Social Media Vs Alec Baldwin

I don't think I really need to cite sources for this one; the shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of 'Rust' is easily Googled.

It was ABSOLUTELY a terrible tragedy that was PREVENTABLE. I am in favour of those responsible being held accountable.

However, unless there is something exceedingly significant - not yet in the public domain - laying responsibility on Alec Baldwin is RIDICULOUS.

In the normal course of things the blame for a shooting lies utterly in the hands of the person holding the weapon. However, if that weapon is in the hands of an actor on a film set the situation is (IMHO) very different.

The gun was a PROP.

It was handed to him and declared COLD, defined as "a weapon that does not involve fire or explosions as a result from the use of gunpowder or other explosive materials." but in film set terms it refers to a firearm that is unloaded, including the use of explosive blanks. In other words, it should have been entirely safe. On social media I see, over and over, that any gun should be considered 'hot' but that's nonsense. Obviously, if you pick up a random gun you should treat it as if loaded but when it is handed to you and declared cold by the person responsible for it then it is frankly ludicrous to think it could be live.

Of course this did not turn out to be the case. But unless Baldwin tampered with the gun, loaded a live round himself, the responsibility is in the hands of the props department, specifically the armourer - in this instance Hannah Gutierrez Reed.

There are two similar cases which spring to mind:

Actor Jon-Erik Hexum (1957 - 1984) died after simulating Russian Roulette with a gun loaded with a single blank. Although there was no bullet the force of the explosive blank was enough to shatter his skull. He was subsequently declared brain-dead from his injury. The death was ruled accidental and his mother received an out-of-court settlement. By the logic being applied to the Rust incident it would instead have been ruled suicide as the gun was in his hands and he died by his own action, and the film company would likely have paid nothing.

Actor Brandon Lee (1965 - 1993) died after a prop gun fired by fellow actor Michael Massee (1952 - 2016) discharged an improperly made dummy round. Massee suffered enormous guilt over the incident; it was devastating to him. But there was NEVER any question that he was responsible for Lee's death. The incident was ruled an accident due to negligence and, again, Lee's mother received an undisclosed settlement against the filmmakers. In some regard this *might* hold Baldwin accountable - he was not merely an actor but producer; Rust was his passion project. But all the same it was not his job to ensure gun safety on set. Unless he was personally responsible for hiring Gutierrez Reed (and Baldwin was only one of SIX producers), and assuming whoever she was hired by could possibly have known she wasn't competent in the role, it is hard to see how blame falls specifically on him.

On social media armchair experts declare that Baldwin should have ensured that the gun was at no time pointing at anyone... do they not understand that on film sets there are people everywhere?! And whether Baldwin put the gun to his own head like Hexum or deliberately fired it during a take like Massee the gun SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCAPABLE OF DOING HARM. 

This is a dangerous precedent to set. Regardless of your line of work if you are using a machine or piece of equipment and it malfunctions or had been improperly maintained that should be on the shoulders of the person whose job it was to ensure its safety. Under this logic any one of us could be held accountable for a workplace accident for the failure of something the safety of which is not our responsibility. Obviously there's a good and valid argument for due care and attention but this is almost on a par with pointing a stapler at someone and it firing a bullet and killing them - you simply can't get away from the fact that the stapler should not have bullets in it! You shouldn't be expected to assume the stapler is a loaded lethal weapon.

It's a horrible thing to say but I'm glad Michael Massee is dead. Watching this unfold would have utterly destroyed him.

Can ye believe it?

Once again, The Heggie Zone is kinda embarrassed to present and expanded & explained Twitter rant.
This one is on the linked article, entitled "Kanye West Is Publicly Struggling. We Need To Give Him Grace"
(source: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/elaminabdelmahmoud/kanye-west-mental-health-dangerous-media-narratives?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpgc)

A quote from Craig Jenkins included within reads

“The lack of context regarding his [bipolar] diagnosis...in coverage...

which questions the viability of the presidential bid

but never entertains the possibility that the man giving all the

outlandish pull quotes might not be doing so well right now,

illuminate our inability to step back and ponder the ethics

of the internet content mill…”

But is this even TRUE? How is there a lack of context?! I'm not American, I have never heard anything he's done BUT I know he's bipolar and super irresponsible about it.
West's struggles with Bipolar Disorder have been widely reported and discussed. It'd be like adding context that Stevie Wonder is blind - it is a really well-known factor. We all KNOW he's 'not doing so well' but he is deliberately putting himself out there to be seen.
He is also putting himself out there to be ELECTED. The press' ethics must be first and foremost concerned with protecting the public more than Kanye West.

My tweets in bold, copied directly from my feed 29/07/2020.

It's a challenging read but I can't say I fully agree with it. Mercy & compassion have their place but Kanye & HIS ENTIRE TEAM are guilty here of some f*ck*d up sh*t that negatively impacts anyone living with mental health issues.
Kanye West is not an individual, he is a person with EXTENSIVE management and a very famous family of in-laws. It seems that not one of them, let alone all in a unified action, is capable of 'controlling' the situation. Not that I blame Kim for example - but she's begging for understanding after the fact each time. I can understand she loves him... okay, I can't but I get her commitment to her marriage, but I don't understand why she is 'letting him do this' to himself, her, and their children. It's ultimatum time, dearie. Get help, step away from the limelight, or I take the kids and leave.
Most of us would be subjected to an intervention - and probably sectioning under the mental health act. If you had a meltdown at work your boss would (hopefully) send you home cos no way can you be doing this sh*t in front of customers / clients / members of the public / co-workers. But more than this, every negative bit of press Kanye-and-team whip up affects EVERY OTHER INDIVIDUAL WITH A MENTAL HEALTH DISORDER. He is perpetuating all the negative stereotypes of mental illness.

I feel it is wrong to blame the media for the media hungry Ye machine. They don't seem to be inaccurately, cruelly, or especially unkindly representing him. And plenty of similar speculation has been applied to Trump's incoherent ramblings. It's par for the presidential course.
The press aren't hunting out these stories - they're attending 'campaign rallies' and interviewing him (probably at invitation) to promote the albums he endlessly fails to deliver.
I have seen lots of articles questioning Trump's sanity, his 'fitness to lead', and speculating as to whether he's had a stroke. Now, whether or not Trump has a diagnosable disorder he is clearly several sandwiches short of a picnic. I am bothered by the stroke speculation as a brain injury does not necessarily make him 'unfit' although if it was covered up in his medical that's a pretty serious business.
Kanye cannot possibly expected to run for POTUS without speculation, analysis and criticism. Saying he should be exempted from such scrutiny on grounds of his well-publicised mental health problems is a really irresponsible stance that could theoretically help him into the White House!
It takes a lot for me to defend the press. But here they are not being intrusive, sensationalist, dishonest, manipulative... which is quite remarkable in and of itself. What they are is standing back and letting West rip himself apart. If you're asking "but should they?" how do you think journalism works?! Reporters don't start or end wars, they write up what is going on. Criticism is fair when they are unfair... but West's rants are his own.
And now he's running (however implausibly) for POTUS his instability becomes a matter of American National Security and needs to be reported as such.

IMHO Kanye risks making people believe that all bipolar people are... wildly unstable, incapable of holding responsibility etc. and that is TERRIBLE. The stigma of mental illness is bad enough without him taking it back DECADES.
The article keeps going on about Kanye's pain and trauma. We all have pain, we all have trauma, not all of us are bipolar but even those who are don't all act out so badly.
Mental health has long been taboo but headway has been made in recent years - so why is Kanye being encouraged / enabled / excused from f*ck*ng over every other person battling their demons?!
I am 'only' struggling with 30 years of depression but this angers me so much. People are mistreated, outcast, shunned, denied housing, denied work - and West, a bloody billionaire, is making their lives harder and causing people to be afraid of people with mental health problems.

What I think Kanye / his team *should* have done is take him down a Kate Bush style path - all the creativity, minimal public appearances. Let him have dignity in mystique. Especially after the first few meltdowns. NOT about hiding but saving him from himself.
At a time when Black Lives Matter is a major headline West is accusing Harriet Tubman of selling out black people, he has previously called slavery a choice. If he were anything but a Black person himself he would have been 'cancelled' by now! He says the most appalling things and is given a pass, time and time again, because of his diagnosis... but is it right to do so? Oddly enough you can be an asshole AND bipolar; the one does not necessarily stem from the other.
Being a creator does not mean you have to be constantly on stage, giving interviews, etc. You can release albums, even play concerts, but you don't need to keep talking shit. If this was his first major incident I would be more forgiving but at this point there have been MANY. You would think that the prior experiences would keep him on his medications and off his soap-box...

How can you treat Kanye as multiple people? Even if he had multiple personality disorder the 'man who knows what he's doing' is the same being who is saying these outrageous things. The same person who admits not taking his meds is running for POTUS. That CANNOT BE IGNORED.
This comment is particularly aimed at the following quote:

"The truth is you have to be rather callous to laugh at the unwell person

in front of you. But you don’t need that callousness

when you imagine it’s the West who knows what he’s doing,

the West who is immensely capable of processing his pain."

Can you actually run for POTUS without knowing what you are doing?! He knows he needs his meds, he knows what happens when he is off them, he knows he has embarrassed himself, humiliated his wife and offended his entire race several times before now... More to the point his extensive support team - managers, agents, assistants of every kind - know what he's doing and they are LETTING HIM. It is the moral equivalent of watching someone neck a bottle of vodka and then take their truck for a drive. THAT IS NOT ON THE PRESS.

Should the media be *accountable* in the articles they write about a misician [sic] having a spectacular and uninhibited public brain fart or should they be responsible and accurately represent a man who is running for the ultimate public office? Literally can't be both.
IF West was JUST promoting another undelivered album... no, even then - cos he's consciously, deliberately seeking promotion. This is not press intruding into Harvey Price's hospital room, unresearched speculation on royal doings, or any other number of invasive examples of sensationalist journalism.

If Kanye was a private individual, or an involuntary public figure like a royal or a WAG, I would totally agree that the media needs to step back... but there's a world of difference when the person you're writing about is actively courting publicity.
As I put a moment ago - royalty never asked for publicity, children and spouses (or other relatives) of celebrities shouldn't be hounded, used or abused for the sake of a story. But Kanye isn't an involuntary celebrity, he's not even a private celebrity - he is a courting publicity, letting it all hang out as publicly as possible celebrity. Even then, if he was a recording artist having a mental breakdown there'd be an argument that they should back off* but he's RUNNING FOR OFFICE.

*In the UK right now Johnny Depp is suing the press for calling him a wife-beater and Prince Harry & Meghan, Duchess of Sussex are also suing the press for unwarranted breaches of privacy. The press, as a whole, are SHIT. They don't back off, they hound people until they break. Then they make a big deal out of the obituaries. Kanye West is not being hounded - he is feeding them.

How exactly is the press supposed to address the negative depiction of someone battling mental illness when this is what they're handed on a plate? I dare say there are lots of positive stories they could write for balance but a lot of people don't want their diagnosis 'outted' [sic].
Again, as I said before, this negatively impacts a lot of people. Lots of people with bipolar disorder and other mental health diagnoses are out there, doing good, being responsible, getting on with their lives but they shouldn't have to put their stories out there JUST to counterbalance West's breakdowns so the public can get a more nuanced view of mental health issues.

I have nothing against Kanye West as a human being. I hope he gets the help he needs. I just have a problem with blaming others for the harm he is doing.

DUI Zero Tolerance

Continuing the pattern of "I read this when I got up today and OMG it makes me so mad" and "humans are fucking stupid" and "have I mentioned how I am really big on personal accountability???" here's another blog.

British TV presenter and former actor / popstar Ant McPartlin was arrested yesterday for drink driving after a collision involving three vehicles.

This is not the initial story I read, and as such does not contain the reference to his mother mentioned later, but I provide it as a reference point for this blog: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43453525

I want to make it clear from the outset that this blog is referring to this tweet by @fransbeautyblog [below] and others who make excuses for people who drink and drive. Although that may include drink drivers themselves that is not currently the case in this instance. I very much hope Mr McPartlin will accept full responsibility for his actions.

I retweeted this with the following message of my own 

There's sympathy for someone with mental health and addiction issues...but that goes out of the window when they drunk drive and endanger lives beyond their own.

Zero sympathy for a man who put a child in hospital, regardless of any excuses.

...and then wrote three threads from it (I have only corrected my typos):

(1) I have repeatedly expressed sympathy for the driver who ran me over...but he was not drunk. The accident was not his fault or mine but a consequence of a 3rd party's action.

I have never had any sympathy for the motorcyclist who hopped a red light and missed [my daughter Kathleen] by an inch. I have no idea if he was drunk or sober cos he wasn't caught but regardless he made a 'mistake' that could have killed my kid. No excuses.

My great uncle had a heart attack and died at the wheel of his car. I am immensely grateful that he had the presence of mind (and the vital seconds of consciousness) to pull over and not risk anyone else's life.

My cousin died crashing his motorbike. His [adult] kids repost 'look for motorbikes' stuff [on social media]. But he was speeding at night and collided with a tractor going 8mph. Thank god no one else was hurt.

I don't drive and would probably be terrible if I did. Wheels are a privilege, not a right. Zero tolerance for being irresponsible.

(2) I'm not sure about blaming his mother...he's 42 ffs. Was she in the car with him? The account I read only speaks of her trying to calm him. Could have been on the phone, in one of the other cars involved or at the scene.

Besides... Did she know he'd been drinking? Failing a breathalyser is super easy so she may well have not been aware he was unfit to drive, especially if the booze had been in his blood for hours.

(3) The comments on this thread though... She's arguing sympathy and tolerance with people who point out that he can afford taxis, or a driver, and all the rehab he needs. He has a support network. There was zero excuse for this.

He's no average Joe battling his demons alone and reliant on the patchy to non existent mental health care available on the NHS.

I wonder if she'd have as much sympathy and understanding if it was her kid in hospital. I doubt it.

I hope Ant will hold his hands up and take responsibility for his actions. I'm not judging him harshly (yet) because we all make mistakes...I am judging harshly those excusing his behaviour.

My kids don't drive yet but I hope they will be responsible drivers, both in their actions and how they respond to any mistakes they make.

Some of the comments she was making back to people included:

Replying to @ixamxcaitlin who pointed out that "As a grown man he should have known better than to sit behind the wheel knowing he was intoxicated. Yes, I agree he needs help but he also doesn't deserve pity or sympathy. He made his choice and a 3 year old is suffering the consequence."

Francesca replied: “A grown man” has nothing to do with it - mental health and addiction affects your choices & your ability to make a reasoned decision. A real shame coming from someone who has experienced mental health issues.

Wow, really?! He's no naive child where mistakes and lack of reasoning might be more understandable. He's old enough to be a father or even a grandfather (when I am 42 my kids will be 24 and 21).

Similarly in a 'debate' with @jfduncan5 she argued: Well I’m glad your mental health andaddiction issue didn’t affect your mind to the same extent as this then. Unfortunately for some people, it does.

Individual idiosyncrasy MIGHT be a valid excuse in terms of unusual inter-reactions of medications where a consequence cannot be reasonably predicted. There have been cases like that, where someone is prosecuted but could not have known they were unsafe to drive. Meanwhile, McPartlin has had his issues for YEARS. He would KNOW by now if his judgement was impaired and if so then he CHOSE not to quit driving. EVERYONE knows that drinking and driving is illegal in this country and other people with mental illnesses and substance abuse problems can and do make the right call. 

Not only that, but her initial tweet says "Unless you have ever suffered with mental health, addiction, alcoholism, sit down & shut up talking about things you know nothing about." and yet over and over Francesca is trying to shut down people who are saying "I HAVE suffered mental health problems, I HAVE struggled with addiction, I HAVE been an alcoholic" because their testimonies don't tally with her world view. Over and over people are telling her that this is not a valid excuse; people who (at least claim to) 

• have experienced these issues first hand
• have qualifications in counselling or psychology
• work in related fields helping those in mental health crisis or substance abuse

and she's telling them their opinions are irrelevant because of what? Assumptions she's making and being hellbent on being 'sympathetic'.

@battink commented: "It's still not a valid excuse for what he's done. He's probably been given more opportunity than a lot of people who are seriously struggling."

Francesca's response to that: You’re saying probably because you have absolutely no idea - you’re assuming everything so best not to comment.

Well, Francesca...you're assuming everything too. Yes, Ant McPartlin has well publicised personal problems but that doesn't mean his 'issues' were accountable for yesterday's stupidity. He may just be a selfish arrogant bastard like so many other selfish arrogant bastards.

Francesca replied to @Jakep010923: Hi Jake, absolutely, he’s taken some dreadful actions today & should be punished. My tweet is aimed at the people throwing abuse at him because how does that help someone who is clearly in need of help?

How does this even equate? Putting lives in danger isn't a cry for help. Throwing abuse at people who put lives in danger is pretty darn reasonable. I don't feel the need to hurl abuse at him but nor do I have any sympathies - perhaps the people who are allegedly 'making threats' are people who've lost people to drunk drivers, who  have been carers to those seriously (and often permanently) injured in such incidents, who've had to put together their shattered lives. The people who are angriest about this may well be the ones in most need of help, support, sympathy and understanding.

Most of us have empathy for the people in the two other cars he smashed into and the kid he put in hospital. It's actually pretty difficult to feel empathy for the person who caused their suffering. Would she feel the same about any other person who committed a crime of violence - sympathy for the machete-wielder or the acid-attacker??? They could be suffering mental health issues too, or be out of their noggins on drink or drugs.

But 'best' of all is this illustration of Francesca's ignorance and then blocking the person who dared point it out: