Aquaman 2 Becomes Depp and Heard’s Latest Battleground

Fans of the Marvels Universe and DC Comics are united in their condemnation of Amber Heard. They want her nowhere near their beloved cartoon characters. On Twitter, a fan writes

So #AmberHeard is getting fired from all Aquaman sequels and the DC extended universe, yeah? Or is it on only men that get canceled in Hollywood? #AmberHeardIsAnAbuser,”

Pendulums tend to swing, they wouldn’t be a hell of a lot of use, otherwise. So too, with public opinion. The pitchfork bearing villagers have turned their sights away from Johnny Depp and focused them firmly on his ex-wife, Amber Heard.

In case you have been living under a rock for the last few weeks, here’s a quick summary to bring you up to speed.

The story in brief

In 2015 Amber Heard of Aquaman fame, married Johnny Depp. A year later in 2016, she filed for divorce. Clearly, all was not well in paradise.

Then in 2018 Heard published an article that indirectly accused Depp of physically abusing her whilst they were married.

Depps’ career suffered as a result of her allegations and he was widely persecuted by the media and online community.

Recently, in a dramatic turn of events, an audiotape was produced by Depp’s attorney and landed in the hands of the The Daily Mail. The tape, of a joint therapy session the two attended together in 2015, was nothing short of shocking.

It turns out that Depp was, in fact, the one being abused and Heard was the active and aggressive abuser. We know this because she admits to it on the tape.

A global scream from Depp’s fanbase of ‘we told you so’ shook both the internet and Twitterverse, and it wasn’t long before the same individuals who had been yelling for Depp’s blood, now sought Heard’s head for their village bonfire. There, that’s you, all caught up.

What now?

A petition has been launched on Change.org to have Heard removed from her upcoming role in Aquaman 2. Trending hashtags show the depth of people’s disgust for her.

Here’s the strange thing though. The source of their anger is not her actual abuse of Depp. That is very rarely the focus of the tweets. Most focus on just two things.

#metoo and #believeallwomen

Here’s the real source of the anger. It’s from women that feel Amber Heard has compromised their movement and set back the cause of women who do really suffer abuse. If she has lied, then by implication, all other women may have lied.

The #metoo movement has gone quiet, probably hoping to simply ride out this one and trying to disassociate themselves from Heard. The problem is though, that won’t change the facts. Heard is a woman who claimed she was abused and she has lied.

Worse probably, is that she did this knowingly, all too well aware of the reach and influence her stardom affords her. She abused her position to punish and humiliate Depp, as publicly as she could.

Whatever happens to her now is not really of importance. Her actions have very possibly destroyed her career and that is probably, justly deserved.

What is more important here, is that we learn as a society from this whole debacle. Will we? I doubt it. It would mean acknowledging a few hard facts, quite a few of which are politically incorrect.

Sex doesn’t matter

For starters, a woman’s word should not be accepted as the gospel truth, simply because she is a woman. That is complete nonsense and in itself sexist. Women can and do lie. It happens all the time.

The reverse, of course, is also true. Her words should not be questioned simply because she is a woman. Neither should a man’s.

Any statement, unless supported by evidence, should be taken as conjecture. No matter the sex of the person expressing it. No evidence, no fact. No public burning of the accused on the pyre of public opinion.

Back the hell down and wait. Time has a way of exposing the truth. Ask Amber Heard.

What about #metoo for men?

Men also experience abuse at the hands of their wives and partners. Not often, but far more frequently than you would think. If we do not learn to restrain our inclination to judge and cast stones, movements like #metoo become simple platforms for persecution without trial.

Amber Heard was arrested in 2009 for abusing a former domestic partner, Tasya Van Ree. When she released her article in 2018 no effort was made to counter the allegations or to in fact check their validly. Why would anyone doubt her? Well, there’s an excellent reason right there. Ask Van Ree. Facts don’t lie, people do.

A must equal B

This is the other general content of tweets and public outcry over the couple. Based along the lines of, ‘Well if you did x to Depp, are you now going to do the same to Heard?’

These questions are generally aimed by both men and women at activist groups that came out in support of Heard in 2018. #metoo being a perfect example.

For the most part, they are using the incident to score political points, and whilst some people genuinely are interested in the answers, it’s a really small minority, and no answers are likely to be forthcoming.

As we’ve all seen, to speak up or speak out risks the wrath of the crowd. Those pitchforks poke first and ask questions later.

and the real victims?

Women and men alike, that need help, that need to be heard, struggle to do so. Their voices are drowned out by politicised movements and paparazzi scandals.

Perhaps the time has come to move away from these things and focus on real issues. On helping people who are in desperate need of it. #domesticabuse

This article was originally published on Medium.