Social media is one big pinball machine, all of it’s us thwacking wildly between anger, compassion and mockery. Meanwhile, a score of finger-waggers are ready to explain why we’re wrong at every juncture. A case in point: Ezra Miller. The beleaguered actor, who has been at the centre of a venn diagram of all online discourse of late, has finally sought treatment for “complex mental health issues”, following months of arrests, bad headlines, and the fate of their $200m blockbuster The Flash at stake. Already, battle lines have been drawn and opinions are claiming to be definitive. But should they be?
“I want to apologise to everyone that I have alarmed and upset with my past behaviour,” Miller said in a statement last night (15 August). “I am committed to doing the necessary work to get back to a healthy, safe and productive stage in my life.”
Miller’s recent run-ins with the law – a charge of felony burglary in Vermont; arrests for disorderly conduct, harassment and second-degree assault in Hawaii – have made them (Miller is non-binary, and uses they/them pronouns) a polarising pop culture figure. Likewise their relationship with an 18-year-old Native American activist named Tokata Iron Eyes, whose parents have accused Miller of manipulating their child through “violence, intimidation, threat of violence, fear, paranoia, delusions and drugs”, and sought a protection order against Miller as a result. Tokata Iron Eyes themself, however, has denied that any of their parents’ claims are true.
For a long time, any participant in online discourse has been expected to have a ruthlessly unambivalent stance on any and all subjects. Miller’s story, though, is trickier to interpret than most. Anyone with eyes can see that Miller has been in crisis for a while, and that it’s a good thing that they’re seeking help (Warner Bros – the makers of their forthcoming DC Comics movie The Flash – are reportedly backing Miller’s decision). But the rumour mill surrounding them, from Tokata Iron Eyes to longer allegations involving gun ownership, assault and Miller running a cult-like enterprise circle made up of artists and other non-binary youths, has made them a far knottier figure to talk about.
This profound sense of unease has only been exacerbated by the hyperactive whims of the internet. Depending on which Twitter corner you inhabit, Miller is either a giggle-inducing cartoon villain on an international crime spree, an actual bad person, or a reflection of everything that’s wrong with Hollywood. None of them allow for great complexity. The jokes stem from the sheer regularity and geographic spread of Miller’s legal problems, as if they’ve been embarking on a one-person, live-action version of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiago? But to laugh – however guiltily – at Miller’s recent woes also means overlooking the very serious allegations levelled at Miller, which include assault and grooming. Few of which, I should say, Miller or their representatives have clarified or responded to.
A “hypocritical Hollywood” angle is being pushed by fandoms tying Miller together with largely unrelated problems. Or imaginary ones. So you have Johnny Depp fans outraged that Warner Bros dumped Depp from Fantastic Beasts yet kept Miller in that franchise and as The Flash. Amber Heard fans who think the relatively minor vitriol levelled at Miller is cruelly unequal to the vitriol levelled at her. Batgirl fans angered that Warner Bros recently cancelled that movie – particularly when it’s a rare superhero film anchored by a Latina actor – rather than The Flash. Will Smith fans angry that Smith apparently received far more industry blowback for slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars than whatever is or isn’t happening to Miller. It results in a multi-tier pile-up of contrived, overreaching connections. No clear outcome that’s wanted. No result that will please everyone.
This wouldn’t be a massive issue if we also weren’t expecting Warner Bros to have a final stance on Miller themselves. But – and I preface this by apologising for sticking up for a billion-dollar corporation here – how can we expect a corporate entity to take a firm stance on a situation that is clearly enormously complicated?
At this point in our experience of social media, we know that all tweets ultimately flap listlessly in the wind; that much of the discourse at our fingertips is just fruitless noise. But it’s sometimes important to ask what we actually want from situations like this one, where pop culture intersects with crime and mental illness. Miller’s case seems to touch on all of the hot-button subjects at once: do we have empathy for whatever Miller is going through? Or do the allegations against him supersede our compassion? Is your issue with Miller valid? Or are you just a Johnny Depp stan?
I don’t know where I stand on Ezra Miller today, other than that I’m glad they’re getting help. But it’s also OK to exist in a state of uncertainty over an ongoing situation. A rush to judgment for Twitter virality is breaking our brains.
