Funny how this is now the line trotted out by the majority of the members including mods, yet no one seemed to care to discuss Kobe Bryant's shortcomings in his very own RIP thread hours after he died.
I was surprised to see you post this, as it’s blatantly untrue. The posts were deleted from the RIP thread, and the vast majority of members took issue with people bringing up the allegations in that thread. Members were then banned from mentioning the allegations in that thread. You only have to look at the first page of this thread to see that. I don’t know if this was a honest mistake or a deliberate distortion of what happened. Not that it really matters, I’m much more interested in the next comment.
For what it's worth I think everyone is entitled to their opinion but sometimes it's better to say nothing at all if you can't say anything nice.
I strongly disagree with sentiment, even in a context vacuum I’d think it was wrong, and in regards to the discussion regarding Kobe and the allegation I think it’s dangerous. It’s also a misrepresentation of what the debate surrounding Kobe was about. It wasn’t people being ‘mean’ to him because of some superficial agenda. Someone bringing up the allegation isn’t them being unkind, it’s important that it is discussed and highlighted because it’s part of a massive issue that in general is always swept under the carpet.To limit conversation to platitudes isn’t the way forward, and while I understand
why It might make people who are fans or supporters of whichever celebrity is in the crosshairs uncomfortable, it’s still a discussion that desperately needs to be had.
This thread is the most depressing thread for me on this forum. I’ve already gone over things like the vast statistical unlikelihood of a rape victim ever getting justice. The way that character assassination comes in to play with the victims, so this next part isn’t an empirical argument but an emotional one as to why I can’t stand the many defensive stances in this thread (not that a reason is needed).
My (foster) sister was raped when she was 12, by a man who lived with her foster carers. She was let down by the various systems and the personnel who work within them, and society in general I guess. Although it was many years ago, this event has hugely shaped her life and to this day she is terrified of ever running into him again. To the point of panic attacks when she thought she’d seen him. I’ve always wanted her to take this case forward, as she deserves justice, and some form of closure. There’s plenty of evidence too. She is adamant though that she never will, for fear that, in her own words, everyone will think she’s a ‘slag’ or that she’s a liar. I’d love to be able to tell her otherwise, but this thread is a perfect microcosm of the outside word. She probably wouldn’t be believed by many people, because even in a case like this one where he admitted that he understood why she felt that she was raped and paid her millions, there’s a vast amount of people who still refuse to believe the victim. Edit: just to clarify why I’m sharing this personal story, it’s not because i think it has any bearing on the Kobe story or his innocence/guilt, but rather to show part of why I think allegations like these should be discussed and not hidden. It’s not coming from a place of hatred or to not be nice, but in the hope of change. Even in this thread there’s plenty of ‘why?’ When it came to discussing this allegation. Why are you discussing it now? Why does it matter? why do you hate Kobe? And they miss the point. There’s nothing really wrong with your post, but it’s a useful jumping off point to argue against the why aspect. This thread has plenty of people equating taking about Kobe’s allegation to being insulting or behaving inappropriately, it’s just another form of censorship.