On Monday, September 16, 2024, rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs was arrested amid growing accusations of sexually motivated crimes. A massive media frenzy closely followed, composed of both accredited news sources and nameless social media users.
This attention is to be expected given Comb’s fame and the weight of his allegations, but the manner in which this story propagated was concerning.
If the charges he faces are proven true, Combs is a serial rapist who is guilty of at least sex trafficking, domestic abuse, fraud, kidnapping, bribery, arson, and sexual assault. Instead of acknowledging this reality, we were quick to turn an incredibly disturbing situation into a trending source of entertainment through memes and comedic social media commentary. Content of this nature now accounts for over 27 million posts under the “P Diddy Memes” tag on TikTok.
Unfortunately, the insensitive response that can be observed here isn’t new, but instead representative of a troubling trend in how we consume and interpret news. America has been known to take similar fascinations, recently seen with cases such as Gypsy Rose, Jeffery Dahmer, and the Menendez twins, all famously disturbing situations that have been perpetually romanticized by the media and its audience, proving a widespread disconnect from reality. We’re repeatedly negating the absolute consequence of these people’s actions, which has become apparent once again with Sean Combs. These faults need to be acknowledged, as nurturing that mentality could become dangerous, and it wouldn’t be the first time society has been forced to acknowledge flaws in our methods of interpretation.
Commentary on this insensitivity clearly mirrors past discussions, in fact our attachment to reality has been called into question since the beginning of mediatization in America. Throughout the last century, a fascination has been taken with the hypothesized fallouts of mass communication. These inquiries have evolved with the concept, and were validated in publications as early as 1972. Inquisition has continued until as recently as 2023, when the National Library of Medicine published a study proving a direct tie between violent media and viewers’ empathy for pain. The populations used as the census for much of this research are now adults, and in the position of publicly interpreting and responding to situations such as Sean Combs’. It isn’t hyperbolic to infer that with further exposure, this “adaptation” to the way we process pain will only become more engraved, eventually evolving to be an embedded lack of empathy and compassion.
These social skills are key factors in our ability to connect with others, and crucial components to fostering a harmonious society. Empathy leads to connection through understanding, in turn helping build communities with a vested interest in the well-being of others. Research has shown that empathy plays a significant role in successfully innovative companies, unbiased classrooms, the probability of individuals on probation to reoffend, and of course the way we internalize violence. The ability to apply empathy to our surrounding environment is essential to overall livelihood, and seemingly faltering within our society.
A concerning pattern has become apparent in the way we process news. However, it’s not too late to recognize and correct these examples of evident immorality, and it is possible to address them before they’re engraved. Education on the importance of empathy is needed in order to see it prioritized, and this starts within school systems. Social-emotional learning is imperative to nurturing an emotionally intelligent generation, and is a very feasible addition to standard education.
We’re becoming increasingly removed from the realities of our world, and social media serves as a platform to display and encourage this ignorance. There has been a continual willingness to turn a blind eye to the individuals affected by these acts of violence or ill will, and repeated failure to acknowledge the consequences of that shortcoming.
The reaction to Sean Combs’ arrest is a quintessential example of this. The accusations he is facing are absolutely horrific, and they must be considered in their entirety. The overarching lack of empathy that has been displayed through this situation and others like it is plainly disturbing, and alludes to a much larger issue within rising generations.
Problems cannot be solved until they are acknowledged, and it’s beyond time we see this one for what it is. Sean Combs’ arrest should have shattered our perception of the people idolized within Hollywood. Instead, we turned it into an opportunity for comedic content. The reaction to this chain of events and others like it clearly sheds light on our inability to perceive tragedy, and this must be managed if we are to continue progressing as a society.
