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What To Do if Your Fave is Problematic

Let’s face it, nobody is perfect. Even at the highest degree of social consciousness, we all succumb to prejudices in our everyday lives, whether we know or not. Since we all have varying degrees of privilege, we are bound to be prejudice at some point. No one is exempt from that rule, even the people we idolize. They make mistakes too, they’re human. However just because your fave is problematic doesn’t reserve anyone the right to ignore it or not call them out on it. Here are a few steps you can take to keep being their fan, while still remaining conscious.

  1. Acknowledge what they did or said was wrong. No excuses. They did what they did and you can’t ignore that. It’s easy to try and sympathize with what they did. It easy to go online and defend them without hesitation or reluctance. Nevertheless, having a reason for doing or saying something wrong  doesn’t excuse the behavior. Don’t get caught up in unnecessary drama or quarrel trying to defend what your fave did. Acknowledging that they’ve messed up is a mature and conscious way of handling the situation.
  2. Call them out on it. Obviously, celebrities or Internet famous people can’t check their timeline or feed every single, waking moment. Even so, you’re educating other people who may blindly support them without recognizing things they might be at fault for. You can’t control what your fave does or says but you can educate others and yourself, as to why it wasn’t justified.
  1. Check your privilege. It’s also very important that you acknowledge the people(s) whom your fave may have offended or hurt by their actions or words. You shouldn’t speak over them or try to tell them what they should or shouldn’t take offense to. What your fave said may not have affected you, but it affected someone.
  2. Move on. It’s alright to move past what they said, to forgive and forget. Hopefully, they understand what they did wrong and learn from it.

While nobody is perfect, there’s a fine line between being problematic, and being an outright bigot.

That’s a whole different story. If your fave consistently shows prejudice against groups of people they are far past problematic and your probably shouldn’t support them anymore. All in all, remaining socially conscious while still being a fan, is something we can all continuously relate to, even if it’s for people in our everyday lives.

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