Written by MigsDC
Anyone who’s into Internet culture,
fandom and online forums is likely to have heard of “Chris-chan”
in some form. Known for the longest time as either CWC or Christian
Weston Chandler, Christine since 2015 after her transition to a
transwoman, she is the creator of the infamous fan-comic Sonichu;
Sonichu is a portmanteau of Sonic and Pikachu, being a combination of
the two characters that’s passed off as original. Over the years,
Chris has been the subject of both ridicule and shock more due to her
antics and/or what has been revealed about her life than her
notorious art.
Through a combination of myriad
factors, from online trolls to Chris-chan’s more ill-conceived
videos, absurdly ample information on Chris and those around her is
readily available, often split into different “sagas” by those
who gawk at her life. There exists enough material, compiled into a
“CWC
Wiki” site, to capture a detailed time
capsule of both contemporary Virginia and online culture. There have
been many lengthy documentaries, the
one made by Youtuber “sachumo" in 2015
being among the most popular, about Chris Chan posted online; sitting
at over two million views, the video in question is notably unbiased
and comprehensive, though quite outdated despite much of what’s
said there remaining disturbingly on point. There are those who’d
go so far as to claim that more is known about this one person than
America’s own Founding Fathers. It’s a fool’s errand now to try
to put everything back inside Pandora's Box.
Undoubtedly, there’s a certain vile
fascination about CWC. Trying to play the blame game on who’s
ultimately at fault, however, is meaningless. Still, it begs the
question: Why should anyone outside the Commonwealth of Virginia or
some internet forum care about an evidently disturbed person?
Especially somebody who, as “sachumo” himself admitted at the end
of his documentary, is a proverbial train wreck “crashing in slow
motion”?
For some, particularly those with
autism, this ignoble “epic” hits a bit too close to home. Whether
one’s on the spectrum or not, the frustration it elicits grows even
more apparent.
A Preventable Tragedy
As well documented as Chris-chan’s
life is, one major observation is how, in at least some respects, the
social support structure around her played a key part in an utterly
preventable tragedy. A support structure that’s dysfunctional at
best and practically nonexistent at worst. The Chandlers, for
instance, tried to shield a young Chris from the outside world to
extents that are ill-advised in hindsight. They also shielded him
from any real sense of criticism or challenge. This wasn’t helped
by how CWC’s late father was apprehensive about sending the growing
child to a special needs school, perceiving it as not far from being
institutionalized or lobotomized. By the time they tried to take some
corrective action, the damage had already been done.
Meanwhile, the then young man’s
experience with the educational system, from her early speech therapy
sessions to college, was marked by abuse both from other students and
from the faculty. The noted exception to such “norms” was high
school, which Chris-chan herself recalls as some of the happiest
years of her life. Yet even then, there was much in the way of
bullying. The teenaged girls who befriended CWC, or rather let her
hang out with them, admitted later on that they only did so out of
pity and because they saw her then as harmless.
This, combined with being ostracized by
all those around her including her local pastor, is most likely why
CWC turned out the way she did. Although, with CWC's online
reputation it is hard to blame people from being hands off when it
came to CWC. This ostracisation is also why she became such a magnet
for trolling and lasting ridicule online. Tellingly, one of the only
people known to have genuinely tried to help Chris-chan in those
formative times was her high school’s special education teacher,
who
was interviewed for the “sachumo” video.
The blend of negligence, malice and
well-meaning, if futile, support experienced by her would be in and
of itself a “perfect storm” of how not to raise or help an
autistic child. One that, given enough attention and care, would have
been averted before it could even begin. For someone on the spectrum,
it might as well sound like one’s worst fears made manifest. Yet,
that’s nowhere near enough to explain the whole picture.
Her Own Worst Enemy
What makes some, especially those on
the spectrum, both fascinated and frustrated with the tragedy of
Chris-chan is that she isn’t simply a victim. Rather, she’s also
very much her own abuser, thanks in no small part to her own antics.
For instance, at no point did she ever
develop any real sense of responsibility for her actions. Whether
it’s posting videos unwittingly showing how of much of a fire
hazard her old house was, genuinely behaving like a creepy stalker to
women back during her infamous “love quest”, or antagonizing her
old college dean for suspending her, despite constant warnings and
reprimands, for a year CWC never really owns up to such horribly
misguided decisions. Indeed, such misadventures have helped in
fueling a horribly malformed ego. This also extends to her own
future. Rather than finding some career path to support herself or
starting a new leaf, she opts to exploit her disability by depending
on social welfare, namely the US Government’s SSDI program, as her
“monthly tugboat” and wasting much of the money.
To say nothing of how many of Chris’
more notorious exploits were done out of her own volition. Even with
the gullibility and online trolling put into account, no one told CWC
to make unsolicited erotic art of a female acquaintance at the time,
as shown in a video trying to convince trolls that she’s straight.
Or invoke anti-Semitic smears on the owner of a local hobby shop for
banning her from the premises, due to her own aggressive behavior.
Let alone, assault a Gamestop employee with pepper spray, leading to
Chris-chan being jailed briefly. It’s no surprise that the trolls
themselves grew increasingly unnerved, if not outright concerned, for
her state of mind as the years dragged on.
Then, there’s the realization that,
whether as “Christian” or “Christine,” she never makes a
solid effort to bring herself out of her screwed up predicament. More
than once CWC had a chance to turn things around for the better. This
includes efforts from some of the same people she antagonized, most
notably some of the same trolls who once sought her out to mock,
offering genuine advice in an attempt to reach out. Yet, on top of
never taking responsibility, she constantly rejects any gesture of
help. Choosing instead to delude herself to the point of having no
grasp of reality. Seemingly lost in her own demented fantasies, she’s
become more of a liability to the surrounding community.
It’s not hard to conclude that this
person’s abused, if not wasted, any sympathy or pity about as
quickly as her plight garnered. Not to mention, how even without the
involvement of online trolls, she’s shown herself to be an eager
conductor to her own train wreck.
The Wrong Lessons Learned
Saying that this person’s spectacular
failures, publicized for the world to see, are a demented morality
tale of sorts would be an understatement. Unsurprisingly, people have
very different takeaways from witnessing those misadventures. But
alas, it’d be naïve to think that such “lessons” would be
entirely sympathetic to others with autism.
For as easy as it may be to see
Chris-chan as a walking list of what not to do with one’s life,
it’s absurdly easier to perceive her as not only every negative
image of a geek or hardcore fan, but also just about every negative
stereotype of an autistic person made manifest. A walking strawman
seemingly validating old prejudices against those not deemed
“normal.” CWC, and those like her, are seen as lonely weirdoes,
sexist creeps, and erstwhile degenerates to be shunned. Such
sentiments would make efforts to treat and encourage tolerance of
autistic people much more difficult. Indeed, it is inspiring greater
antagonism, bullying and stigma towards those who just happen to be
nerds, introverts or eccentric.
For those on the spectrum, meanwhile,
all these are on top of how CWC’s a dark mirror of themselves.
Regardless of the severity of their condition, how well they could
function in society or even how they conduct themselves in public,
there’s this general sense akin to walking on eggshells or being an
astronaut on an alien world. One false move could ruin one’s day,
if not worse. Thus, whether it’s at the back of their minds or in
their nightmares, they glimpse something like Chris. They see the
worst of what they could be. Especially for those without a stable
degree of self-esteem or whose grip on sanity’s tenuous at best, it
is a dreadful notion. Even more so when others might fear them
because of her, or others like her.
As with just
about anything to do with Chris-chan herself, there’s no one way to
really solve this predicament. Not even trying to block it out of
one’s mind would work, given how such notoriety is bound to last
for a very long time. To say nothing of how she’s by no means the
only one to earn that sort of infamy in some corners of the Internet.
Outside of bringing out the popcorn and seeing the train wreck that
the likes of “Sschumo” are continuing to record for posterity,
what other good takeaways could there be?
That may be in the eyes of the
beholder. For those living with autism, there is something of a
silver lining. Whatever issues they may have, they’re not just
defined by what makes them abnormal or “neuroatypical” but by
what makes them human. They can, with both the strength of their own
will and the help of others, prove to the world that they have just
much of a right to live just like anyone else.
Or, at the very least, they can take
reassurance with the knowledge that they’re not Chris-chan. And
never will be.
Comments
Post a Comment