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Chris Brown, of Tappahannock, appears during his arraignment. |
TAPPAHANNOCK
--The Chris Brown accused of beating his girlfriend in Los Angeles isn't familiar to Gerry Smith."He's not a thug," said Smith, who works weekends at the Texaco Mini-Mart on U.S. 17 in Brown's hometown of Tappahannock, about 45 minutes southeast of Fredericksburg. "He's never been in trouble here in town--nothing."
Smith is steadfastly standing by the 19-year-old R&B star, who pleaded not guilty Monday to two felony charges of assault and making criminal threats against his girlfriend, Rihanna. Brown is accused of beating the fellow music star just hours before the Grammy Awards in February.
"It's a given that no man should ever put his hands on a woman like that," Smith said. "He's gotten himself caught up in a situation. Now the press is crucifying him."
Two years ago, as his music career was beginning to explode, Brown told The Free Lance-Star no one needed to worry that he would change from being the nice, down-to-earth small-town boy he'd always been. There was no way, he said, he would set a bad example for young people.
At age 16, his first Jive Records single, "Run It!" made Brown the youngest male solo artist to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. His 2005 debut album, "Chris Brown," has sold about 3 million copies worldwide.
Then 17, Brown insisted his head wouldn't be turned by such a rapid ascent. His father had prepared him for fame by warning him "to really stay focused, to stay grounded, and stay determined and keep in the game," Brown said.
"You never hear me sing anything too vulgar or obnoxious," he told The Free Lance-Star in 2007.
Now, less than two years later, Brown finds himself facing up to five years in prison. And some friends and fans are having trouble reconciling that small-town image with the allegations of abuse Brown is now answering in a Los Angeles courtroom.
Those contrasting images--and many other arguments being offered by Brown's fans--are not that unusual in such cases, said Christopher Kilmartin, a University of Mary Washington professor who specializes in the psychology of men and is an expert in the prevention of domestic violence.
"The most common type of batterer is not violent outside the home, so they are often seen as 'nice guys' by others," Kilmartin said.
"But as Dave Barry said, 'A guy who's nice to you and mean to a waitress is not a nice guy.' And obviously that's true of a guy who's nice to you but beats his partner."
Some fans have defended Brown by spreading a rumor that Rihanna hit him first, smashing him in the face with a high-heeled shoe. Blaming the victim is also a common rationalization, Kilmartin said.
People sympathetic to an accused abuser may reason, "If he is a gentle guy who would never do a thing like that, and if he does in fact do it, then she must have done something to cause him to do it," the professor said.
Then there's the fact that Rihanna apparently remained in her relationship with Brown.
"When I tell people that I have expertise in domestic violence, people often ask, 'Why does she stay with him?' rather than 'Why would a guy beat his wife?'" Kilmartin said.
Women in abuse cases often feel torn between the person they fell in love with and the person who attacked them, he explained. In a sense, he added, fans must make the same choice in cases involving celebrities.
STILL A FAN FAVORITE
Before going to court this week, Brown returned home, perhaps trying to ground and gather himself for the appearance. Smith said Brown had been in Tappahannock for the past several weeks leading up the arraignment.
The public reception he received in this area was very different from the media criticism he has been drawing since his arrest.
Last Tuesday, Brown received a warm welcome from UMW students when he played in a pick=up basketball game at the Fredericksburg campus. That came during White Ribbon Week at UMW, which Kilmartin organized to raise awareness of domestic violence.
The college paper, The Bullet, reported that Brown came to UMW with a close friend who is considering enrolling there. Dozens of students reportedly lined up to shake his hand, pose for pictures and even ask for hugs. The entire UMW women's basketball team posed with Brown in a cozy picture in which everyone is wearing big smiles.
Brown is said to have received similarly warm receptions when he showed up at a Four-Mile Fork restaurant and a Massaponax bowling alley last week. Just as it had happened at UMW, text messages flew, alerting local teenagers to the Brown sightings.
Eighteen-year-old Evan Blackburn of Chancellor was with a group of friends when Brown showed up at the bowling alley. "Every one of us received text messages saying to come," he said.
Blackburn and his friends didn't go, but he thinks he understands why other young people here did flock to Brown last week even though he is accused of doing something bad.
"He's a celebrity--and he probably will still be one years from now. So people want to have their picture taken with him," Blackburn said.
Nineteen-year-old Tanya Morris of Massaponax said a friend of hers heard Brown was at UMW and raced across town to have her picture taken with him even though she had previously expressed disgust about his alleged battering of Rihanna.
Like Blackburn, she understood the celebrity attraction.
"Besides, he hasn't been convicted, and we don't really know what happened," she said.
Morris said she's concerned about the charges against Brown, but that wouldn't stop her from having a picture taken with him. That's where she draws the line, however.
"I wouldn't hug him," she said.
TAKING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SERIOUSLY
Marge Signer, president of the Virginia chapter of the National Organization for Women in Arlington, also understands the dynamic.
"The cult of celebrity is everywhere," Signer said. "His fans are these young women who go and see him and are thrilled. It's a People magazine culture, so it's not surprising."
Still, she said, domestic violence must not be taken lightly. "It's deadly for women."
Kathy Anderson, executive director of the Rappahannock Council on Domestic Violence in Falmouth, noted that she's read that Brown witnessed domestic violence as he was growing up. Such exposure as a child can cause violence to lurk just beneath the surface in adults.
"He has friends saying he's not a thug--and we don't want to demonize people," Anderson said. "[But] violence is wrong. It's against the law. It's criminal behavior."
Without dehumanizing Brown, she said, his fans should know that someone in Virginia is killed every five days in a domestic-violence incident.
"We have a responsibility to hold people accountable for their violence," she said. "That doesn't mean we turn our backs on them."
Michael Zitz: 540/846-5163
Email: mikez@freelancestar.com
