“Mathew Newton should know better,” said one angry forum fiend. But should we?

Well, here we go. Another month, another celebrity domestic violence scandal – albeit one with considerable déjà vu. I guess this means we’ll forget about Mel Gibson now, until the next time he flips his lid? Or will these two take turns? It’s this cycle that is the shocker in these situations – that we have, after all, seen it all before. Mathew Newton is a damaged man with a violent streak – well, what a surprise! And don’t get me wrong, it’s worth our repulsion to domestic violence against women to be a part of this, absolutely. But let’s stop for a moment, and also take a look at the other aspects such situations allow us to see, in some rather startling shades of very dark truths. There is more to this than meets the single-track minds of the consumer public, or their obliviousness to network TV factories. There is much more damage to be seen, here, than just that of a troubled boy who has been poisoned, like so many before him, by the silver coating on the spoon of his nurture.

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