as we parade on our high horses whilst condemning a complete person because crimes committed.

But perhaps we don't necessarily need to be so hostile. Perhaps we don’t need to demand that one's career is to be taken away from them completely. Perhaps we can inspire some compassion instead. A person is made of so many things, and is defined not by their best action, nor their worst.

If you think about it, a person is sort of like the human body. It's made of organs, skeletons, skin, contains water and oxygen and what not. A body is not defined by one part only, is it? But let's say it was. Let's pretend. Let's ask each other: When your beautiful parts are no longer on display, but have been replaced by the view of your asshole (which is definitely ugly), are you now defined by it? Or is it just an ugly part of yourself? Naturally, and luckily, you are indeed not defined by your asshole.

But after all, when we've thrown all the rocks we had at the criminals of the spotlight, it appears as though they are defined by their assholes. Not by themselves, but by us—because we want revenge rather than justice.

So what is the point of all this? Is it to take this opportunity to learn and understand about sex crimes, or is it to take this opportunity to simply condemn the offender?