Never Simp. Never Scorn.

As many of you know, I was very critical of Brad Pitt up until now, because it seemed to me that despite the various allegations levelled at him regarding abuse of Angelina Jolie and their kids, he wasn't getting the same treatment/censure as Angelina Jolie, but I've now happened upon this site: https://www.buzzfeed.com/stephaniesoteriou/emma-watson-called-out-brad-pitt-angelina-jolie-allegations?d_id=5813483&ref=bftwbuzzfeed&utm_source=dynamic&utm_campaign=bftwbuzzfeed

I've now done a 180. It seems people DO despise Pitt, and some of them so despise him they take Jolie's accusations as face-value even though an investigation was carried out, and no charges brought against him. Some of the people on this comment section are so PURITANICAL and prone to CANCELLATION CULTURE (and before any goody-goody complains that 'cancel culture "doesn't exist" because few people are actually cancelled,' per se, the point is NOT that people have been permanently cancelled, BUT that many holier-than-thou Millennials and Gen Zers are TRYING to permanently cancel them), that not only do they label Brad Pitt a wife-abuser and child-abuser, they're also accusing Margot Robbie of being a sex offender for asking to insert a scene in Babylon where she gets to kiss Pitt. 🤦‍♂️ Yeah, because I bet Brad Pitt felt so offended and affronted by Margot Robbie wanting to kiss him. *sigh* And before any goody-goodies criticise me and argue "But men can be sexually assaulted by women, and it has nothing to do with sexual attraction," guess what? I fucking know. I've been sexually assaulted by women, both attractive and homely, and I didn't appreciate either instance. The attractiveness of the woman in question doesn't mitigate the humiliation/violation, BUT I got over it, and I'm sure if Margot Robbie had the scene included into the film, Pitt could, if he wanted, have refused it/made a fuss about her 'abusing' him. 🤷‍♂️

Society is SO puritanical these days.

Anyway, back to my original point. NONE of us are heroes or zeroes (with a few exceptions, including child rapists, serial rapists/murderers, and genocidal dictators). MOST of us are a mix of good and bad, and few people are 100% virtuous or 100% evil. Brad Pitt, like most of us, including former heroes-turned-zeroes, like Johnny Depp, and men who will no doubt end up going from hero-to-zero in a decade or so, like Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth, are a MIX of good and bad.

Which is why my message is "NEVER SIMP. NEVER SCORN." Treat ALL people equally. DON'T make judgements. Remember proverbs like "first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye," (I'm not religious, and I don't believe in God, but The Bible occasionally contains some VERY wise words), and "There but for the grace of God [figuratively-speaking] go I" (meaning that we should be thankful and show more humility about our own circumstances, because if the shoe were on the other foot, maybe *we'd* have turned out to be a murderer etc etc).

NEVER take your own virtue for granted. Virtuous people, and I like to think I'm one of them, are LUCKY. We've been privileged to have gone through life WITHOUT suffering a TRAUMA so terrible that it might turn us into a 'monster.' Maybe if my mom or dad had molested me as a kid, or I'd lived on the streets growing up, I'd be holding up liquor stores and mugging old ladies today. Thankfully, my *relatively* fortunate circumstances sent me down a better path, for which I should be GRATEFUL.