The Tradegy That Comes With A Lack Of Self-Awareness

There is always some sort of bad news that has the media wrapped around its finger. Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence in today’s society: people love bad news. Maybe it’s because it gives us some sort of upper hand on the world to know that someone else has it worse than we do. Or maybe it’s because good news is irrelevant unless it is our own. The only thing for certain here is that there is a very sad truth, and that is that bad news spreads like the Bubonic Plague.

The latest depraved story that has gone viral is that of Brock Turner’s alleged “fall from grace”, as some would put it. In case you’ve been living under a rock and have not heard about his recent mishaps, allow me to elaborate:

Brock Turner and his victim happened to be at the same party one night. Alcohol was clearly involved, but let’s keep in mind that it is not the culprit here. According to different sources, the pair went outside and ended up on the ground. Brock says she tripped, consequently causing them both to fall. That is when the crime was committed.

Brock renders that they stumbled away from the crowd for some privacy and shared an intimate moment behind a dumpster. It’s not funny, but I LOL’d when I read that; intimate and dumpster in the same sentence, likely story. But I digress. Not long after the big tumble, two bikers happened upon the scene when they stopped and Brock made an attempt at fleeing the scene. In my opinion, this screams guilt. Why would he have attempted to escape the situation if he was not at fault? Had it not been for the two people just trying to get in some late night exercise, who knows what could have happened to the girl Brock was found on top of.

The girl woke up in the hospital, completely disoriented and in pain. Initially, she had no recollection of the night before. This being considered, there is no way she could have given fully-conscious consent in the state she had been in the previous night if she could not even remember it the next morning. Her alcohol levels were three-times the legal limit. Keep in mind that this is in no way an excuse for Brock’s actions. Again, alcohol is not the culprit. We are all human beings and therefore we all have free will, no matter what state we are in. Just like the saying, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” well, “Alcohol doesn’t rape people, people rape people.” There is no excuse.

Now let’s talk about the trial, which exemplifies nothing other than white privilege and the power of Daddy’s money. What I truly cannot comprehend is how the judge was able to look this emotionally and physically damaged girl right in the face as she sobbed hysterically in the court room and say that a prison sentence would have had too great of an impact on Brock. This is very confusing because it’s always been to my understanding that the purpose of prison was to, in fact, teach criminals lessons and to create an impact on them. I guess that’s irrelevant in this case. I understand that yes, he may have had aspirations and worked his entire life towards being an Olympic swimmer. But guess what, I am sure his victim had goals herself. He is not the only one who will suffer from the repercussions of this situation. That being said, the fact that his athletic abilities were such a heavy topic of discussion during this entire situation is nauseating. “Well, we know that he sexually violated a severely intoxicated young woman, but have you seen his back stroke?! Phenomenal!” Give me a break.

What truly amazes me out of this entire ordeal is the utter lack of self-awareness of not only Brock, but his parents. His dad’s thoughts on his trial and punishment were that his son shouldn’t do time for the assault since he was just getting “20 minutes of action.” Another thing Mr. Turner pointed out about his precious son is that “[He] was always excited to buy him a big rib-eye steak to grill or get his favorite snack for him. Now he barely consumes any food and eats only to exist. These verdicts have broken and shattered him and our family in so many ways,” Courtesy of the New York Times. While the inability to enjoy medium-grade steak seems nothing short of deplorable, think of what his victim lost: her sense of security, self-respect, self-esteem, and the list goes on. It honestly makes me so sad that the worst thing to come out of this, according to Brock's father is that his son has lost his appetite. I've lost mine too.

To be brutally honest, the whole trial was crap. To depict an overly-privileged and irresponsible individual as some sort of involuntarily blundered angel is bull shit. It really is. The cold, hard truth of the matter that even Daddy’s money can’t buy his way out of the fact that he raped a girl. Whether or not he chooses to admit it, that is exactly what happened. No need to sugarcoat anything here, considering there is nothing to sugarcoat. The number in the bank and the color of your skin can only get you so far, but at the end of the day, a criminal is a criminal.