Sundog Rising!
Reflections on living the life literary by the Urban Sundog
Controlling the Narrative
I intentionally waited 2 weeks after beginning this draft before posting it. Waiting let me feel less … controlled.
Plus, I also decided it was interesting to detail as it happened how I had been manipulated, how I came to realize I had been manipulated, and how I could no longer believe anything after that. It’s the story of constructing a narrative with multiple authors. And the very art of narrative construction itself. And its failure as well.
Wednesday, October 29th:
Up front, I have no reason to think Jian Ghomeshi is guilty of anything. But on second day assessment, I have to say I also have no reason to think the woman, unnamed as I write this, whom he accuses of tormenting him and ultimately costing him his job is necessarily guilty of anything either. The fact is, as the narrative unfolds, I not only don’t know, I can’t know.
So this isn’t a piece about Jian Ghomeshi and his former sex partner. This is a piece about the narrative Jian Ghomeshi, his former sex partner, and the CBC are currently starring within.
What’s my role in the narrative? Insignificant, certainly. I’m only one of the people the story is being delivered to, more intrigued by the meta-nature of the event than the personalities involved. What’s intriguing to me is how key to the issue it is for the principals to make me think a certain way regarding everything that happens, regardless of how peripheral I am to the story.
As the narrative came to involve me, Jian Ghomeshi broke the story in a posting to his Facebook account the day before yesterday, announcing in an earnest, appealing manner that due to some unfortunate choices in the bedroom and regarding the person he was making those choices with, he was the victim of a smear campaign regarding his sexual practices and an accusation of sexual abuse regarding the woman in question. All of which he denied quite convincingly in the Facebook posting. But the upshot of this background to the story was that the CBC fired him from his prominent position as host of Q, because of allegations regarding the unsavouriness of his image as emerging from the background drama. Ghomeshi’s reply was his Facebook posting and to sue the CBC for $55 million.
The story came to my attention on Facebook. I was checking what my “friends” were posting, and one of them had re-posted Ghomeshi’s post, laying out the story according to Jian.
Naturally I was convinced. So were all my “friends”. I’ve listened to Q, Jian Ghomeshi is likeable, seems honest, and I didn’t feel I had any reason to think twice about the matter before believing him. His Facebook posting felt very personal and sincere. So, yeah, Jian, I’m with you all the way —
— except for that $55 million. Sure the CBC are easy to see as a villain, but they are publicly funded. Some of that $55 million if you win will come from me. So that figure certainly feels a tad … egotistical.
Over the rest of the day, there was a big fuss in the traditional media as Jian’s statement on social media went viral. By the end of the day, it seemed popular opinion was clearly in the Ghomeshi corner. And rightly so, from what we knew of the narrative so far.
Then: Day Two. The backlash begins.
Checking Facebook the next morning, I find a debate raging concerning accusations tossed at Jian saying this is yet another example of an enabled male in a position of power using his influence to manipulate the woman in the story into the role of antagonist. If Ghomeshi gets away with it, it will be harder once again for any woman who is a victim of sexual aggression to successfully bring attention to her case. It’s not two individuals anymore, it’s all evil men and virtuous women.
My initial reaction to Facebook was oh, sure, Jian’s being victimized again by the radical feminists. Give the guy a break.
Then much later in the day, I caught up with the narrative again in the regular media.
There I discovered that before he made his Facebook appeal Jian Ghomeshi hired PR firm Navigator to spin his image through this conflict. According to an article in The Metro, “Toronto-based digital communications strategist Taylor Mann told Metro Ghomeshi’s swift response to the news of his firing through his Facebook page — hours before details of the allegations came to light — has left him in control of the story’s arc.” Mann says he’s under no illusions that Ghomeshi’s Facebook post was “organic”. “Because he got out there first he has [controlled] and will continue to control the narrative.”
I must have heard that new buzz phrase before — “controlling the narrative” — but I never paid much attention to it. The odd thing was hearing the phrase used again that same evening I read about Ghomeshi attempting it while my wife and I were watching an episode of Castle on television, and the police captain states the clear villain in that hour of mayhem could not be allowed to be perceived as “controlling the narrative” in the copshow world’s media.
Put all this together, and it led to a lively discussion with my wife, and a reevaluation of the facts in my own mind.
First off, there are no “facts”. We are discussing a narrative. With a structure as follows: the story breaks on Facebook sympathetic to the supposed protagonist, the antagonist is vilified; followed by backlash on behalf of the antagonist, initially easy to dismiss because of the sympathy already established for the protagonist the day before; followed by the introduction of the concept that the entire event is only a narrative, and therefore there is no reason to believe anything we’ve heard so far and shouldn’t be so quick to make up our minds about either side.
But where do we find the true information to settle the issue with a balanced view of the facts?
When examined clearly, is the conflict we are supposedly resolving so publicly really whether Jian Ghomeshi is a sex offender or not? No. The actual conflict is Jian Ghomeshi suing the CBC for firing him. For $55 million. What can we expect as a resolution?
Hard to say, really. Yet everything seemed so clear initially.
But stepping back one level is what makes the story so illustrative of our times and so interesting. The media, social or traditional, are not giving us the facts they adore to ideologically emphasize to us is their business. Both sectors of the media are only the conveyors of a narrative, a fact openly acknowledged within their own pages. The experts aren’t debating the “truth” of the matter in their public analysis of the subject, but rather arguing who’s ahead on points controlling the development of the storyline.
Somehow that doesn’t seem fair to either the woman involved, or Jian Ghomeshi. I was prepared to believe his statement at first, and would still like to think it’s true. I don’t know that it’s not. But as it’s really all just a story, being tweaked and primped for our perverse news entertainment enjoyment, how can I or anyone else ever know for certain?
Or trust anything in the media again?
Additions to the original blog as events — sorry, the story, continues to unfurl. All of the above was written on Day Three of the story. What follows is as it came to me, not as I went looking for it:
Day Four: 8 woman have now come forward accusing Ghomeshi of abusive behaviour. Actress Lucy DeCoutere is the first to identify herself. Now that there is a face to hang his original story on, Jian is looking less like the protagonist and thanks to Lucy, the women involved are sounding less like the antagonists. Still, nothing has been proved either way. A lawyer goes on record stating Ghomeshi knows he would never win a $55 million dollar civil suit, and he must have a different reason for suing the CBC than he’s saying.
Day Five: Author Reva Seth identifies herself as another woman Ghomeshi abused. Prominent Canadian musicians and authors are signing a petition in support of the women with claims against Jian. Navigator says it is no longer representing Ghomeshi, and his publicist agency Rock-It has dropped him as a client as well. Toronto’s Police Chief has urged “any person” who has been the victim of a sexual assault to report it. When I first read that, I assumed the Chief meant anyone who had been the victim of a sexual assault by Jian Ghomeshi. Not anyone in general. Indicating how the spin has definitely spun on Ghomeshi. By the end of the week, the protagonist is looking much more like the antagonist.
Ghomeshi responds on Facebook by promising to contest all allegations made against him directly, but will not discuss the matter with the media. ??? He hasn’t been charged with anything. The media is the only arena in which this narrative is happening. But now he’s not supplying subtext anymore?
Later in the day: veteran Canadian musician Stephen Fearing posts: “it would be a real blow to my community to see this show [Q] disappear because of the ugly truth that is Jian Ghomeshi.” So as a nation, we’ve gone from mostly believing Ghomeshi’s story on Monday, to declaring him “the ugly truth” by Friday. As always, with absolute certainty we know the “truth”. After all, it’s on Facebook.
Day Six: The Toronto Police open a criminal investigation into Ghomeshi regarding sexual abuse. The CBC claims they fired Jian because they had graphic proof of his violence towards a particular woman. There seems to be no public sympathy left for our protagonist. However, it’s still all one person’s story against that of others. But the others now significantly outnumber Ghomeshi and are telling a presumably unified story. Which he still denies, and claims there is no proof for.
Days Seven through Eleven: The narrative has become a bad joke, with the media desperately searching for items to keep it alive. Even Jian’s new lawyer has already made him the brunt of black humour in public. Everything Ghomeshi has ever done his entire life is now being revived and given a negative spin. From golden boy to whipping boy in just over a week. The dominant theme is now outrage over how women are treated regarding sexual aggression. According to what female “friends” are saying on Facebook, every woman alive has been sexually abused.
Day Twelve: The inevitable conclusion is reached by consensus on Facebook this morning. All men are shit. I’m quoting. Every woman is innocent and a victim, and every man is a victimizer and a criminal. And that’s the only final word possible.
Day Fifteen: Interesting postscript. Former Liberal MP Sheila Copps started off the Ghomeshi narrative by leaping to Jian’s defence on twitter. A statement she later retracts. Today she announced that she has been a victim of sexual assault in the workplace herself, on Parliament Hill. Taking control of a new narrative, or …?
What, exactly? I’m really not sure anymore.
Jian Ghomeshi started off by establishing control of the narrative. Then, that control disappeared. Very likely because apparently he was only stringing a narrative. “I never did anything without the full consent of every woman involved.” At first we believed him. Then other voices came forward saying, no, that isn’t true. And then we believed them. But no single voice stepped forward to maintain a new narrative control on the other side, so within 12 days the “voice of the people” expressed through social media had swung to the story that all men are scum and all women are victims. Degrading to the entire human race. Very sad.
Do I believe that conclusion? Hardly. No more than I believe Jian Ghomeshi’s opening narrative now. From probable lies to meaningless sweeping generalities in less than 2 weeks. And then on to the next story.
So at the end of this retrospective, I ask are the facts actually out there? To prove or disprove any narrative?
Of course they are. But spinning so fast we’ll never recognize them.
*****
BOOK LAUNCH!
Continuing the Grand Tradition!
Local writer Cathy MacDonald debuts her first mystery novel
Put on the Armour of Light
from Dundurn Press, at McNally Robinson Bookstore in Winnipeg
November 30, 2014, 1 pm in the Travel Alcove.
The launch will feature an interview between Cathy
and local CBC Radio personality Terry MacLeod.
We won’t acknowledge the irony of that one after the above post, now will we?
For more information on Cathy and her sleuth Charles Lauchlan, check out her website at:
http://www.charleslauchlan.com/
and blog at:
www.portageandslain.com
*****
REALITY FICTION AND BEYOND!
This week:
Continuing The Twitchy Gal with Chapter Twenty-Seven posted on Monday and Chapter Twenty-Eight coming on Friday, November 14th at:
http://realficone.blogspot.ca/
The arrival on the scene at the UFO incident by the Women in Gray, and a conversation of mythological proportions. So these two satyrs walk into a temple, and …
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