MIRABEL AND VDM: Logic, Prejudiced sentiment or Empathy?
The month of February, though short, has been an interesting one on socials. It has been a rollercoaster of many banters, several debates, diverse lines of thought and dynamic opinions across X, Tiktok, Facebook and Instagram.
In case you were on a vacation or kinda lost track of this juicy gist, here is a quick run down.
Mirabel, a 19 year old girl took to her tiktok page to announce that she was raped and physically abused at her residence while drunk by an unknown man who later sent her a DM with details of the supposed “gory event” that took place.
There was an uproar of justice seekers from both men and women alike and it was an uphill ride with many kindhearted Nigerians offering help in the best way possible leading us to our point of discussion today.
A few days after the news broke out, some loopholes were identified in her narration and it became an entirely different fight. With one side clamouring for justice for men who have been accused wrongly of sexual offence, another calling for punitive measures on the girl and her cohorts, and lastly, another side stands on a distinct hill dishing out reasons why Mirabel needs help and not punishment.
Verydarkblackman alias VDM stepped into the matter at first seeking justice for the supposed victim but when the issues of inconsistencies were raised, there was slight change in the turn out of events.
In a call recording posited by him, she confessed to abusing drugs, resorting to self harm serval times and was in fact, not raped.
While it is no news that at just nineteen years of age, Mirabel has lost every member of her nuclear family, is lesbian, is on drugs, probably an addict and suicidal, she did what she did and opinions differ as to what should be done with her.
Note that she has been accused of lying about the actual date of death of her mother to obtain funds from well meaning Nigerians. She has also been exposed to have received monetary support after the false narrative was posted on her tiktok account. So as it stands, she errs on the side of the law on many fronts. Good thing she did not accuse a specific person in her story.
Back to VDM. One question remains on the minds of many Nigerians. Is his change of character towards Mirsbels case born out of logic, sentiment or empathy?
Have it at the back of your mind that VDM’s personality and brand is built around interacting with people from different walks of life. His background and social life may have predisposed him to drug addicts and people with mental issues. These experiences don’t just go away and it is only normal to have an inbuilt love to help people in similar situations.
Conclusively, his duty to Nigerians has shown that he can be emphatic and logical in his dealings. Many have argued his being sentimental towards the opposite gender claiming that his reaction would have been different if the person involved was male.
But what exactly do you think is at play in this case?
Logic?
Empathy?
Sentiment?
