The tempting sirens of victimhood

So why is this happening and why will it happen even more in the future? Victimhood, narrative and confirmation bias. For those three reasons I am not mad at Smollett as much as I am at other people. Is that possible? He intentionally tried to start a social war by essentially tying white people to violence against blacks and homosexuals. He tried to tell people that Trump voters in general are a violent homophobic group that declared open season on minorities. Finally, he tried to make himself a victim. And that’s incidentally the first reason I’m mad about this…

There was a time when we, as a society, used to tell women that if they had been raped, some of the blame was on them. Some still do today, and it’s a despicable attitude that only creates more victims. However, as a society we have moved on from that, in some cases we have moved so much that we have shifted from blaming the victim to creating a culture where being a victim is an elevated social status. Victims get the spotlight and get to dictate an agenda. Don’t get me wrong: in some cases that’s exactly what we need. The survivors of the Parkland massacre have gone on to influence gun legislation across the country, something they were able to do because they knew exactly what it was like to be hunted with a rifle. But this victimhood culture is alluring to people who might want more attention and a bigger national spotlight. This isn’t of course true for any kind of assault, it is true only for specific types, those that fit the Narrative, and here is where people on the left need to take a deep breath…

Still, the reason why Mollett’s story caught fire is because of a third reason: confirmation bias. What he said happened is exactly what people in general believe happen everywhere. Facts and news are not doubted anymore as long as they confirm what we already think. This is true for anyone: if a news story confirms what we believe of minorities, of vaccines, of politicians or anything else, we believe it because of our bias. Smollett’s story was a deadly combination of victimhood, narrative and confirmation bias, but I still don’t blame Smollett the most. Ultimately he made up a story for a very simple reason: because what he thought would happen after it is exactly what happened.

1. Smollett didn’t go to the hospital for hours and he didn’t have any broken bones or visible bruising on his face except for a very small cut, suggesting a “lynching” was out of the question

2. Smollett managed to hold on to a sandwich he bought, once again suggesting it couldn’t have been more than a quick scuffle

Smollett was lured into creating a fake incident to gain victimhood status by the people who used the incident to advance a false narrative. Does his story mean attacks on black and gay people don’t exist? Of course not and if anything it makes shining a light on them even more difficult.

So, does this mean the “left” makes up stories? Well, here is where people on the RIGHT need to take a deep breath…

First of all, not all politicians and celebrities jumped on the bandwagon: 2020 Presidential candidate Julian Castro prefaced his first tweet with “If the reports […] are true”, which is exactly how these things should be handled. But more importantly, any member of the LGBTQ+ community and/or people of color can testify that harassment and attacks do exist. This incident doesn’t move the needle an inch in either direction: a lie doesn’t mean nobody is beating up or harassing gay or black individuals. People advancing this narrative are exactly like the people who cried “lynching” when right away we knew from pictures that nothing like that could have ever happened.

And if you think this is going to get better, please don’t watch or read the news when Smollett might be awarded an apology tour in the future where he will bare himself to the public and explain how important it is for him to heal from this incident, because you’re going to get disappointed very fast…

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