I Can’t Judge Chris Brown? Watch Me

Over at DJBooth.net there's a relatively heated debate going on over my review of Chris Brown's new album "Graffiti". In regard to the album specifically I'll let that review speak for itself, but in terms of the larger debate surrounding Brown and his quasi-comeback, I've got too much to say to simply let it be.

There are few things we can count in life, but one of the them is the double-reverse backlash, or the backlash-against-the-backlash. Here's how it works: Famous person X does something that is undeniably wrong and gets publicly blasted for it. The media inevitably takes said blasting too far, saturating us with 24-hour coverage and inane commentary. People become so sick off it that they begin to defend Celebrity X with an intensity equal to the original blasting. By this time everyone's almost completely forgotten about whatever incident cause the furor in the first place and are simply fighting anyone they can find who disagrees with them. Kind of like a gang war, except the drive-bys happen on message boards instead of the streets.

Predictably, that's exactly what's happened with Brown. When reports surfaced that Brown had brutally beaten Rihanna after an argument the anti-Brown backlash began building momentum, and once the pictures of Rihanna's bruised and bloody face surfaced it struck in full force. Radio stations banned his music, advertisers left in droves and the media ran continuous coverage of the assault until the C in CNN started to stand for "Chris". In other words, it was the perfect conditions for a double-reverse backlash.

Sure enough, the Brown defenders began to fight back like supporting Breezy was a holy crusade. Now the most hardcore of these Brown supporters are "fans" in the true sense of the word (short for "fanatics"), people for whom the rational part of their brains have ceased to function. These are the people who type in ALL CAPS!!! and write me emails saying I should "loose" my job because I gave "Graffiti" a negative review. For the record, these were the same people who were mad when, although I gave it a positive review, I didn't declare "Exclusive" the greatest album ever made, so no surprise there. Instead, what surprised me is how many non-ALL CAPS folks out there had jumped on the double-reverse bandwagon.

I was frankly confused about the passion with which people seemed to love Chris Brown, a young man who, unlike Michael Jackson, the artist he constantly gets compared to, has made some good but certainly not classic music, until I remembered the vicarious-fantasy corollary. Brown was more than a musician, he was a young man millions of young men wished they were (handsome, rich, talented, swimming in women) and girls wished they were with (handsome, rich and sexy but in a Sweet 16 kind of way). Since these people had invested so much time and emotional energy into fantasizing about being or being with Chris Brown, they felt as if any negativity directed his way was also aimed at them, instead of some ultimately abstract celebrity. We all have artists we live out our fantasies through - I'm a little older so for me it was Usher back in the day - it's one of the reasons they're celebrities in the first place.

Given all that I'm willing to admit up front that I'm fighting a losing battle, but I still can't help but try to return everyone to some sort of sane middle ground. First of all, we're not children involved in an ugly divorce. We don't have to choose sides between Chris Brown and Rihanna, between Chris Brown "supporters" and "haters." Believe it or not, it's entirely possible to have a nuanced opinion about Brown and his music that simultaneously holds him accountable for his actions but doesn't needlessly crucify him.

There are few things that we can call unequivocally wrong, but domestic violence is one of them. There is absolutely no situation in which domestic violence is acceptable, and anyone who doesn't absolutely condemn what Brown did that night is doing a disservice not only to every past victim of domestic violence (1.3 million women and 835,000 men annually according to the Dept. of Justice), but every future victim as well. Furthermore, you don't have to be a "hater" to be disappointed in Brown's response. Instead of transforming his mistake into an opportunity to educate others and prevent domestic violence, Brown has largely seemed to view the aftermath of the assault as a public relations struggle it was his burden to navigate.

With that said, there's also an large difference between judgment and forgiveness. Brown has been judged guilty (by his own confession), but that absolutely does not put him beyond forgiveness. I'm not a Christian, but if there was ever a time to practice "hate the sin not the sinner" this is it. Chris Brown is a young man who, like countless young men before him, rich and famous or not, has made a serious mistake, but he is not doomed for life, either as a man or an artist. Believe me when I say that there is nothing I'd like to see more than a Chris Brown who has used his mistake to grow both as a person and an artist. I sincerely hope that day comes, and instead of "picking sides" in some imaginary, media-induced battle, I hope you do too, because what's disappointed me far more than anything Brown has done is America's response. In the age of Obama I had hoped we were beyond such petty black or white, wrong or right battles. Looks like we've still still got a long way to go, but I believe we can get there. Can we talk about Chris Brown like intelligent adults? Yes we can!

(Editor's Note: For another take on the divide between Chris Brown's personal and public life, check out Mike Dream's article here.)