Chris Brown and Rihanna: The teachable moment is over
OPINION - Regardless of what writers and activists and bloggers and fans may feel about the things Brown has said and done, Rihanna is set on having him in her life in some capacity...
From Ebony.com: When I learned that Chris Brown had released a statement via his publicist that he had broken up with longtime girlfriend Karruche Tran because he didn’t want her “to be hurt by his friendship with Rihanna,” I slammed my head on the desk so hard, I thought about suing #teambreezy for damages.
Not really, but despite the looming inevitability of a Chrihanna reunion, I had really hoped that I had edited, written or read my last piece about the two and their relationship. Alas, that was not to be the case. In this era of oversharing and a culture of ‘celebrities walking and breathing=news,’ it wasn’t enough for dude to just break up with his lady and quietly get back with his ex…he had to explain to us that he was breaking up with his lady because of this paper thin non-admittance that he’s dealing with his ex, as a friend.
Likeliest story ever.
Alas, in some capacity, Chris Brown and Rihanna have a significant presence in each other’s lives once again. Or, they always did and now they feel enough time has passed since the beatdown (that you can’t mention without being accused of being a manhater or robbing Robyn of all her agency or just bringing up old stuff) that they can be public with their friendship. Or something else all together.
Welp, it is what it is. In the past three years, the story of these two young people has provided some serious teachable moments around domestic violence, repentance (and the lackthereof), redemption and how abuse can be passed down generation to generation; we’ve also shed light on some horrifying cultural attitudes around victim blaming (if you told me before Grammy night ’09 that so many people thought of West Indian women as fiesty-to-the-point-of-deserving-a-beatdown, I would not have believed you) and accountability.
