A Sad Day, Indeed

By Michael The Libertarian

I mentioned, in a previous post, that I have a few posts "in the can" for days when I just can't seem to find any inspiration to write. That wouldn't really be in keeping with the spirit of my oath to write something every day for thirty days so, while I was tempted to just "trot something out there", I won't be doing that.

Over the weekend, in the aftermath of the Harvey Weinstain travesty, reports emerged about a male actor that claimed to have been sexually assaulted/molested by one of my favorite actors, Kevin Spacey.

To say that I'm a fan(atic) might be a bit of an overstatement since I am not really a fan(atic) of anything, really, but in the common parlance of the day, I was a fan of Mr. Spacey.

I was so much a fan that not two weeks ago, I posted a video of him, doing impressions from an episode of "Inside The Actors' Studio" on a friend's feed (or whatever the hell it's called on Facebook). I have watched just about every movie he's ever been in and will even stomach late night shows that he's advertised to be on (until after his spot and then, I change the channel).

I also believe that there are some people that are just "jumping on the bandwagon" to become relevant again. I'm not saying that, lightly. I had "Me Too" as a status on my Facebook page because it was accurate and I wanted to show some solidarity with the plethora of Weinstain victims that may still be "lurking", afraid to come forward.

I'm not one who is overly involved with "pop culture" so much so that this actor's name didn't even ring a bell for me. I saw "Rent". I watched the first episode of "Star Trek: Discovery" (and was soundly disappointed), but I didn't make the connection to the actor's name. So, when the allegation came to light, I was hoping that he resided in the aforementioned category of someone who was looking to recapture former glory. Obviously, on the surface, that wouldn't appear to be the case.

I was "hoping against hope" that the allegation against Mr. Spacey was false. The exact allegation was: “He picked me up like a groom picks up the bride over the threshold. But I don't, like, squirm away initially, because I'm like, 'What's going on?' And then he lays down on top of me. He was trying to seduce me. I don't know if I would have used that language. But I was aware that he was trying to get with me sexually.”¹

My "hoping against hope" involved the fact of a fourteen-year-old's impression of what happened. I thought: Maybe there's some "grey area", here.

My hope was dashed to bits when Mr. Spacey released a statement: "I have a lot of respect for Anthony Rapp as an actor. I'm beyond horrified to hear his story. I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been over thirty years ago. But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years.

This story has encouraged me to address other things about my life. I know that there are stories about me out there and that some have been fueled by the fact that I have been so protective of my privacy. As those closest to me know, in my life I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I choose now to live as a gay man. I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behavior.

- Kevin Spacey"²  

Let's start with the first paragraph, shall we (and please keep in mind: I was a "fan" of Kevin Spacey until I read and digested his statement)?

He espouses respect for his victim's career and then, he tells us that he doesn't remember the incident.

Let's stop here for a moment. Just that fact that he "doesn't remember the incident" tells me that it wasn't an isolated one. I mean, drunk or not how many times did something similar happen to the extent that he doesn't remember this one? Let's also notice the language of the statement. It is a classic non-denial denial. No sale, Kevin. 

He goes on to say if he did behave in such a way, he owes his victim "the sincerest apology",but tries to mitigate his behavior by telling us he was drunk. It always bothers me, when people say: "I owe you an apology". Okay. And? If you loaned me $100 dollars which I promised to pay back within a month, how good would you feel hearing me say: "I owe you $100" a year later? Don't tell me you owe me an apology. Freakin' give it to me!

Mr. Spacey does, eventually, say the "bull***t words of apology". You know, the words every four-year-old says, when they get caught pulling the dog's tail or some such: "I'm sorry ...", but he couples them with another nothing phrase: " ... for the feelings ...". Again, typical non-apology apology. Again, Kevin: No sale.

Lastly, he goes on to (again) try to mitigate his behavior by exclaiming to the world he's gay and he is going to start living that way. So what? 

Gay ... straight ... black ... white ... young ... old ... drunk ... sober ... You're a piece of crap child molester! Die in a fire!

            - Michael

¹taken from a Buzzfeed interview in the public domain

²directly transcribed (by your humble author) from Spacey's Twitter Page