tasseomancer: Do you have any idea what you’ve…
Do you have any idea what you’ve done?
It’s probably coincidence that I came across this GIF so soon after reading an account by realhayleyghoover of her abusive relationship with YouTuber Mike Lombardo:
I told him that I wasn’t in the mood to roughhouse, and he said, “You were the one who wanted to wrestle. Let’s do it.” I laughed for a few seconds and tried to push his grip off me, but when it became apparent that he wasn’t going to put me down, I got a little more stern and told him again that I wasn’t in the mood for it. He continued to carry me around his house, throw me on the couch, and hold me down—all while I protested and asked him to leave me alone.
Lombardo was just sentenced to 5 years in prison for getting underage fans to exchange explicit images with him. This comes two years after Hank and John announced they were pulling Lombardo’s music from the DFTBA store when the investigation of his behavior first became public.
It’s probably coincidence that Hank and John just announced they were pulling the recordings of another YouTube musician, Tom Milsom, from the DFTBA store, this in the wake of the revelation of his long-term abusive relationship with an underage fan.
It’s probably coincidence that this happened at the same time as the LBD twitter revival, which had me thinking back on the whole Lydia/Wickham arc. Rachel, Mary Kate, and Wes did something important in those episodes by showing how abuse can look from the point of view of the abused, and it made me sad that Hank and Bernie Su were unwilling to follow that narrative arc to a more satisfying conclusion.
All those coincidences probably influenced how I perceive the images of Alex grabbing Emma. I still haven’t watched the episode; I stopped watching EA a while ago, when I decided that it wasn’t aimed at people like me. But looking at those GIFs, and reading some of the reactions from people I follow, make me uncomfortable.
In response to the Milsom revelations, Hank wrote:
My only consolation is that I honestly believe these issues are coming to light in this community not because they are more common, but because we are more empowered to speak out and not hide from or cover them up.
Maybe that’s true. I’m sure Hank never intended that his promotion of YouTube musicians and events like Vidcon would lead to a situation in which it was easy for newly minted “stars” to take advantage of naive young fans. He wanted to build a community. He wanted to build something cool. And he has. But along with the freedom to make new sorts of connections between creators and fans, YouTube and the net also have created the opportunity for people to reveal themselves as the sometimes disappointing individuals they are.
I don’t like Emma Approved’s relentless product placement and affiliate promotion, even though Bernie Su represents it as a success. It feels to me like the show’s creators are exploiting their young female audience for revenue, while being unconcerned about giving them an intelligent story and believable characters. I realize that’s a completely different kind of exploitation than what Lombardo and Milsom did. I realize it’s no different than what Hollywood has done for decades. But it still feels disappointing. Just as it feels disappointing to me for a sympathetic male character to be shown physically overpowering a female character against her will, without the act being flagged as an unacceptable violation.
I’m glad I got to see LBD. I’m glad some of the people behind it are finding success building an entertainment format that is financially viable, even if it’s a format that doesn’t appeal to me. But what makes me really happy is that other people have been able to take LBD’s example and extend it in a different direction, fulfilling the promise that LBD embodied.
Reposted from http://ift.tt/1koBmTk.
Tags: tw: abuse.
