Welcome, bienvenidos, this is Roxana for Metamorphosis
Rox, the place to be when you want more than
tea. Today, we are going to talk about a recent
situation that has taken social media by storm.
But first, some context.
Last week, James Charles made a tik tok where
he expressed his feelings about the April
Fools, coming out of the closet tik tok creators.
He stood up for those who came out of the
closet, explaining that some people have died
for coming out of the closet and how insensitive
this joke was. I agree. When my brother came
out of the closet, he was “lucky” that
he got kicked out of the home and left to
fend off for himself. Eventually my father
came around but it nearly split the family
apart. And I say lucky in quotations because
at least he was alive and he was able to come
home and be part of the family again. Some
people are not that lucky. At the time, I
commended James Charles for standing up for
what was right. I also want to thank Allegedly
Angelo for the screenshot. All other screenshots
include the captions of where I found the
images.
So imagine my surprise when I see this….
And this…. Without any context. He and other
creators are taking part of something called
the mugshot challenge. And here’s the thing,
some of them give no context to their posts,
creating uncertainty around their followers.
Now, like I wrote in the beginning of this
video, this could be triggering to some of
you. Now, after a few large creators took
part in this challenge, it has come to light
that this challenge is a few days old and
both large and small creators have followed
suit. Again, without context. Most of them
just title their pics mugshot. Some of their
fans believed this is an actual mugshot and
are concerned for them. Some commend them,
some are angry.
Needless to say, we all have thoughts and
we are very vocal about those thoughts. After
my initial reaction, and after reading others,
I can see both sides. Special effects is a
thing, a very creative, useful tool. So yes,
I don’t think any of these people did not
think that it might cause a stir. Emphasis
on DID NOT THINK. The thing about it is that
as much as I agree that this is special effects
and commend people for honing their skills,
context is very important. This could have
been a great opportunity for creators like
James to call attention to the issue of domestic
violence. In case you don’t know, domestic
violence has become an even bigger issue as
many victims are now forced to spend isolation
with their abusers. The abusers not only have
the usual triggers, but the added pressures
of staying home add to their violent tendencies.
We also can’t forget those victims of rape
and police brutality, especially people of
color, who see this pictures and are triggered.
Let’s also remember that James is no stranger
to tackling difficult subjects and understanding
when something is not cute. Please pause to
read the opinions if you like.
I don’t have a problem with people expressing
their opinions so much as those who are so
hell bent on defending the creators that want
to diminish the legitimate thoughts of others.
Most of the opinions I found were from people
that did not find this useful or cute. And
here is the thing, the criticism is valid.
Yes, it is special effects. Yes, they are
all very talented. No, abuse of any kind is
not something to be taken lightly. More important,
the feelings of the victims should always
be respected. They have a right to feel the
way they do about this situation.
So I decided to take a moment to remind you
what a real mugshot looks like. Margo Indigo
was kind enough to post one for us and yes,
I have her permission to use it here. Someone
also brought up the fact that they could have
gone the Lindsey Lohan route and glammed it
up for the mugshot. I also wanted to include
three images of actual victims of abuse. If
these people are practicing special effects,
maybe they should study what actual victims
look like and take this opportunity to educate
their audiences, big and small. Let us not
forget that whether it was domestic violence,
rape or police brutality, some victims do
not survive their attacks. The lesson I think
we should take from all this is the importance
of context when you make a post. Don’t just
slap the picture and let your audience decide
what it means. When it’s such a controversial
topic, let them know, educate them.
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