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The tendency to entertain serious events has become even more serious in this public case. In this case, people unknowingly fell into an information "trap." Everything evolved into a carnival of the likes and dislikes of two people, and the ensuing sides, quarrels, and scolding battles replaced speculation, and diode thinking still filled all corners of the Internet.
Author | Seibu
Edit|晏Fei
Title Map |"Depp vs. Hurd"
No court trial has been watched and discussed by the world like this.
Recently, Netflix's documentary "Depp vs. Hurd" pulled the public's attention back to last year's "trial of the century": in April 2022, Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp sued his ex-wife Amber Hurd for defamation.
After nearly two months of multiple trials, it was not until June 1 of that year that the public case came to a conclusion. Subsequently, the two reconciled, and everything seemed to return to calm.
But the story doesn't end there.
This is the first live broadcast of a celebrity scandal trial in the 21st century, and it is also the first time that social media represented by Tik Kok has paid attention to and discussed a serious public case throughout the process. Coupled with the tracking reports of mass media such as television and newspapers, it is surrounded by unprecedented panoramic viewing. Every move of the parties in the court will instantly cause huge storms on the Internet and in the real world.
As the documentary shows, when a celebrity scandal goes to court, like the philosopher Michel Foucault's panoramic prison, it is also wrapped in domestic violence, the "MeToo" movement and fan culture, and the proliferation of fake news in the post-truth era, staging a farce of entertainment to death in the age of social networking.
The first case of scandal in the era of national live broadcasting
When the court in Virginia decided to broadcast the case live, it was bound to cause a global wave of public opinion. Everything that follows is nothing more than a chain reaction that will occur when the dominoes fall.
Similar scripts have happened before. The "Simpson Wife Murder Case" in the 90s of last century, under the dissemination of mass media such as television, became the most public-watched criminal case in American history. At the time, former American football star and actor O.J. Simpson was accused of killing his ex-wife and her friends. The nine-month-long marathon trial was not only broadcast live on TV, but even the drag racing process of hunting Simpson was presented on the screen and was clearly seen by the public.
Related print media reports of the year. (Photo/ebay.com)
Depp's case against Heard has received more attention than the "Simpson Wife Murder Case".
In 1994, 130 million people watched the Simpson Murder trial live on television. Today, people can watch and comment on news events through TV, media, and Youtube. On social media alone, Depp's trial of more than 200 hours of appeal to Hurd has 1 billion views, which is unparalleled.
It was a pre-publicized trial. It originated from an article published by Amber Hurd in the Washington Post in 2018. In the article, she did not say by name that she had suffered severe sexual violence and abuse, and chose to speak out. "Two years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic violence, and I felt the anger and unfriendliness of our culture towards women who speak out."
As soon as Amber's article came out, the public tacitly pointed the finger at her ex-husband, Hollywood superstar Johnny Depp. The two had a two-year marriage. When the public thought that this was another good story in Hollywood, the two used various examples of chickens flying and dogs to prove that this was just another sugar-coated scandal bomb.
As early as 2020, Depp sued the British newspaper The Sun for defamation, which published an article accusing him of beating Amber. The case ended in Depp's defeat, and the judge said the Sun article was true. For a time, Depp was notorious and was scolded by his ex-wife for domestic violence.
Not to be outdone, Depp then released a recording of Amber's anger, as well as evidence of violent acts such as smashing wine bottles and slapping. But that won't save his reputation on the verge of bankruptcy.
With the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series of movies, he stood at the peak of Hollywood Vanity Fair, and his personal image has plummeted over the years due to alcoholism, "box office poison" and the brink of bankruptcy. The scolding of domestic violence on his back made it even worse.
As stated in the documentary: "With the rise of the 'MeToo' movement, Mr. Depp's reputation was completely changed. ”
Amber's situation was no better. She is nowhere near as famous as Depp, and has far fewer supporters on social media. When she came forward to accuse Depp of domestic violence, she was inevitably abused and abused online. And when Depp released evidence against Amber, the public thought they had been deceived in this reversal and vented even more anger.
Therefore, before the trial of the century began, the public paid great attention to it. And when the camera focuses on the trial, all the details such as words and body movements in the court will be carefully reviewed by the audience.
Depp and the "misogynistic" culture
Even before the trial, there was already a clear confrontation between the two sides on social networks. Fans who supported Depp surrounded the courthouse to witness the trial of the century with online streamers.
Throughout the trial, Depp and Amber continued to present evidence, trying to convince the judge and the jury that the other party had committed violent abuse and tried to clear their suspicions.
In Amberfang's account, Depp is an alcoholic, drug-abusing, emotionally unstable man who resorts to violence. In Depp's eyes, Amber is also a woman with mental illness, violence and lies.
Both sides are accusing each other, and the evidence fits the typical image of a bad man and a bad woman in the eyes of the public. One is a tyrant, the other is a femme fatale.
The difference is that the attitude towards the two on social networks is very different. On platforms such as Tik Kok and Youtube, people support Depp almost one-sidedly. Before the jury's decision, on Tik Kok alone, the topic of "Justice for Johnny Depp" had nearly 20 billion views, while "Justice for Amber" had only 77.5 million views, a difference of more than 200 times.
In the eyes of Amber's supporters, this is not only because of the disparity in fame between the two sides, but also another victory for the "misogynistic culture". On social media, topics such as #AmberTurd and #MePoo have quickly become popular, and people use these hashtags to vent their malice towards Amber and the "MeToo" movement.
In fact, this isn't the first time the "MeToo" movement has suffered a backlash. Since the Harvey Weinstein incident in 2017, when male celebrities have been accused of sexual assault and violence, many voices have raised objections, believing that it will not only endanger everyone, but may also be slandered and falsely accused.
So when Amber wrote in The Washington Post about the "MeToo" movement, she had already joined the bandwagon.
In this context, Amber is inevitably attacked. Coupled with the fact that she is not a perfect victim, this makes her suffer more scolding and slut shaming.
In addition, when Depp released evidence of domestic violence he suffered, it was more difficult for Amber to gain an advantage in public opinion. Many people call for attention to male victims of domestic violence, believing that the harm caused by domestic violence will not be reduced depending on the gender of the perpetrator.
Post-truth era,
People fall into the trap of fake news
In the end, the jury ruled in favor of Depp, and the trial of the century came to an end temporarily.
In front of this Rashomon, as stated in "Depp vs. Hurd": "The point of justice is not actually the truth, it has nothing to do with right or wrong, but what the judge or juror believes." "What's more, it depends on what the public believes.
This is the same as the "Simpson Wife Murder Case". When Simpson was acquitted, the reaction was very different. Seventy percent of blacks in American society believe he is innocent, while seventy percent of whites believe that he is the real murderer.
Social media is popular, and in the post-truth era, we seem to be moving farther and farther away from the truth.
Fake news, bot accounts and other phenomena on the Internet have also appeared in this trial of the century. According to data from Cyabra, an Israeli company that tracks online disinformation, 11% of the discussion and traffic surrounding Depp and Hurd's trial was driven by fake accounts.
That's a staggeringly high number. In other words, in this incident, people unknowingly fell into the information "trap", and emotions were also driven and guided.
What is more obvious is that the tendency to entertain serious events has become even more serious in this public case. American writer Neil Postman criticized what modern society calls "entertaining to death", which is once again manifested in the present.
As soon as the trial began, countless spoofs aimed at the parties, even distorted memes and videos, spread viral on the Internet. Many people also imitated the words and deeds of Depp and Amber in court, exaggerating their expressions and body language to create laughter and attract attention.
They seem to have overlooked the serious issues behind it. Everything evolved into a carnival of the likes and dislikes of two people, and the ensuing sides, quarrels, and scolding battles replaced speculation, and diode thinking still filled all corners of the Internet.
In addition, the documentary mentioned that the content creators who participated in the trial discussion have already earned millions of dollars. This will also exacerbate the situation on the Internet, where netizens are one-sided.
After all, in the traffic era, whoever gets attention gets real money. Nobel laureate Herbert Simon once proposed the concept of the "attention economy" and pointed out: "In today's era of rapid information development, attention will be more valuable than information." ”
This trial of the century has naturally become a "gold absorber" for the attention economy. In the same period, it surpassed keywords such as Musk, Biden, the abortion bill, and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict to become the hottest event on the global Internet. Whether it's media or content creators, everyone wants a piece of the pie.
Now, one year after the incident, the documentary "Depp vs. Hurd" re-presents the trial process, online phenomena and expert commentary edited and collaged, although criticized for lacking depth, but enough for the audience to get a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg of this century trial.
That doesn't mean it's all over, though. Even if the ruling has already been finalized, its impact will continue to shake in secret. (Seibu
(Excerpted from WeChat public account New Weekly)