We Are The Weirdos

Chris Brown performed at The Grammys and I wasn’t particularly upset by it. Annoyed because he doesn’t really sing live, but I didn’t think too much more about it. Then Twitter blew up. Most people I know were upset by the fact that he was at The Grammys at all, much less performing. My honest initial thought was “when is the point of forgiveness?” I don’t ask that to say that everyone should have forgiven him by now, I just legitimately wonder. One comment I saw said something along the lines of “How dare people applaud Chris Brown and how dare he even be allowed to perform at the Grammys!” My friend text me and asked me how I felt about him performing. Obviously people were not okay with it. I just don’t really know how to feel. On the one hand I don’t feel as though Chris Brown performing on stage is “glamorizing” abuse, on the other hand I can understand how him being in the limelight would make it look like it’s okay beat up your girlfriend because people will forget about it in time. I also wondered, is it reasonable to be angry that people enjoy his performance, or that he was asked to perform? For a “regular” citizen, it wouldn’t be expected for an abusive husband to be fired from his job. So for a performer, is it reasonable to expect every fan he has to just give up on him and every stage to shut down so he can’t perform? Taking away his livelihood? THEN AGAIN, public figures follow different guidelines than us “normal people.” They set standards and trends, so why should this be any different? I say this not to say I’m heartless, not to say I’m apathetic. Not to say I’ve forgiven and forgotten. I’m just curious about where that LINE is, the line where he isn’t a villain anymore and he’s just a man who made a mistake. Notice I called it a mistake, not an accident. Accidents are things you do unintentionally, mistakes are things you learn from. Just wanted to be clear on that.