I’ve talked about it on other platforms, but I had a series of tiktoks explode last week (I mean, explode on my scale, with the first 42k views or so).
Basically, there was a totally out of control rumor on the platform after his death that Bob Saget molested the Olsen Twins or was a predator in general, based on making crude actions with the Michelle stand in doll (something he expressed remorse about years later, but also not something he did at least in front of the twins, if not the kid cast period) and jokes made at his roast.
So I broke down that no one has made an accusation against him, the context of edgy humor in the 20th century and why those jokes don’t work anymore, and why the limit to believing survivors is that, like, y’know, survivors have to be saying something happened.
Response hasn’t been like entirely that the sun shines from my ass, there’s basically millennials who want to pretend that rape jokes were not a completely normal part of 90s–00s life (good luck forgiving yourself for that which you pretend you didn’t do, besties) and survivors who did not speak out against their abuser who are projecting onto the whole situation.
It’s been a crash course in how to deal with people arguing in bad faith, my new favorite thing is thanking people for boosting my content with engagement.
The positive responses though have taught me a bunch about myself.
I’ve changed peoples minds on the subject. I articulated things others have struggled with. I made an off-handed comment about starting a YouTube and people were like “PLEASE DO.”
Those things, it would seem, validate me a great deal. I feel like I have this stronger sense of where my life is going? At least my public-facing life.
I already had this plan b in my back pocket, for if I don’t get into grad school or if I need a side hustle in grad school, for making videos that are basically creative writing lessons couched in the sorts of things I find interesting: media analysis, internet weirdness, etc.
And I *have* been dying for an excuse to discuss the differences between problematic historical accuracy that propels the plot vs problematic historical accuracy that just reflects the writer’s biases …
—melony ppenosyne
Flommist Melony Ppenosyne is a writer and weird artist type. In the last year alone, she’s traveled to Virginia as a competing poet, co-written a play on mental illness that is presently being produced, and crafted a published essay checking the privilege and scope of art galleries. Copyright © 2022 Melony Ppenosyne.
PLEASE SUPPORT FLOMM
TIPS + DONATIONS DISCREETLY ACCEPTED