#you dont owe explanations to anyone as to why you like billy

[every-dayiwakeup]

People getting all hot and bothered over:

a fictional character

a fictional canocically DEAD character

a fictional abused teenager

he's literally just a kid I beg y'all he is not nearly as bad as anyone makes him out to be.

Everyone seems to like the asshole until there are reasons behind being prickly.

Not me though, have fun 🤭

[problematiq]

@the gd fandom

listen it's 4:30 am and I cant sleep cause I'm a lil anxious but I kinda feel like I have to say this. I realize I've been a bit of a bitch in the past couple of days with the whole morrissey thing and you're probably annoyed with me at this point but I'd just like to say that in no way am i participating in cancel culture. I am still a gd fan and I still love them and their music and that won't change so quickly. I don't expect anyone to stop liking them because he did something problematic, I dont want that.

That being said, I feel like for me it's necessary to criticize BJ for a choice he made in bad judgement imo, and criticize the fandom for being this far up his ass. Not everyone but there are enough people whose statements and attempts to uphold his pure image of a woke idol made me wish I'd never joined this fandom. I'm angry and disappointed.

After the news I have called Billie's 'wokeness' performative. Why? Because in my eyes if you constantly and publicly renounce racists and trump supporters etc. and even literally say that 'racism and racists have no place in or around green day, it is a little hypocritical of you to then collaborate with someone who is famously (or not famously, but openly) racist. It's like... Greenpeace wouldn't condemn deforestation for palm oil and then collaborate with Nestlé. They would be rightfully criticized.

I knew when I started speaking up about it there would be people defending him, just like there were people defending him when he worked with Kat von D despite her antisemitism, just like people defended his use of the n-word in a song when someone claimed they were uncomfortable with it. I myself used to bend over backwards to defend him for the smallest shit because I couldn't deal with the concept of him not being some hero, like he undoubtedly was to me, but a human being with faults and fuck ups like everybody else. Last year or so that changed and I've started to see him as what he is: a liberal middle aged white rich man with musical talent, a kind personality, good opinions and who means well but nevertheless makes mistakes, who can be influenced by media and maybe isn't the smartest person in the world. The fandom collectively putting him on a pedestal helps nobody - not him, not yourself, and especially not the people whose concerns are silenced, e.g. everyone who is hurt by antisemitism, racism and other forms of xenophobia and bigotry. Because defending Billie for his choices usually means people will defend the person he collaborates with for their shitty actions by extension. I've said that from the beginning and that's what happened.

When I expressed disappointment after hearing of the collaboration, I was met with arguments like, "you can do business with racists and people you dont agree with, people do it all the time" to "Morrissey isnt even racist" to "not all UKIP supporters are racist" which eventually turned to "UKIP isnt even xenophobic if you think about it". All to defend a collaboration between a liberal musician who says "no racism" with a someone who expresses racist and xenophobic beliefs. In the span of two days I even had to argue why it's not okay for white people to use the n-word, even if well intentioned and to criticize, with white people who say "well, it's not common knowledge and it isn't universally agreed upon that white people shouldn't use it." I am tired.

My friend explained it best:

"In my opinion, if you associate with someone who supports certain right wing ideologies, you're implying that it doesn't bother you. And it probably doesn't bother you because it doesn't directly affect you. You can say it's insignificant, or it's not relevant, or 'of course you can still be friends with people with harmful views'. But it's part of a wider picture of "tolerating" racism for the sake of peace and quiet, and I can't support that. 

I never said he owes me an explanation for working with Morrissey. In fact, everyone else appears to be scrambling for possible reasons he's working with him but I said [...] that he can do whatever he wants, doesn't have to explain it, but I'm not going to support the decision. 

[...] We know Billie Joe's views as he expresses them all the time, and same for Morrissey. So I don't think it's crazy to think 'well this is a bit dodgy.' If you're going to stand up to racism, it has to be in actions too, not just words."

Which is something Billie fails to do. He's not convincing. He's okay with saying "racism is bad" but is still willing to help racists create better art with his help, which they will eventually profit from.

I think collaborating with Morrissey was a bad decision but what is even worse was the fandom's reaction to it: rationalization of problematic behavior to uphold the image of the ally and politically savvy hero. All while invalidating those they claim to accept with open arms and offer a safe space for.

The Green Day fandom altogether isn't chill, they're not woke as they pretend to be, they're not a safe space for minorities as they claim. They're like every other big fanbase diseased with idolizing celebrities like infallible leaders and gods, incapable and unwilling to admit faults or people taking that image away from them.

And I reserve the right to not be okay with it anymore.