Stan Twitter, also known as “fake woke” Twitter, has a way of always knowing which celebrities to call out while holding them accountable for their mistakes. This seemed to be very prevalent during the Golden Globes this past weekend.
A user on Twitter started a thread before the actual award show began, which listed celebrities attending the show, calling them “rape apologists.” Now, while that is a pretty heavy label to place onto somebody, the thread did do its job of naming actors and actresses who have worked with the likes of Woody Allen and Roman Polanski.
But this is common on Twitter; users create threads and confront other users for being fans of people, such as Timothee Chalamet for his involvement in an upcoming film directed by human garbage, Woody Allen. And yes, ultimately it was those actors’ decisions to become involved in those films, but labeling them “rape apologists” and not allowing growth on their part is the opposite of what should be done.
Among those included in the thread (which, from my knowledge, has been deleted, seeing as the user has gone on private) was Emma Stone. Stone had previously worked with Allen in 2015 and 2014 on Irrational Man and Magic in the Moonlight, which both received less than favorable scores on Rotten Tomatoes (46 percent and 51 percent). As this thread began to unfurl, many pointed out that Stone had already spoken up about previous bad decisions she had made and how she hopes to slowly but surely better herself. One user tweeted this video:
emma stone who worked with woody allen twice realized what she've done wrong. she's trying to find her voice so she could really stand up for things. she has joined the time's up movement and donated $50,000. but you all will drag her because people can't make mistakes, i guess. pic.twitter.com/ffgmk7CSw5
— emma stone daily (@dailyemmastone) January 8, 2018
That led to many addressing the fact that, while people on the internet are quick to call out those who have done problematic things, they also ignore any moves those same people have made to better themselves or right any wrongs they’ve made.
https://twitter.com/maisieosis/status/949077100287361025
Then, on Wednesday, a YouTube video simply titled “Shane Dawson is a pedophile” was posted, causing outrage across Twitter. Within the video, the main piece of “proof” is a clip from an old podcast, which is about 4-6 years old, in which Shane Dawson makes an inappropriate joke about being in a pedophile’s shoes. But, while the joke is centered around a topic which should not be enlightened under any circumstances, it happened years ago.
Since then, Dawson has altered his Youtube content completely to create documentary-style videos about his personal life, as well as focus on his popular conspiracy theory videos. If Dawson has already apologized for offensive content he put out years ago and has worked to expand his channel to one that shows his growth, why should his past actions and words continue to be brought back to haunt him? In response to this issue, he posted this:
If an actor works with Woody Allen, they get called out for it and shamed by “stan Twitter.” Now, if the actor ignores the issue and continues to promote the film, they are showing little to no concern about past actions that people such as Allen, Roman Polanski and Harvey Weinstein have done. But if they acknowledge this mistake, say that they would not have joined the film if they had previously known of the director’s past actions and/or work to join the fight to make Hollywood a safe environment for everybody, their decision should not be a constant weight on their shoulders.
It’s should be the same for other types of entertainers, as well, such as YouTubers like Shane Dawson.
Everyone acted like somebody else 5-10 years ago; it’s called growth. If past mistakes continue to haunt those who have sincerely apologized, how are we to expect anyone to change?
Change can be a good thing. If there’s one thing everybody has in common, it’s that no one remains the same person they were when they were younger. At some point you have to acknowledge your mistakes and educate yourself on topics you knew nothing about when you were less mature.
As a society, we have a right to educate ourselves and learn from our wrongdoings. Because of this, we also must allow those with a higher level of societal influence to do the same. We’re all growing everyday, and we must not let that become a negative aspect of our lives.
