Adrianne Curry made Comic Con news
again this year. Originally for her great costumes, I loved her
animated Cat Woman, but also for using a whip on a male that shoved
his finger in a friend's butt crack. I will not provide the name of her
friend as I do not know how she feels about having her name out there
for this. This news was bad enough. What was worse however was that
the three people in the story were far and away from being in a
private locale. There were many onlookers. Nobody but Adrianne Curry
did anything.
Then there was the story about a girl
that was found bleeding and unconscious after getting in a fight with
her friends and leaving the convention by herself.
Like many out there, I shared the news
on my Facebook page early on. I know people that attended Comic Con
and the police were looking for pictures of her or anything else that
could help them put together a timeline of events. I did not have any
responses directly to my posting of the news, but some friends shared
the news shortly thereafter. The responses were, I guess one could
say interesting, but I feel were more symptomatic of how we attempt
to disassociate ourselves from things we do not want to acknowledge.
A common response was that it might be
a hoax. This is a reasonable response. It is the internet after all
and the only information the public had when this started was a
mother asking a friend of the girl to turn to the internet asking for
help online along with incorrect information on the police department
handling the investigation. There were some indicators such as the
girl's Facebook and Twitter accounts not seeing any updates, but it
was Comic Con and many attendees have trouble finding time to post
during the event. Early information could only be described as
sketchy at best.
There were some calling for others to
wait for more information before anybody asked people that might have
seen the girl get in touch with the police. "It would help no
one if the police should find themselves overwhelmed with "helpful"
people," as one responder put it. The quotation around the word helpful was a direct repaste.
There were many other responses. A
common one was rage, both at the idea of what happened, and at the
idea of the whole thing being a hoax. One argument I read a few times
was how spreading this hurt geek culture. Another viewpoint shared
was how this is only news because it happened either at or near Comic
Con and the girl was wearing a costume. If this happened to just any
girl anywhere not centered around a spotlighted event focused on a
subculture it would not have this level of attention.
In some ways, those arguments have a
point. These stories do make nerd culture look bad. If this was not
Comic Con news, it never would have exploded on the internet the way
it had. My dispute with the arguments I read in this vein were the
subtle implications we should treat this like we always do.
I have a big problem with the way we
handle abuse of all sorts in this country. Do not get me wrong, we
are moving in a positive direction, but we are not at our
destination. Not by a long shot. Just because we are better than we
were does not mean we should not strive to be better than we are. We
need to take every instance of abuse and shine a light on it. Bring
it kicking and screaming out of the shadows so we can see all of its
warts. We have to force ourselves to acknowledge the ugly sides of
ourselves so we can do something about it.
I decided to share the news even if it
was a hoax. If it was a hoax then I look stupid. Like that never
happens. Good job internet person for making me look like an idiot.
People may ignore my Facebook posts if I share enough hoaxes. I am
fairly certain most people do not have time to read my posts and most
of my blog views can probably be attributed to my
roommate. The few that do read can decide for themselves if they want
to share what I post or not. If it was not a hoax, then time was of
the essence. She was at an international event where people were
already spreading out to locations all around the world.
I do not know all the details. Suffice
it to say, many people did bring out their flashlights. The
police were able to apprehend a suspect at the hotel he was staying at. The suspect might have left the city
before being taken into custody if a mother did not ask her
daughter's friend to look to the internet for help. The internet
responded as it usually does. With a mix of reactions that range from sickening to inspiring. There were enough people shining their
little lights at once to where there were no shadows to hide in.
It does not end here. There is a girl
in intensive care right now. My heart is with her right now as I am
certain the hearts of others are as well. I do not even know this
girl, but what she has gone through is something that absolutely no
one should have to experience. This is a sickness that has the ability to find its way into
any aspect of our society. It will continue as long as we let it. We
should not fool ourselves into thinking we can stop looking for it
because it returns when we stop looking.
I guess that is all for today's rant.
*flops off of his soap box*
Update 31 Jul 2014: Police have released some information. The injuries the girl suffered were consistent with a fall from a height of roughly six feet. The male suspect is still in custody.
http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/31/5957517/police-san-diego-comic-con-cosplayer-assault-investigation
Update 31 Jul 2014: Police have released some information. The injuries the girl suffered were consistent with a fall from a height of roughly six feet. The male suspect is still in custody.
http://www.polygon.com/2014/7/31/5957517/police-san-diego-comic-con-cosplayer-assault-investigation