Kevin Spacey apologizes after allegations of sexual misconduct

[Deleted]

what was essentially a harmless act.

So, let's recap...here's a quote from the Buzzfeed article:

In an interview with BuzzFeed News, Rapp is publicly alleging for the first time that in 1986, Spacey befriended Rapp while they both performed on Broadway shows, invited Rapp over to his apartment for a party, and, at the end of the night, picked Rapp up, placed him on his bed, and climbed on top of him, making a sexual advance. According to public records, Spacey was 26. Rapp was 14.

What you're saying then, is that a 26-year old man, physically picking up and placing a 14-year old child on his bed, and then climbing on top of that child in a sexual manner, is "essentially a harmless act"?

Unless, of course, you were referring to Spacey coming out in his tweet as the harmless act, which in an out I suggest you take.

[Anuibus]

Why wait 31 years...

[JerseyGhoul]

House of cards has been canceled

Because in America, you're only qualified to be president if you've sexually assaulted someone, not to pretend to be the president.

[Hugnomo]

Why don't you take a small step back and consider the language you're using to describe what was essentially a harmless act.

Yeah ... No. A full grown adult making sexual advances to a 14 year old boy is not a harmless act. It's predatory.

[Merie]

You can expect the people that see no distinction between being gay and being a pedo will hold this up as an example to re-affirm their beliefs.

[Underverse]

So, let's recap...here's a quote from the Buzzfeed article:



What you're saying then, is that a 26-year old man, physically picking up and placing a 14-year old child on his bed, and then climbing on top of that child in a sexual manner, is "essentially a harmless act"?

Unless, of course, you were referring to Spacey coming out in his tweet as the harmless act, which in an out I suggest you take.

14 is post-pubertal. Not a child. We evolved to handle these kinds of things.

What amounts to hugging someone is not damaging, unless people tell you you're a victim and act as if you've been irreversibly damaged, then you'll probably be scarred for life. My dad sat on me when I was 8 because I was out of control. My mom spanked me a couple times. I was not irreversible damaged from these far more aggressive behaviors.

You seem to have fallen into the cultural trap of fearing and despising sexual interactions unless they occur under socially condoned circumstances. I suggest you consider these interactions from an objective perspective.

[Destinas]

His apology came off very disturbing to me - "I don't remember this, but it sounds like I was drunk, so I'm sorry you feel that way" in essence.

In the end, it comes off to me like he used his sexuality to either say it definitively (since it would be a major talking point now) or distract from the subject at hand. To me, if this allegation is true, then his sexuality is irrelevant, and his inebriation isn't an excuse. It's not like you can stab someone, say you did it while you were drunk, and then it's less of a crime somehow.

Honestly, though, I never gave Spacey much thought one way or another until this issue started to be known.

[Hugnomo]

You can expect the people that see no distinction between being gay and being a pedo will hold this up as an example to re-affirm their beliefs.

Exactly. Ffs.

[Underverse]

Yeah ... No. A full grown adult making sexual advances to a 14 year old boy is not a harmless act. It's predatory.

Predatory, perhaps. But harm hasn't been described here, yet.

[Deleted]

Why wait 31 years...

I'll be the Captain Obvious here and give you the obvious answer; because shit is changing, and people are now, thankfully, feeling freer than before in talking about these horrible experiences they've had, especially when they were children.

[Underverse]

His apology came off very disturbing to me - "I don't remember this, but it sounds like I was drunk, so I'm sorry you feel that way" in essence.

In the end, it comes off to me like he used his sexuality to either say it definitively (since it would be a major talking point now) or distract from the subject at hand. To me, if this allegation is true, then his sexuality is irrelevant, and his inebriation isn't an excuse. It's not like you can stab someone, say you did it while you were drunk, and then it's less of a crime somehow.

Honestly, though, I never gave Spacey much thought one way or another until this issue started to be known.

Inebriation never excuses crimes. But I saw his statements here as giving the victim the benefit of the doubt. He could have just contested it, but instead he said he didn't remember so it's possible that it occurred. That's not an admission of guilt, it's trusting someone you might have wronged.

[Deleted]

14 is post-pubertal. Not a child.

14 is a child. That part isn't up for debate.

What amounts to hugging someone is not damaging

Feel free to provide us with some credentials that you can base the validity of that claim on. Otherwise, let's just agree that you don't have the knowledge and expertise to know what is and what isn't damaging to a 14-year old child.

You seem to have fallen into the cultural trap of fearing and despising sexual interactions unless they occur under socially condoned circumstances. I suggest you consider these interactions from an objective perspective.

No, trust me, I don't need my culture to tell me that a 26-year old man preying on a 14-year old child is wrong. I suggest you take a long, hard look at your own values.

[Eliandal]

hopefully Anthony Rapp can find peace of mind with apology at the very least.

If he wanted (and frankly WAITED all this time for) an apology - then he should have gone to the source, instead of Buzzfeed!

[Deleted]

If he wanted (and frankly WAITED all this time for) an apology - then he should have gone to the source, instead of Buzzfeed!

If someone did something to me when I was 14 and that left me traumatized, and I finally got the nerve to talk about it now that I'd see a lot of people doing so, the last person I would say anything to directly to would be the person who did that to me. In fact, if anything, I'd absolutely want to make it public, and see their life be destroyed. I can fully understand where Rapp is coming from, if this is true.

[Celista]

And if you keep reading past the headline the article will tell you that it had nothing to do with with todays revelations and that the decision to do so was made months ago.

- - - Updated - - -



Best typo ever.

Yeah, good!

Right, supposedly. Which I doubt is actually true.

[Underverse]

14 is a child. End of discussion.

Depends on your definition of terms. Most people would agree that individuals who have not hit puberty are children. The vast majority of males have hit puberty by 14. Therefore, not a child. You saying 'end of discussion' doesn't change that, obviously.

If you want to make the argument that 14 is still too young, go for it. But putting emphasis on the idea that this individual is a child is just another fallacious argument from emotion.

Feel free to provide us with some credentials that you can base the validity of that claim on. Otherwise, let's just agree that you don't have the knowledge and expertise to know what is and what isn't damaging to a 14-year old child.

No, trust me, I don't need my culture to tell me that a 26-year old man preying on a 14-year old child is wrong. I suggest you take a long, hard look at your own values.

Well, for starters, a hug is not physically damaging in the majority of cases. I think most people would agree there. So let's talk about psychological damage. People often assume that any sort of sexual interaction with people below, I don't know, 16 (in the US; probably lower in Europe and other regions of the world) are inherently damaging. This assumption has a grain of truth but is often distorted so people can find a common moral high ground from which they can exorcise their moral opponents and reaffirm their own morality, as you and others are doing here (maybe not with explicit intent, but that's how it ends up working). That grain of truth is founded in the risk that these kinds of sexual interactions can have - uninformed individuals can be taken advantage of because they don't yet have a feel for the parameters of normalcy which they would be able to use to protect themselves. This risk is inherent, but does not manifest into damage in every case. Unfortunately, people like you enjoy generalizing this risk to realized damage. In the process, you victimize people who may not feel damaged themselves, and remove their agency which further destroys their ability to internalize events that they are told are on par with murder in terms of moral value. Conversely if these types of interactions were considered the norm, such damage would be rare, as is seen in several tribal communities where homosexual behavior between juveniles and adults is practiced by close to 100% of the population, and these behaviors are propagated through generations.

But don't misunderstand me. The psychological damage is real, in some cases. Particularly those cases where the aggressor is driven only by self-interest, though these cases aren't always damaging either. We should be careful to assume what people feel, though, especially in lieu of any substantial data.

Also, I find it kind of funny that you think you've formed culture-independent opinions here when you adhere so strongly to cultural norms that we know can shift.

[Destinas]

14 is a child. That part isn't up for debate.

Thank you.

I feel like this is the part a lot of people are missing. Regardless of how certain people have acted or what their mental state was in their own lives at 14, it's still illegal for an adult to have any sexual encounter with them. 14, in many countries, is just as much of a child in the eyes of the law as an 8 year old.

[Deleted]

At least this story can be taken seriously vis à vis who's accusing.
No obvious self serving hypocrisy here, unlike from most of the HW accuser.

His comibg out is obviously distraction tactics.
Police investigation will sort this all out. Hopefully.

[Deleted]

Depends on your definition of terms.

No, no it really doesn't. Most 20-somethings I have met in my life have still been on a mental state of a child. 14 is absolutely a child. There's absolutely no words you can string up together to make any kind of case to claim the opposite. Besides which, as I said, you'd actually have to have some credentials to even do so, as all the weight of the evidence in the world is against you.

[Destinas]

Pretty sure if Spacey was a woman this would be a completely different thread, as has played out thousands of times before on MMO-C

The sad truth is, it would depend if that woman was pretty or not.