Is Anyone Else As Concerned About the Sudden Ubiquity of Chris Brown As I Am?

In the course of two weeks, this troglodyte has virtually usurped the entertainment world spotlight right out from under the Kardashians. He dominated the Grammy’s with not one, but two “live” performances AND walked away from the spectacle hoisting a shiny phonograph statue of his own – for best R&B Album.

He then brazenly used this apparent validating moment to opine via twitter, “HATE ALL U WANT BECUZ I GOT A GRAMMY Now! That’s the ultimate F**** OFF!”

Sure, he later backtracked, deleting the above communiqué and replacing it with this gem, “IM BACK SO WATCH MY BaCK as I walk away from all this negativity #teambreezygrammy.”

The thing is, it is difficult to “watch someone’s BaCK” when they are being forced down your throat at every turn.

Cut to last night’s NBA All Star Game Halftime show, and who joined Miami hip hop native Pit Bull on the main stage? Sure enough, it was that thorn in the side of battered women everywhere – Christopher Brown.

I have no problem with redemption and giving people second chances. But I do have a serious problem with this sudden reemergence of Brown…on many levels:

A)    Some ridiculous “women” (read: infantile ignorant girls) got so caught up in the hoopla surrounding Brown that they literally begged to be beaten by the pop-star via twitter! (I really wish I made this up…but click here to be VERY disturbed);

B)    Chris Brown served no real time for his crime. Community service and probation are hardly paying his debt to society like people such as Michael Vick (super-douche doggie Hitler) and Plaxico Burress (and Ja Rule, Lil Wayne and DMX in the hip hop profession) have done;

 C)   The theory that Rihanna has apparently forgiven her accoster, so perhaps society as a whole should too. Seriously? First of all, there are millions of documented cases of battered women who “forgive,” “love” and “protect” the men who abuse and beat them repeatedly, many times within inches of their lives, and as a result, allow the cycle of abuse to continue and fester for far longer than it ever should. Rihanna may or may not fall into this enabler category, but who says she doesn’t?

D)   Whatever Rihanna’s motivations to forgive and forge a new relationship with the man who bloodied and humiliated her and threatened her life, be they spiritual, sexual, love or business related, they are misguided and appalling. I am horrified at the message this sends to battered and abused women worldwide. Even if this is purely a business play, and it may be – god knows this reconciliation has garnered plenty of attention – it is akin to a family who loses a child due to cancer caused by a company that polluted their neighborhood (think Erin Brockovich type stuff), that then forges a business relationship with that same company for mutual financial gain…sickening;

E)    More to the point above, for the most part, celebrities are role models, whether they want to be or not. Sure, celebrities, for better or worse, must deal with brutal life events in the public eye, and I realize this is difficult and I even sympathize with many celebrities at times (like with instances of domestic violence, funerals and difficult situations arising with their children).

But I absolutely shudder to think of the reaction among impressionable children and present and future women abusers worldwide who are using this sudden rebirth and proliferation of all things Chris Brown as validation and vindication for their own actions and thoughts. To any ignorant or naïve male, and judging by the state of our world right now, there are billions of those, it would seem that what Chris Brown did to Rihanna is no big deal (see A) above);

F)    I will even concede that while the masses hurl slings at Brown and Rihanna for their behavior and criticize the Grammy’s and NBA for showcasing an awful man, our attention and concern would be far better spent focused on raising awareness, money, protection and help for the millions of non-celebrity women who are battered and abused every day. So true!

That said, this is a travesty. People like Brown and Rihanna make millions because of star-worship in our culture. And both of their actions in this nauseating relationship are reprehensible and are being watched and scrutinized by millions of impressionable people;

G)   Apparent ambivalence by our populace and community at large regarding domestic violence and the horrific abuse, assault and battery of women that leads to more than THREE DEATHS DAILY in the USA alone is reflected by an even more terrifying phenomenon – A LARGE FACTION OF OUR GOVERNMENT IS NOW FIGHTING TO ABOLISH THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT, a bill first introduced in 1994 to end violence and abuse against women and to protect all victims that face this senseless and barbaric plight.

Senator Leahy (D-V T), who is from Vermont and obviously supports the VAMA and who is leading a bill to increase the act’s reach, says the act’s opposition, primarily Republicans (go figure), argue that the bill aims to “protect too many victims.” Are you friggin’ kidding me? For more on this disturbing story, please click this link;

H)   Roman Polanski sexually abused and raped a teenage girl thirty five years ago, was arrested and convicted, and subsequently fled to Europe to avoid sentencing. He is no longer welcome in his own country, forced to live a life in exile. Sure he was awarded an Oscar for making The Pianist, a wonderful movie. And that is fine. Talent is talent, whether wielded by good or bad men or women. But Polanski isn’t thrust into my living room three times in two weeks on two of the bigger stages in the world, and he never will be; and,

I)   Chris Brown’s music, by and large, sucks (My own definition of talent is pretty simple…Is our world a better place with Chris’ music in it?).

Thoughts?

Thanks for reading,

IDROS