Author: Sam Byrne
As Chris Brown took the stage at last week’s Grammy Awards, the audience erupted into a collective shriek of enthusiasm, rather than voicing protest against a perpetrator of domestic violence. On the night before the 2009 Grammys, then-19-year-old Brown pulled his car to the side of the road to resolve an argument with his girlfriend and fellow musician Rihanna, which quickly escalated into physical violence when he began unleashing rapid blows to Rihanna’s face and body, threatened to kill her and then forced her into a suffocating headlock. In the aftermath, Brown did not go to jail nor did he show any sincere remorse in public interviews; instead, he received a sentence of community service and five years probation. Three years later, he stood before a crowd performing his self-written single, “Turn up the Music,” a song whose lyrics include, “girl, I really wanna touch that, maybe I can beat that.” Nothing seems to imply the normalization of domestic violence quite like a man convicted of battery singing lyrics such as these at a major performance viewed by 40 million people.
The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences should have never selected Brown to perform at the Grammys, and anti-violence advocates across America should also feel compelled to voice their outrage. Until those who take offense to this decision express an unrepentant statement of backlash across America, the issue of domestic violence will never receive the attention it gravely deserves. Domestic violence may take place behind closed doors, but hierarchical relationships enforced through physical violence need to be prevented on a national level. If people remain reluctant to speak out against Brown and everyone else who has resorted to attacking another person to assert his or her power, then a public cry for change will never be issued, much less heard.
Following Brown’s violent outburst, many of their celebrity peers remained mum, careful not to entangle themselves in the sensitive topic and risk compromising their reputations. In doing so, they implicitly perpetuated a damaging and all-too-common attitude regarding domestic violence: that it is a personal issue within the private sphere that can somehow be pardoned. Producer and singer Usher casually criticized Brown in a conversation that was video recorded and later leaked to the public. The video showed the singer saying, “C’mon, Chris. Have a little bit of remorse, man.” This simple statement, said in the context of a private conversation, prompted a public outcry for Usher’s apology to Brown. Usher responded regretfully in a statement the next month, explaining, “The intentions were not to pass judgment and we meant no harm. I respect and wish the best for all parties involved.” This oft-repeated expression of complicity demonstrates that domestic violence is not simply a physical act but also a set of entrenched attitudes and norms.
Brown’s reception by the American public reflects a failure to recognize what is acceptable in any relationship. Through the deft maneuvering of his public relations team, Brown has effectively re-cast himself as a victim, repeatedly bemoaning the media’s preoccupation with his domestic violence case. “If I walk around apologizing to everybody, I’m gonna look like a damn fool,” Brown said in an interview with the New York Post last March and added, “People are always gonna talk.” Brown’s fans appear to have embraced this distorted perspective as well. After his Grammy performance, there was a flurry of Twitter statuses in defense of the singer, many of which were some variation of “Chris Brown could beat me all he wants, he is flawless.” It is offensive that Brown would present himself as someone who suffered from his own wrongdoing, but it is even worse that his fan base has internalized Brown’s carefully engineered image as a once-victim now making his triumphant comeback, to the point where getting punched by the singer is not only excusable but also desirable.
Brown may be the sole person at fault for the attack, but the bystanders who have both ignored the criminality of his actions and celebrated his commercial success are more problematic. When the public offers critical praise or financial support to a figure like Brown, it explicitly validates unacceptable behavior. Domestic violence must cease to be framed as a “personal issue” in both media and personal conversations; it is a struggle that extends into the social as well as political realm. For those who care about ensuring that every member of the country receive an equal level of respect and compassion, try turning off the Brown song on the radio and start actively lending a voice to the empowerment of abuse victims everywhere.
Sam Byrne is an undeclared sophomore. She can be reached at sbyrne@oxy.edu.
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