If you open your Instagram page, there is a good chance that every third reel on your feed contains a puzzling display - a parodical reenactment set to the voice of a tearful woman describing a traumatic event. It could set you off, but that’s exactly what has been happening for the past couple of weeks - The Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial, which concluded on Friday, has taken the internet by storm.
This trial is supposedly a retaliation to an earlier setback - no, not the Libel suit which Depp lost against The Sun, the UK Tabloid after 12 of the 14 domestic violence charges on him were proven beyond doubt, and also was later twice denied an appeal. Depp had sued Heard again because of an Op-Ed piece she had later written for The Washington Post in December 2018, which Depp claims compelled his producers to remove him from his upcoming projects including the new Pirates franchise film, leading his career towards an irredeemable downfall.
The Depp-Heard trial, which began on 11 April, has brought in a lot of intrigue and haze, no doubt. There are several pieces of evidence that highlight wrongdoing and questionable behaviour from both ends. While Heard admits to hitting Depp on one occasion, there are multiple videos, phone call recordings and text messages which highlight Depp’s abusive temperament, one video in particular where the latter can be seen slamming kitchen cabinets and threatening graver consequences. Depp could be guilty of most of the accusations against him, though it is clear the relationship was toxic and dysfunctional in totality, a tragic case of two people wrong for each other coming together.
However, that’s the farthest from what you will believe if the social media feeds are anything to go by. Heard’s testimonies have been received with alarming cynicism and disbelief. Her body language particularly has come in the line of firing, and apparently ‘doesn’t resemble that of a sexual abuse survivor,’ as pointed by many netizens who also keep talking about how Heard’s tearless sobbing just doesn’t seem honest. Every minute gesture of hers - be it regularly looking at the jury or even looking in Depp’s direction - has been scrutinised with a frustratingly meticulous gaze. In short, “Amber Heard cannot be believed.”
Yet, this becomes unacceptable the moment an anti-Heard sentiment automatically translates to a Pro-Depp affection pouring.
Let’s quickly go through everything Depp has admitted or been proven to have committed, so far - There is atleast one video where he can be seen behaving violently around Heard in a drunken stupor, multiple texts which have Depp not just implying his past violence towards Heard but also have him use sexist and biphobic slurs against Heard like, wh**e, c**t, c*um guzzler, and atleast one audio recording where Depp aggressively threatens Heard to not get authoritative with him.
In a worst, most cynical case scenario, Heard’s testimonies could be truthful, and yet none of it redeems Depp or takes away from his transgressions. What then prompts such an overwhelming display of solidarity towards Depp alone?
I will shoot my shot right away - a big factor (if not the biggest) is our collective misogyny, the inherent tendency to disbelieve the woman in case of a sliver of a discrepancy (which is here in plenty). For instance, people took more offense to Heard saying, “Let’s see who believes your claims of assault” than the actual visual proof of Depp’s throwing Heard’s phone violently, or his texts where he talks to his friends about burning her alive. There is also a well-oiled PR Machinery at play here (now been proven to have deployed an army of bots to initiate a smear campaign against Heard.)
But most importantly, this case is a devastating and brutal example of the power of online fan communities. This is not merely about Depp, but also the inherent capacity of fandom, of people in large groups, no matter where they stand on the spectrum of intelligence, morality, or empathy.
I talk more about fandom here (though misogyny is an equally damaging factor) as I see a legion of supporters of ‘Team Jack Sparrow’ being loud and staunch in their endless bashing of Heard, loyally concluding their online tirades with #JusticeforJohnnyDepp. In a rather ironic move, many Depp fans are co-opting the #IstandwithAmberHeard even as they continue to abuse and vilify Heard.
These faux-pas probably come from a different kind of zeal, the one to belong to a larger dominating group. This magnitude of online vitriol becomes possible only when people feel the scattered yet humungous comfort of knowing that they are part of a huge community - this is when they realise the power of collectively asserting their identity and dominance. Though far less threatening, the Marvel fandom has occasionally displayed its fair share of intolerance, the most notable being their attempt to write off Martin Scorsese’s understanding of films after he had said about Marvel films, “this isn’t cinema.”
This is the first major celebrity-oriented civil trial in some years to be televised and receive such humungous publicity, practically the first instance where the broadcast is intersecting with equally active participation from netizens across the globe. We are no longer mere spectators, we are now participating. It was Depp’s team that asked for these trials to be televised, completely realising the potential to manipulate Heard’s public image, through everything that happens not just in the courtroom but also outside it.
While Heard supporters, as relatively nominal they might be, are filling their online feeds with evidence about misinformation and debunked claims about this trial, all Depp fans have are TikTok reels and memes, mocking Heard’s emotional testimonies - not realising the irony of humiliating a possible DV survivor while claiming to stand for someone they believe to be a DV survivor. Not one-tenth of this scrutiny is being applied to Depp’s snarky demeanour, which is seen as a mark of self-assured righteousness. His occasional snickering at serious moments and making doodles during a trial that accuses him of such a heinous crime hasn’t attracted any skepticism, let alone criticism. It has reached a point where Depp fans have conveniently chosen to ignore even the disturbing text where Depp talks about, jokingly he claimed, burning Heard alive and then f****g her corpse. If they were least bit troubled by this text, it surely doesn’t reflect in their response. There is also an alarming affinity visible among Depp supporters towards conspiracy theories or spreading unverified news.
I constantly reiterate the words facts and theories because that’s what differentiates an observer from a fan. It is not a fan’s place to spew theories about a serious ongoing court trial, relying on their amateurish understanding of body language (which itself has been dismissed as pseudoscience by many experts), completely refusing to believe any shred of evidence presented by Heard’s team. At this point, one can’t help but stop and reflect - what compels us to such dizzy levels of fandom, making us indulge in our blind faith towards someone?
It’s rather incredulous in this day and age to see people confuse a celebrity’s screen image with their real-life persona, but nothing else explains the presence of people waiting outside court with flowers in their hands for Depp (some even donning the costume from his most popular movies), cheering and clapping as they wait for his arrival - He is Captain Jack Sparrow, He is Edward Scissorhands; how could he possibly be a monster? (even if Depp constantly referred to himself as being one, in his texts after a violent bout)
It’s not just internalised misogyny, it’s also the innate belief that the lovable screen-personality they grew up watching and loving couldn’t be a bad person - and they shall do anything to retain that belief, that illusion.
When we protect a celebrity, we are often preserving a part of our own identity. When we fear losing love for them, we also fear losing a part of ourselves - that’s how intertwined the two become sometimes. At such moments, we begin to harbour a tendency to perceive things in black-and-white, leaving little room for complexity. The ability to ask the right questions disappears, and the desire to have a hero and be a believer of that narrative compels you to find a villain, or even manufacture one if push comes to shove. Their obeisance tricks them into slavery, as devotees refuse to believe anything that could prove their villain-figure to not be so villainous afterall. To be pro-Depp, you have got to be anti-Heard, no matter what it takes.
Right now, the fans have chosen a villain. That villain is Amber Heard.
And while they might be rooting for their Captain Jack and Willy Wonka, the Depp fans seem to have forgotten that this is not a movie — It’s a grave, messy trial happening in real time in this same universe, with the honour and integrity of actual people at stake. And no matter where this case heads, it might be really tough for Amber Heard to go back to a normal non-hateful existence.
BH Harsh is a film critic who spends most of his time watching movies and making notes, hoping to create, as Peggy Olsen put it, something of lasting value.
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