In response to the last few posts, I think this issue is emotive. It's emotive for me because #MeToo (of which Heard seems to have been elevated to a poster-woman on the back of one article) truly illustrated two things. 1. the absolute prevalence of male on female harassments on practically every level. 2. the fact that, when women try to speak about it, the overwhelming response is to immediately get them to shut up again. They're attention-seeking. They're jumping on the bandwagon. They're lying. Anything but acknowledge the appalling, unassailable statistical evidence that women do have serious problems at the hands of men. (NB, that isn't to say female-on-male abuse doesn't exist too. It does. Are women sometimes awful? Yes. But given the likelihood of significant harm is far greater in reverse, this is whataboutery).
There's bias from the other angle too: that this is a patriarchy, and the reality is that society is far more comfortable with the presumption that women commonly lie than men commonly abuse. There's the powerful Hollywood dream sold to us, the fact that films sell on the back of the actor's face and not as an art form, the idea that we don't want to accept our beloved entertainers are anything other than perfect. The BBC has an image problem like this, too. Then there's the other contingent: that women who speak for other women, or attempt to protect them from this prevailing social wind, are 'man haters'.
I'm mother to a son. I fear toxic masculinity and the horrible pressure it puts on men. I want to see it taken seriously and urgently. As a woman myself, I fear male abuse. I have numerous first-hand experiences of it, some much more serious than others.
It's sometimes hard to look past these biases, which in my own case are wholly conscious on both sides, and see a situation objectively. Part of me wants to see Heard win, because otherwise it will be even harder for female victims of rape and DV to be taken seriously. Part of me sympathises with Depp - I know the pain and destruction of addiction in my own family, and if he, too, is a victim that's one in the eye for toxic masculinity. I just find it hard to accept this situation is completely one-sided and he's a wholly innocent victim. I mean - just look at his behaviour.
I think the interesting social responses to this situation illustrate much more than a belief of whether either or both parties are telling the truth (the only thing which the court is being asked to determine). It's made me explore my own biases, too.
Incidentally, I'm impressed with the Judge. She's balanced, fair, and has a calming and competent, as well as charismatic demeanor. She's also very succinct, clear and to the point on her instructions and to precisely what she will accept. Admirable, and eminently professional.