Depp vs. Heard, the Netflix documentary that authorizes the death of “Me Too”

It was one of media processesthe most talked about in recent years and which, inadvertently, not only redefined the very concept of court reporting, but also blurred the line between (healthy and clean) gossip and the brutality of real history. Process, i.e. Depp vs HeardIt was not just a trial of this or that accused, and it was not a “simple” process of slander and (mutual) accusations of domestic violence: it was one of the ugliest pages in the judicial history of the crazy period in which we live. to live where there is no place for either one or the other the victim, not the perpetrator. So much so that the giant Netflix decided to cover what happened in a documentary – three episodes of an hour each – and show the public what happened to Depp in the US, delving into the intricacies of the lawsuit that effectively ended Metoo and everything connected with it. .

Depp vs Heard immediately jumped to the top of the Netflix charts, staying firmly at number one in the top ten, despite being followed by other highly respected series (such as painkillerfor example), but the documentary about the process of the century never ceases to attract fleet of spectatorswho were curious to dive into the toxic relationship that ended up destroying Heard’s credibility (which today is struggling to rebuild) and that allowed the good Depp to rise from his own ashes. Two weights and two measures for a story where there is no winner or loser. Netflix, of course, is celebrating its 100th anniversary in the midst of an economic crisis. public success

but is it permissible to return to the conversation about such recent news and such resonance? Apparently, even the boundary between the private sphere and the public sphere no longer exists.

johnny depp wife beater

An accusation that Deep could never brush aside. Despite pleading not guilty on several occasions, in 2020 he lost his case in the case slander in the United Kingdom against The Sun, which identified him specifically as a “wife beater”. In this case, the judge concluded that much of the domestic violence Hurd claimed had actually occurred. But, as we well know, defeat certainly didn’t stop the procedural machine. In fact, the documentary, while alluding to what happened in England, opens a long parenthesis about what happened in the United States. The actor himself dragged his ex-wife to the dock, accusing Hurd of slander. And between tgreat reviewsAfter 23 days of hard hearing and 3 hours of deliberation, the jury found in favor of all three of Depp’s charges against Heard, upholding the argument that she falsely and willfully accused him of domestic violence with the intent to damage his reputation. “In the case of the United States, Depp’s team actually questioned Hurd’s credibility,” one of the lawyers said in an interview, “this is important because we needed to convince the jury that Hurd’s statements in 2018 were knowingly false or were made with reckless disregard.” for the truth”. There victory earned a point for Deep, who seems to have resurfaced after years of accusations, for Hurd instead, the loss represented something far worse.

Case that divided public opinion

And more specifically, the Netflix documentary, in terms of the legal aspect and implications for private life and the work of the two subjects in question is cruel from all points of view. Depp vs Heard he not only talks about what happened in the courtrooms, but also talks in detail about himself research spectrum about everything that was then interested in the press and public opinion. And, in fact, in fact, everything was not so different than what was “staged” in the documentary. It made such a difference not only because one of the most famous actors of our time, who has always been considered the bad guy of cinema, was brought to trial, but above all because it was the largest lawsuit against Metoo times and political correctness, which has affected the star system and even public opinion. In a game of carnage where only the strongest wins, the documentary does nothing but stigmatize an important page of the current time when the prosecution and the defense are confused. But what is truth and what is false? The proposal is clear, but it seems that both Heard and Deep left behind a lot of ambiguities regarding the facts that made them the main characters.

The Documentary That Wasn’t Needed

Netflix did nothing but rollwave of easy success, improvised, which after some time will remain only a pale memory. A bit like what happened with the (chilling) mini-series on I want stampsor with a very long film about a dissolute life Pamela Anderson, “Deep Against Heard” recalls an all-too-recent page in our “popular” culture, dramatizing the facts and crimes that reality buff but which at the end of the game do not add or subtract anything from what happened. Did you feel the need for a documentary on the media case that has ignited social media? Absolutely not, and also because, in the form in which he was conceived, he does not negotiate one, much less another, he only assumes that justice is never something clear and certain, but is a game, directed upwards between the prosecution and the defense.

The fragility of the “new” feminism

However, there is a value that should be emphasized. What happened at two o’clock television stars he is a child of our time. Before the two trials, before the accusations, and before the violence turned into pure gossip, what happened to Depp and Heard was a real blow under the belt for the “neo” feminists born after Metoo. Hurd’s defeat makes it clear that where there is violence, the defendant must pay for what he has done, but if the violence becomes slander and publicity then the very concept of “female power” collapses by itself, making it clear how blurred the new boundaries between gossip and truth are. Also making it clear how painful the public’s interest in the private lives of stars is.