Mount Holyoke News - June 25, 2022

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SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2022

On-campus indoor mask Tank ice cream incident highlights the mandate lifted for summer highly-censored Tiananmen Square Massacre

BY SOPHIE SOLOWAY ’23 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

In its June 9 MHC This Week newsletter, Mount Holyoke College announced that its mask mandate would be lifted for on-campus residents and staff this summer. This policy took effect on June 13, 2022.

Though individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19, as well as those who have been identified as close contacts, will still be required to wear protective face coverings indoors, all other community members will now be permitted to halt their usage.

The recent newsletter pointed to declining rates of COVID-19 cases and related hospitalizations in Hampshire County, as well as national trends in hospitalizations among vaccinated individuals as warrants for the change in policy.

The letter also encouraged readers to respect individuals’ decisions to continue wearing masks despite the policy change, writing, “Of course, anyone’s choice to wear a mask for any reason without explanation should be respected.” KN95 masks will still be provided to faculty, staff and students upon request.

The email announcement also

reiterated the College’s plan to halt asymptomatic testing for campus community members over the summer.

According to Mount Holyoke’s Campus Health and Safety Updates webpage, “Students can seek care, including evaluation of possible COVID-19 symptoms, at a local urgent care facility. They may also self-test using a rapid antigen test,” as opposed to the enforced regular testing schedule held throughout the past academic year.

Faculty, on the other hand, are expected to self-check their symptoms before deciding to attend work.

Faculty are instructed not to attend work if experiencing the COVID-19 symptoms listed in the College’s Employee Daily Health Screening.

The letter also referenced trends at national and local levels, under which “Strategies are shifting from those designed to combat a public health crisis to those meant to help us live with COVID-19 as an ever-present factor in our daily lives.”

The College has not yet announced its plans for COVID-19 protocols for the upcoming fall semester.

BY GLOBAL STAFF

While selling ice cream on a live show, Li Jiaqi, one of the top e-commerce influencers in China, took out an ice cream cake in the shape of a tank. The live broadcast was then cut off. June 3, the day of Li Jiaqi’s incident, is one day before Tiananmen Square Massacre’s 33rd anniversary.

The Tiananmen Square Massacre was a student-led, pro-democracy protest for free speech that took place in April 1989, as reported by the BBC. The Chinese government ultimately used military force to end the protests.

At least 10,000 people were killed during the 1989 demonstration. Since the massacre is still heavily censored, Li’s live show was taken off-air almost immediately. Li’s tank-shaped ice cream is thought to remind people of the Tiananmen Square incident because of the banned image most associated with the massacre: the “Tank Man” photo, in which a man stands in the way of a line of Chinese government

Photo courtesy of Derzsi Elekes Andor via WikiMedia Commons.

The promotion of ice cream resembling a censored photograph halts a live e-commerce broadcast.

tanks in protest.

Many fans who do not know about the Tiananmen Square Massacre commented on Li’s Weibo page.

“What’s going on? I want to continue to buy things via Li’s live show, because he always has a great deal,” one Weibo user said.

“This is so ridiculous. I cannot even tell the [ice cream] looks like a tank,” a Reddit user privy to the 1989

massacre commented.

People are arguing fiercely on social media about the reasons behind cutting off Li’s live show and how long it will take for Li to restart it. Although Li claimed that “due to the technical failure, the live show could no longer be held,” people in the comment section on Weibo were questioning the real reason for closing the show.

After 50 years of Title IX, the world celebrates many achievements in women’s sports and turns to the future

BY EMILY TARINELLI ’25 SPORTS EDITOR

When President Richard Nixon signed the Education Amendments Act into law on June 23, 1972, the landscape of women’s sports was forever changed. According to CBS Sports, Title IX of the legislation states that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

With this year marking the 50th anniversary of Title IX’s passage, athletes and activists worldwide are

celebrating five decades of creating a more equitable playing field between genders in sports. Despite the law’s many successes, experts also recognized its shortcomings by examining the act through a historical context.

No one expected the law to be applied to sports, Susan Ware — the author of “Title IX: A Brief History With Documents” — said, as reported by Sports Illustrated. The law contained no mention of sports, athletics or physical education. It was originally created to focus on gender discrimination in educational settings, in a time when women were often rejected from university teaching positions, denied coursework and bullied out of programs.

“The initial supporters [of Title IX] were just as surprised as the athletic departments when it became clear that this law would also apply to sports programs,” Ware said, according to Sports Illustrated.

Because many collegiate athletics programs are sponsored by educational institutions who receive federal funding, Title IX also applies to sports, the National Collegiate Athletic Association stated on their website.

Title IX’s impact on sports was clarified in 1979 with the formation of the Intercollegiate Athletics Policy Interpretation, and was further solidified with the creation of the Title IX Athletics Investigator’s Manual in 1990. Both documents, which

were formed by the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education, were intended to aid athletics departments in executing Title IX standards.

In an article published by Sports Illustrated, journalist Maggie Mertens reflected on her experience with sports and her surprise after learning about the historical lack of athletic opportunities for women.

“Just a generation earlier, girls’ sports in much of the country hadn’t even existed?” Mertens asked.

“Women’s bodies were considered too weak to run long distances — so women like Bobbi Gibb and Kathrine Switzer had to sneak into marathons? Women could be rejected from a college because the school had already accepted its quota of two female applicants?”

According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, in order to comply with Title IX, an institution must adhere to several requirements.

First, the institution must comply with one of three regulations: the percentage of female athletes within an institution must be proportional to the total percentage of female students within the student body; the institution must add programs for women and girls if men and boys have disproportionately more athletic opportunities; or the institution must show their commitment to expanding programs to fulfill existing interest in athletics.

Second, as reported by the NCAA, women and men must receive equal dollars in scholarship funds that are proportional to their respective participation.

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Angel Olsen’s new album

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Marvel’s ‘Morbius’

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Depp-Heard Trial

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

June 25, 2022

. Mount Holyoke News

‘Big Time’ is the perfect album for when you want an album

BY LUCY OSTER ’23 STAFF WRITER

Angel Olsen posted an image on Instagram on June 1 that declared boldly, “ANGEL OLSEN IS COMING OUT …” and then below it, in a smaller font, “WITH A NEW ALBUM JUNE 3.” Upon seeing this image, I knew I had to listen to the album. The poster was an obvious reference to how queer people must “come out” and to the queerbaiting that many high-profile celebrities, especially musicians, dabble in today, where they imply that they are queer to earn the admiration of queer fans, without actually being queer. I wanted to know if Olsen was really going to make the new album gay. And, even if she did, I wanted to know whether or not it would be good.

Eventually, though, I forgot. Th internet moves quickly, and I listen to music largely through self-made playlists on Spotify. It can sometimes be hard for new music to be integrated into my already existing mix. Sometimes I don’t have the capacity to even sit down and listen to new music, and prefer to shuffle my “Liked Songs” endlessly and mindlessly.

Then, online somewhere, I saw another promotional poster for the new Olsen album. It read, “Angel Olsen’s ‘Big Time.’ It’s Not Country, …

But It’s Not Not Country!” I was intrigued again. I’m living in the mostly-rural South this summer for the first time in my life, and knew that this was the time for country-butnot-country. I broke out of my algorithmic Spotify haze, and listened to the full album.

“Big Time” starts strong with two songs with the word “time” in their titles: “All The Good Times” and the titular “Big Time.” These two songs make me want to exist in them forever — I feel held and satisfied in a bodily sense by them. They encompass, for me, the feeling when you’re in a bed with clean sheets and you stretch your legs all the way out, twisting into a weird yet delightfully comfortable position. They also both embody the second promotional poster I saw: There is a definite twang to Olsen’s voice as she sings about love both lost and found that was not present in her earlier album, 2019’s “All Mirrors.”

While all of the songs on “Big Time” have a twangy sound, some veer more firmly into the country

Photo courtesy of Stian Schløsser Møller via WikiMedia Commons Singer-songwriter Angel Olsen’s new album, “Big Time,” fluidly combines country and rock styles.

genre. “This Is How It Works,” the longest and saddest song on the album, has a certain plodding beat to it, accompanied by occasional mournful guitar strums. The lyrics include stand-outs like, “I’m so tired of saying, ‘I’m tired.’” The song reminds me of driving on a red dirt Mississippi highway at dusk, maybe because that’s where I’ve listened to it most, but there’s a certain aspect of it that reflects how summer dusks can feel: sad and tired, but continuing on nonetheless.

Not all of the songs are sad in tone, though. “Right Now” and “Go Home” both start slow but build up strongly and perfectly into melodies so triumphant they almost feel like stadium anthems. On “Right Now” Olsen also sings of the queer love she alluded to in the first promotional poster I saw. The lyrics read, “I need to be myself / I won’t live another lie / About the feelings that I have / I won’t be with you and hide.”

Throughout “Big Time,” whether a song is more not-country or not not-country, there is a dichotomy of sadness and hope. This is most strongly embodied in the song “Dream Thing.” I don’t know what the song is about exactly, but it has CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

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The meme, the myth, the Morbius: the box office failure we can’t stop talking about

BY WOODLIEF MCCABE ’23 STAFF WRITER

Content warning: This article mentions sexual assault against minors.

“Morbius” is the latest standalone supervillain movie to come out of the Marvel canon, and despite — or perhaps because of — its terrible ratings and two-time box office failure, it has generated a cultural moment.

By all accounts, the film should have been dead on arrival. Instead, ironic “Morbius” fans, or “Morb-heads,” have kept the film circulating in pop culture with faux-reverence and exaggeration of its success, as well as a flourishing well of memes. The film received a notably low 16 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and 35 percent from Metacritic. I feel that I carry forbidden knowledge, considering I know only one other person who has actually seen it.

Vivian McPherson ’23 took me to the Tower Theaters in The Village Commons only two days after the initial release of “Morbius”. McPherson is an avid Marvel Comics fan, and was excited to see how this iteration of the comic anti-hero would play out on the big screen. I am ad-

Photo courtesy of Trusted Reviews Despite low box-office ratings, Marvel’s Morbius has been met with vast ironic internet reception.

mittedly not enthralled by most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but #MorbiusSweep, the ironic hashtag predicting “Morbius” would sweep the Oscars, had already made its way into my social media feeds and I am not one to be left out of the meme culture.

It was pretty clear we weren’t going to get a masterpiece when, early in the film, Morbius — for no discernible reason — stands in a glass cylinder in his office that he

has filled with flying, shrieking bats.

“Morbius, The Living Vampire” was first introduced in the 1971 “The Amazing Spider-Man” comic issue 101. He began as a lesser-known villain for Spider-Man, but ultimately took on an anti-hero role, later getting backstory through his own comic series. Like the comics, the film’s premise is that Dr. Michael Morbius — portrayed by Jared Leto — develops a cure for his chronic illness, but in doing so turns himself into a

“vampire” forced to consume human blood to survive.

McPherson, who brought her own issues of “Morbius” to our Zoom call, has always been interested in vampire media. What attracts her to Morbius’ character is his struggle in balancing both his need for survival and his desire to not hurt others. For a fan like her, the film was a disappointment because “the story itself has so much potential — the whole issue of there being a vampire who has to drink human blood to survive, but [is] also very sensitive, cares about human life and wants to do better.” Instead of exploring the workings of the vampire world, we watch Matt Smith — who portrays Loxias “Milo” Crown — dance in his New Balances. In the film, Morbius doesn’t seem to have defined character motivations, or even relationships. Milo, Morbius’ childhood best friend and fellow sufferer of an extremely vague blood disorder, is introduced early on as a child, but once the film jumps to “present day,” it takes very little time before he becomes a purely evil villain. He steals the “cure,” becomes a vampire and begins killing indiscriminately, urging Morbius to become like him. The

only other close relationship Morbius seems to have is with another doctor he works with named Martine, portrayed by Adria Arjona. At no point do we get a good backstory as to why she is willing to risk so much to help Dr. Morbius unethically experiment on himself in international waters.

McPherson laments the loss of meaningful characterization in the film. “Part of Morbius’ journey as an anti-hero is that he becomes a villain and then works to change that, and part of that is working with Spider-Man, becoming a team and overcoming their differences,” she said. “I think it can be … a good Morbius movie without Spider-Man. But there needs to be a more compelling antagonist for the protagonist.” She also referenced several plotlines in the comics that construct Morbius as a more well-rounded character, such as one where a childhood friend of Morbius’ dies searching for the cure and his sister attempts to kill Morbius for retribution, or a time when Morbius raids a lab but does so without killing anyone. In the film, this kind of characterization is undercut by the gratuitous violence and poorly demonstrated motivations CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

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June 25, 2022

SPORTS

. Mount Holyoke News

Title IX 50th anniversary is celebrated, cont’d

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Third, female and male athletes must receive equal provisional services with regards to equipment and supplies, coaching, tutoring, support services, housing, dining, training facilities, medical resources, publicity, recruiting, travel and scheduling of competitions.

According to a comprehensive gender equity report by the WSF, the passage of Title IX saw a near-record increase in the number of girls and women in sports.

In 1972, girls made up just seven percent of varsity high school athletes, while in 2018-2019, that number rose to 43 percent. As for the collegiate level, 15 percent of athletes in college athletic programs were women, which increased to 44 percent in 2020-2021.

“An exponential increase in girls’ and women’s participation in sports is perhaps Title IX’s most notable achievement and one of the law’s most lasting legacies. Sports participation is vital to the development of girls and women,” Danette Leighton, the CEO of the WSF, wrote in the report. “The benefits are far-reaching and lifelong, including improved physical, social and emotional health; enhanced confidence; academic success; leadership opportunities and so much more.”

The report highlighted how Title IX impacted women’s athletic success. The report cited that if the women of Team USA were their own team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, they would have placed third on the medal count podium behind the Russian Olympic Committee and China with 66 medals total.

Leighton noted that “Unfortunately, there are still far too many students being denied equal opportunities and resources, including girls and women of color, with disabilities and from low socioeconomic households, as well as LGBTQ, trans and non-binary youth.”

The WSF report acknowledged that despite 50 years of Title IX mandates, gender inequities continue to thrive in sports. In 2021, for example, unequal provisional treatment between the women’s and men’s Division I basketball championships prompted an outside analysis of the NCAA’s means of coordinating women’s championships, which revealed several institutional gender inequities in the association’s infrastructure.

In addition, the WSF referenced that Title IX is a “single axis” law, meaning that it “focuses on one category of bias in addressing discrimination” without taking an intersectional approach.

Because of the sole focus on gender, while Title IX saw an increase in opportunities for Black, Indigenous and other female athletes of color, resource barriers still exist because it does not include protections on the basis of race. In addition, the law has done little to expand athletic opportunities for disabled women and girls.

“With all eyes on Title IX during this pivotal year, it’s imperative for all of us, across society, to sound the alarm that nothing short of transparency and action, fairness and justice, will suffice. We must do better,” Leighton wrote.

Inside Higher Ed reported that on this year’s anniversary of Title IX, the Biden administration announced new additions to the law that in-

crease protections for LGBTQ+ students in cases of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

“Our goal was to give full effect to the law’s reach and to deliver on its promise to prevent all students from sex-based harassment,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told Inside Higher Ed. “Our proposed changes would fully protect students from all forms of sex discrimination, instead of limiting some protections to sexual harassment alone, and make those protections include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”

The revisions do not extend LGBTQ+ student-athletes. Due to ongoing legal controversies about the rights of transgender students to participate on teams that match their gender identity, the administration decided that it will develop a separate protective policy, Inside Higher Ed reported.

In an email to the Mount Holyoke College community, the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion shared remarks about Title IX’s 50th anniversary as part of its June updates.

“This fall, Mount Holyoke will be working across the Five College Consortium to engage our students, faculty and staff in specific programming and reflective moments related to this anniversary,” Kijua Sanders-McMurty, vice president for equity and inclusion, chief diversity officer and Title IX coordinator continued.

“We will continue to ensure that our work towards equity and compliance is undaunted and audacious in fighting for gender-based equity for women, trans and nonbinary people.”

Photo courtesy of Flickr In 1946, the Brevard College women’s basketball team, above, demonstrated persistence in women’s athletics well before the enactment of Title IX.

Angel Olsen’s not-country album delivers, cont’d u

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lyrics like: “Then I ran into you / And you just smiled at me / Said, ‘I love the new suit you’re wearin’’ / Whatever that means.” Any gendered pronouns are distinctly absent, and the reference to Olsen wearing a suit definitely seems queer to me.

The tone of the song is wistful, almost a bit nostalgic, like bumping into an old lover. I can’t put my finger on how the song makes me feel,

but the feeling is not one that many artists can induce in me. It’s special and emotional, but nuanced, like the album itself.

My favorite aspect of Olsen’s “Big Time” is its consistency. Some songs are sadder, while others are happier. The genre shifts from country to indie rock, but every song has a bit of sadness, happiness, country and rock, just like

life.

The project as a whole is coherent. It’s not just a collection of songs recorded and released together, it is its own thing, a fully formed artistic project that is distinct from Olsen’s other albums.

It carries the listener safely out of their algorithmic playlists and back to the perfect way to listen to new music: the album.

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‘Morbius’ re-release met with comically low ratings, cont’d u

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Morbius might have for protecting others.

One might question the choice to give Jared Leto a second chance in a supervillain movie considering that DC’s 2016 “Suicide Squad,” in which he played Joker, was such a critical failure — receiving a 26 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.

One might object to casting Leto at all, given the history of problematic and borderline dangerous behavior he engages in for the sake of method acting.

One might even consider leaving him out of the industry altogether considering the rampant allegations of sexual misconduct and assault from several individuals, some of whom were minors.

Reports against Leto have been chronicled in the stories collected by the New York Post, author Evangeline Van Houten’s coverage of countless forum posts from former groupies for Contemptor, social media condemnation from celebrities on platforms like Twitter, and detailing of Leto’s “serial texting” underage fans and sexually coercing underage girls as reported by The New York Post.

Then there’s the cult-like behavior of his band, Thirty Seconds to Mars, which holds island retreats where participants wear all white and listen to Leto preach. The band’s Twitter even shares photos of the events with the caption, “Yes, this is a cult.”

The fans’ mantra, “You wouldn’t understand” is spread across social media. I would feel ill at ease embracing a meme subculture where Leto is the central figure, were it not for the apparent mission statement of #MorbiusSweep.

The central joke about “Morbius” is that seemingly no one has seen it. Social media has been flooded with instances of users inventing scenes or lines that never happened in the film. One viral tweet falsified a glowing review from director Martin Scorsese, who has publicly expressed distaste for Marvel.

The day after the film’s release, Twitter user @RANK10YGO posted, “the best part of Morbius was when he said ‘IT’S MORBIN’ TIME’ and morbed all over those guys,” thus beginning the spread of the phrase “Morbin’ time” and other intention-

ally comedic misquotations of the film.

“Morbin’ time” is a play on the catchphrase “Morphin’ time” from “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers,” or possibly “Clobberin’ time,” from the Fantastic Four’s The Thing.

On June 3 Leto shared a video on Twitter in which he reads a script titled “Morbius 2: It’s Morbin’ Time.”

His involvement should have killed the meme.

Instead, “Morbius’” spectacular failure is keeping it alive, like a monster Sony can’t control — much in the way that Dr. Michael Morbius cannot control his need to consume human blood.

The Morb-heads’ commitment to complete ignorance is ironclad.

In early June, Sony presumably saw the stronghold that Morbius memes had on the internet and misjudged the attention as genuine interest in the film.

Sony brought “Morbius” back to the theaters on June 3 and it bombed.

“Morb-heads” on social media encouraged others not to see the film, as it would make the joke funnier.

Forbes reported that the re-release ultimately brought in only $85,000 on its first day and $300,000 for the weekend, which equates to about $289 per theater.

This led to another wave of memes and internet hype, including jokes circulating with ideas of how to convince Sony to do a third release, including a Change.org petition entitled “We Were All Busy That Weekend — Please Bring Morbius to the Theatre a Third Time.”

The conflict between the audience and the creators of “Morbius” is what makes the meme so appealing.

When users share the manipulated screenshot showing “Morbius” is the top grossing movie ever, or claim it made one “Morbillion” dollars, they are building a fiction in which “Morbius” is the greatest bad movie ever made. Sony is not allowed real estate in this fiction.

McPherson hopes that “Morbius” has some permanence. “I kind of hope that it’ll be revered the same way as ‘The Room’ is. It’s like, … the worst movie of all time, but has a cult following. That’s how I feel about ‘Morbius.’”

Who knows how long it will stay Morbin’ time, though perhaps Morbin’ is eternal.

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OPINION

June 25, 2022

. Mount Holyoke News

Hollywood’s toxic fan culture demeans the gravity of domestic and sexual violence and threatens mission of the #MeToo movement

BY JAHNAVI PRADEEP ’23 OPINION EDITOR

Content warning: This article discusses sexual assault, gender-based and domestic violence.

“My dog stepped on a bee,” Amber Heard winced at her court hearing of the Depp-Heard trial as she recounted the details of one day in her experience as an alleged victim of assault and violence at the hands of ex-husband Johnny Depp. The line has become a trending TikTok, with content creators remixing the sentence with music or rhyming sentences. Adriana Diaz summarizes a few examples in The New York Post, from one user rhyming the line with, “My dad has to pee,” to another splicing the line with Rock band Queen’s, “I Want to Break Free.”

This trend is only one example of the overload of mocking memes and hashtags caricaturing Heard and her trial testimonials.

The highly-publicized Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial of 2022 reveals the dangers of toxic fan culture in exploiting the power of social media and changing its relationship with the #MeToo movement. Instead of propelling the movement’s use of media to amplify the voices of victims, the treatment of Heard by the public can be triggering for current victims and inhibit them from coming forward and talking about their experiences safely.

The #MeToo movement was started by activist Tarana Burke in 2006 with the intent of giving survivors a platform to publicly talk about their experiences of sexual assault and gender-based violence. Social media amplified survivors’ voices and helped them expose offenders.

The movement gained worldwide recognition in 2017, successfully bringing down men typically protected by power and success. Hollywood is a prime example, with big names such as Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby becoming taboo within the industry after accusations of assault. The power of the #MeToo movement in celebrity and high-profile circles has supported the widespread use of the hashtag across social media. In a New York Times article, Anna Codrea-Rado charts how a tweet by actress Alyssa Milano calling for survivors to respond “Me too” received an overwhelming response. Many could confidently come forth and join in on the #MeToo momentum.

The #MeToo movement has been accompanied by skepticism

Photos courtesy of WikiMedia Commons Following the widespread internet attention to and ruling for the Depp-Heard defemation trials, the #MeToo movement’s momentum toward equity for domestic and sexual violence may be threatened.

since its inception, with many accusing victims of false allegations to hurt the success of affluent or successful people. In The Guardian, Moira Donegan described this backlash as something that has “long been under way.” Donegan discussed how critics of the movement “painted women’s efforts to end sexual violence as excessive and intemperate from the start, claiming #MeToo had ‘gone too far’ before it really got under way at all.”

This backlash, fueled by a toxic fan culture, has found a perfect outlet in the Depp-Heard trial, which has become what Donegan called the “tipping point” of our ability to discuss and tackle gender-based violence and assault. The Depp-Heard trial began on April 12, 2022, in a Virginia court after Depp sued ex-wife Heard for defamation after her 2018 op-ed for The Washington Post, in which she recounts her experiences as a victim of domestic abuse. Heard countersued for defamation concerning statements made by Depp’s lawyer calling her abuse claims a “hoax.” The trial proceeded to the jury on May 27, 2022, and on June 1, the verdict awarded Depp $15 million for defamation by Heard’s op-ed and Heard $2 million for defamation

by Depp’s lawyer.

The Depp-Heard trial has garnered significant attention and opinion from the public. Depp’s fanbase, in particular, has used social media as a pseudo-courthouse, declaring Depp a maligned hero well before the jury’s verdict. Depp has long been a beloved actor in Hollywood — from 90’s heartthrob to his breakout role as Jack Sparrow to his off-screen image as a kind and

generous man. As Rohitha Naraharisetty discusses in The Swaddle, “Thousands of minutes of reels have been dedicated to playing up Depp’s soft side,” from “showing him visiting children’s hospitals in his Jack Sparrow costume” to his “pulling up a chair for a member of his legal team in court, smiling as he proudly admits to getting clean from opiate addiction.” Depp’s celebrity image has perhaps contributed to the idea that this type of man is incapable of assault or violence. In another article for The Swaddle, Naraharisetty states that the entertainment culture “deliberately fosters parasocial relationships that make people feel like they know someone even when they don’t.” In pretending to know Depp and blindly vouching for his character, fans engaged in a toxic culture and dismissed Heard’s accusations before the verdict was read. .

Accompanying the positive social media portrayal of Depp is a villainized Heard. She is his antagonist — a ridiculed monster trying to destroy his fame and reputation.

Whether or not this holds any validity, this femme fatale narrative crafted by the public-consumer-run courtroom has turned the #MeToo movement on its head by engaging in victim ridicule and mockery.

Several testimonials from the trial have been turned into derogatory memes and hashtags aimed at Heard. The trial was filled with both parties’ accounts of violence and abuse. However, social media has paid no heed to the gravity of these matters, instead focusing on how to bring down Heard and show solidarity to Depp. Social media content has focused on crude moments of the tri-

al, creating hashtags such as #AmberTurd and #MePoo. The second remark, especially, treats not just Heard but the whole #MeToo movement with mockery and an air of sheer insensitivity. Similarly, memes about the trial focus on Heard’s lack of acting skills in the courtroom, making a mockery of the stale performance accompanying her deeply intimate accounts of violence, such as when Depp conducted a cavity search on her. The association between instances of assault and mockery erase our understanding toward the experiences of victims.

The point of the #MeToo movement is to provide victims with a platform to discuss their experiences and encourage others to “believe women,” which calls for people to trust the stories of survivors. Unfortunately, public opinion has used this very tenet of #MeToo to ridicule Heard. For example, Chris Rock tweeted, “Believe all women, except Amber Heard.” This attempts to establish that not all women cannot be trusted, and false allegations are the fine print of the #MeToo movement.

This does not take into account that mistrust of victims’ experiences is exactly what survivors — and others who promote the #MeToo movement — have been fighting against.

Chris Rock is accompanied by other established platforms engaging in this conversation. Duolingo, a language-learning app, commented on an NBC clip of the trial in which Heard speaks on how she has been on the receiving end of social media hate. “y’all think amber watches tiktok,” the app jokingly commented.

The comment was subsequently taken down. Big brands and celebrities

partaking in disbelieving assault claims only bolsters the culture as more acceptable.

Heard’s treatment has made the internet unsafe for discussions on assault and violence. Coupling moments of trauma with humor turns a blind eye towards those outside the trial who have similar experiences. In addition, social media may no longer seem a safe space for survivors to continue telling their stories without the fear of it turning into a Heard-esque nightmare.

Many have blamed Amber Heard for the end of the #MeToo movement for her so-called false allegations. But instead, it seems that public opinion during the case has brought damage to the movement through its insensitivity toward the matter. #MeToo gained momentum through the internet and social media in using it as a place for justice.

Today, toxic online culture is doing the opposite for survivors. We cannot hold Heard responsible for this, but rather think of which direction we, the public, want to take the power of the internet toward. Many have blamed Amber Heard for the end of the #MeToo movement for her socalled false allegations. But instead, it seems that public opinion during the case has brought damage to the movement through its insensitivity toward the matter. #MeToo gained momentum through the internet and social media in using it as a place for justice.

Today, toxic online culture is doing the opposite for survivors. We cannot hold Heard responsible for this, but rather think of which direction we, the public, want to take the power of the internet toward.

June 25, 2022

COMMUNITY

. Mount Holyoke News

Mount Holyoke News Mount Holyoke News is an independent student newspaper written by and for Mount Holyoke College students since 1917.

Executive Board Editor-in-Chief Sophie Soloway ’23

Publisher Ali Meizels ’23

Managing Editor of Content Emma Watkins ’23

Managing Editor of Web Mariam Keita ’24 & Zoe Tang ’24

Managing Editor of Layout Jesse Hausknecht-Brown ’25

Business Manager Katie Goss ’23

Copy Chief Lenox Johnson ’24

Human Resources Hannah Raykher ’23

Editorial Board

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Event Highlights Pioneer Valley Events Thursday, July 7 Odessy Bookshop Author Appearances

Join the Odyssey on Zoom as author Meron Hadero discusses her collection of stories, “A Down Home Meal for These Difficult Times.”

Virtual Event. 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Thursday, June 3 Dairy Crawl 2022

Visit local participating farm stands in the Pioneer Valley to celebrate Dairy Month and collect stamps in your Dairy Crawl Passport to be entered in a raffle.

Hadley, South Hadley & Sunderland. 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Arts & Entertainment Lenox Johnson ’23

Sports

Emily Tarinelli ’25

Photos

Opinion

Jahnavi Pradeep ’23 & Kaveri Pillai ’23

Global

Cynthia Akanaga ’25

Rosemary Geib ’23 & Ali Meizels ’23

Layout Editors Zoe Tang ’24

Copy Editors

Meghan MacBeath ’25, Kamlyn Yosick ’25, Hilary Vergera FP ’24, Marlo Zwisler ’24, Max Endieveri ’25, Zora Lotton-Barker ’25

Web Editors

Chloe Wang ’25 & Ramisa Tahsin Rahman ’25

Visit the Smith College Museum of Art to view Maya Linn’s interactive, multimedia exhibit exploring themes relating to the natural environment and climate change.

Smith College Museum of Art. 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

June - November 30 Northampton Farmers Market

Publication Guidelines Mount Holyoke News does not endorse any of the opinions or views expressed within the pages of the paper, excluding staff editorials.

All content copyright of Mount Holyoke News. All rights reserved. Mount Holyoke News does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation or age.

The Northampton Farmers Market has been part of the Pioneer Valley Community for over 40 years. Located in downtown Northampton, the market offers fruits and vegetables, local meats, fresh eggs, syrups, jams, plants and more.

Gothic Street & Main Street. 8 a.m. - 1 p.m.

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January 28 - August 7 Maya Linn: Mappings

EMAIL US: mhnews@mtholyoke.edu

Note from the Editor Dear Mount Holyoke community, Thank you for reading the first summer edition of the Mount Holyoke News for summer 2022. As your student newspaper, we aim to provide the Mount Holyoke community with continuous reporting throughout the summer. During the coming months, you can expect biweekly publications with coverage of on-campus, national and global happenings. We hope this helps you stay connected with Mount Holyoke College and the Mount Holyoke News from wherever you are reading.

Thank you again for your support.

Sincerely, Sophie Soloway, Editor-in-Chief ’23