Immense Public Outrage and the Atrocities of Public Shaming
Jenna Vasquez
Professor Kwak
HNRS 101
September 11, 2017
Immense Public Outrage and the Atrocities of Public Shaming
Public shaming, formerly known as public humiliation, has dated back thousands of years ago. Early forms of punishment consisted of whipping, flogging, branding, drowning, hanging, pillory and stocks, and so on. Nowadays, public shaming is mainly found in social media applications, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. Some reasons people choose to publicly shame others are for the mere purpose of entertainment, to make individuals aware of their wrongdoings, to create a negative example of them, and even out of pure spite towards the individual. People can be publicly shamed for a variety of reasons, such as a Facebook post, a tweet, derogatory comments, physical appearance, racism, minor offenses, felonies, plagiarism, protests, and acts of violence. Public shaming has no limits, for it can happen to anyone. However, in recent years, with widespread wildlife activism, poaching has been a target for public humiliation. By the Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary definition, poaching is the act of encroaching upon especially for the purpose of taking something. Essentially, trophy hunting, or big game hunting, is the same act as poaching in that people hunt very large mammals with intention to bring home something from their kill. For instance, elephants are hunted for the ivory in their tusks, leopards for their meat and fur, and of course, the king of the jungle, lions, for their heads and skin. Both poachers and trophy hunters are abhorred by the majority of the world due their ruthless nature and their cruelty toward innocent creatures, and thus, they are put to public shame. Similar to Jon Ronson’s book So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed where he recounts a new era of public shaming and its effects on the victims, the story of Cecil the lion and his assailant demonstrates social media’s ability to achieve worldwide social activism in publicly shaming Walter Palmer, in the most undeserved, appalling, excessive way.
Cecil the lion was most commonly known in Africa for his large, dark black mane. Once the news of Cecil’s tragic death traveled across the world, the public was immediately outraged by the way he had died. Cecil was killed by a dentist, who was also a trophy hunter, named Walter Palmer, from Minnesota. Cecil was thirteen years old when he was hunted, which, when compared to the average lifespan of lions kept in captivity, including sanctuaries, serves to prove Cecil died at quite a young age. Captivity of any kind affords lions the opportunity to live as long as thirty years, though it is certainly not likely that they live to that agedness, rather about twenty years of age. Nonetheless, Cecil was kept in a sanctuary-like haven at Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe. Therefore, in light of this type of captivity, his death occurred at a very young age.
Cecil’s death was out of the control of the national park, as trophy hunters enticed the male lion–who, with normal mammalian instinct, followed the bribe– with a carcass and killed him. Walter Palmer and his team of professional locals lured Cecil out of the park, as to ensure they shot him on private property, which Palmer regarded as legal. In an interview, Palmer claimed everything about the hunt was legal, according to his local guides. He disclosed, “I had no idea that the lion I took was a known, local favorite, was collared and part of a study until the end of the hunt. I relied on the expertise of my local professional guides to ensure a legal hunt.” Palmer expressed great sorrow and regret once he discovered he took the beloved Cecil’s life.Trophy hunting is a very cruel practice and it has many restrictions, therefore, the chances of hunters violating the laws are very high. However, Doctor Palmer appeared to be completely oblivious that his actions were illegal, allegedly reporting he “paid more than $50,000 for the hunt” and he was unaware that his actions were indeed illegal. Still, Dr. Walter Palmer exemplified utter indifference toward Cecil, revealing to the world how neglectful and merciless humankind truly can be. As a result, international outrage quickly spurred along the surface of this vicious crime. In this instance, it becomes evident that the human race’s attitudes toward Palmer have grown from vexed to infuriated, as they begin to persecute him.
In Ronson’s So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed where Justine Sacco tweeted, “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white,” public outrage immediately surfaced. Her friends were texting her that she had just become famous, not with good cause, and people around the world were responding to her tweet with incredibly demeaning remarks, such as “No words for that horribly disgusting, racist as fuck tweet,” and “Everyone go report this cunt.” However, it is believed Justine Sacco undeniably deserved to be reprimanded for such a derogatory tweet. In addition, people around the world waited for Justine’s plane to land, as she tweeted right before she embarked on the plane, to see and hear her reaction to such fury. As Ronson put it, “a hashtag began trending worldwide: #hasjustinelandedyet.” One person, whom everyone most likely could agree with, tweeted, “Seriously. I just want to go home to go to bed, but everyone at the bar is SO into #HasJustineLandedYet,” indicating their anticipation to see Justine Sacco torn to shreds for such a degrading comment. This case of public shaming turned from a positive shaming, where Justine was made aware of her wrongdoing, to a negative shaming, in which she was blinded as to what her life was turning into, and her name torn to shreds.
In correspondence to the worldwide indignation and resentment toward Doctor Palmer, and in comparison to Justine Sacco’s case, news feeds, social media applications, articles, and even oral communication began to recount the horrifying actions taken by the dentist and his team of local guides. Washington Post’s Michael Miller delivers in an article that infuriated animal lovers throughout the world have berated Palmer by inundating his social media pages, specifically Yelp, with several thousands of pernicious comments. Walter Palmer’s social media applications were flooded with harsh, punitive comments concerning threats and death wishes as well. One individual tweeted, “Let us hope that Walter Palmer, who ‘bravely’ killed a magnificent lion in Zimbabwe with a compound bow and arrow, meets a similar fate soon.” Pamela Paterson from Scotland tweeted, “Think it’s safe to say that dentist Walter Palmer of lion killing ‘fame’ is the most hated man in the world right now. Good stuff.” Another individual tweeted, “Truly. I’d put a cross bow bolt through Walter Palmer then track him from 40 hrs, shoot him, behead him, skin him and sleep peacefully.” Evidently, people, internationally, wasted not a second to reprimand Palmer in response to Cecil’s death and leave hateful comments all over the internet, which were then shown on television as the news continually circulated. Furthermore, locals who used Palmer as their primary care dentist began posting five-star reviews on his Yelp page to ensure their commentaries were viewed first. One man stated Dr. Palmer was “kind, caring, but I’m most thankful that HE DIDN’T KILL ME LIKE HE DID THAT PROTECTED LION.” Another individual posted a review that was exceptionally lengthy, but with valid reason in regards to Cecil’s killing. The man’s first words were, “Dr. Palmer is a great shot with a bow and arrow! Five stars!” and towards the end of his commentary, he wrote, “I totally recommend your dental services because if we fill up your schedule you won’t have time to go back to Africa and shoot more animals.” Similar to the tweets about Palmer, the Yelp reviews epitomized the absolute shaming of the ruthless big game hunter. His murderous deeds would never be forgotten, as this public shaming would continue on for years, just like Justine Sacco’s.
The exasperation exhibited by people around the world just days after Cecil’s death truly highlights the monstrosity of Dr. Walter Palmer’s murderous deed. People even petitioned for Palmer to be executed, and if not executed, then condemned for life. Co-founder and President Ingrid Newkirk of the nonprofit organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) addressed that Palmer “needs to be extradited, charged, and preferably, hanged” because of his cruel, unjust actions. Newkirk also described Palmer as an “overblown, over-privileged little man, who lacks empathy, understanding, and respect for living creatures,” and respectively, deserve to be “targets to kill, decapitate, and hang up on the wall as a trophy.” Unquestionably, organizations, like PETA, as well as caring people all over the world were utterly disgusted by this man and viewed him as a figure of immorality, arrogance, disdain, and ruthlessness. The extremity of this public shaming, and in any public shaming, can cause an individual the loss of friends and family, loss of their job, a disfigured name, and a tarnished reputation– often times the most valued aspects in life. Evidently, public shaming is a deliberate way of destroying someone’s life for the purposes of, as previously mentioned, having a person admit to a wrongdoing, or creating an example, a distorted image, of a person who “deserves” the wrath of the public. Thus, Walter Palmer was one of the world’s most hated men and a complete disgrace to the greater majority of the world.
Overall, as someone tweeted in Ronson’s book, “It is kinda wild to see someone self-destruct without them even being aware of it” relates very well to Walter Palmer’s case. He was a big game hunter and loved traveling to Africa for “trophies.” Despite his merciless, unethical killing of beautiful Cecil, Palmer was able to continue with his dentistry practice. Once again, people around the world were outraged because the state of Minnesota did not revoke his license. Since Palmer had valid documentation, or legal permits, stating it was legal to kill Cecil, he was never indicted by the Zimbabwean government or the United States government. Ultimately, Dr. Walter Palmer certainly did not deserve such a rightful shaming. He embodied what it meant to be ruthless, apathetic, and indifferent to animals’ rights, and consequently, his cruel act of violence caused him an undeserved, tarnished name. As PETA firmly upholds the belief that “animals have an intrinsic worth of their own, quite apart from their utility to humans, and should not be treated as commodities,” and, in turn affirms, “animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way,” Palmer’s doomed legacy across worldwide nations and communities would prove to live on for a very long time, which is exactly deserving.
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