Reykjavík Grapevine - 07.06.2019, Blaðsíða 2

Elín Elísabet is an illus-
trator and cartoonist
born and raised in
Borgarnes. At the
tender age of 15, Elín
moved to Reykjavík
and hasn’t looked
back, except for the
annual springtime
impulse to move
someplace quiet
and keep chickens.
Elín likes folk music,
stationery, seal vid-
eos, the country of
Ireland, and eggs.
Hannah Jane Cohen
is based out of Ice-
land by way of New
York. An alumni of
Columbia University,
Hannah has lived
on five continents
and speaks three
languages fluently.
Her visionary work is
known for expand-
ing the definitions of
emotion, introspec-
tion, and above all
else, taste.
John Rogers is an
Englishman who first
joined Grapevine
as a music writer,
later graduating to
Managing Editor. A
constant traveller
and a lover of art,
culture, food & night-
life, he edits our Best
of Reykjavík, Best of
Iceland, and Iceland
Airwaves sister
publications. His first
book, “Real Life,” was
published in 2014.
Art Bicnick is a man
of mystery, moving
like the wind through
the parties, soirées,
openings and so-
cialite events of Rey-
kjavík. Sometimes he
can be seen abroad
in the countryside,
braving the spray
of a waterfall or the
frozen glacier air.
Always, he will have a
camera, document-
ing the moves of his
writer companion.
Sveinbjörn Pálsson
is our Art Director.
He's responsible for
the design of the
magazine and the
cover photography.
When he's not work-
ing here, he DJs as
Terrordisco, hosts
the Funkþátturinn
radio show, or sits at
a table in a Laugarda-
lur café, drinking
copious amounts of
coffee and thinking
about fonts.
Josie Gaitens is a
Grapevine intern who
is also a freelance
arts project coor-
dinator, musician
and writer from the
Scottish Highlands.
She was once errone-
ously referred to as
the Queen of Scot-
land by a Malaysian
newspaper and has
been falsely using
that title ever since.
Andie Fontaine has
lived in Iceland since
1999 and has been
reporting since 2003.
They were the first
foreign-born mem-
ber of the Icelandic
Parliament, in 2007-
08, an experience
they recommend for
anyone who wants
to experience a
workplace where
colleagues work tire-
lessly to undermine
each other.
Felix Robertson is
a theology student
from the UK who is
currently on a gap
year and is trying,
with varying degrees
of success, to ‘find’
himself in the frigid
wastes of the north.
He likes classical
music, long walks
and really dead lan-
guages. He's one of
our current interns.
Lóa Hlín Hjálmtýsdóttir
is a national treasure.
One of Iceland's
leading illustra-
tors, when she's
not drawing in her
unique style, she's
the front-woman of
Icelandic electro-
pop supergroup FM
Belfast. Her comic
strip Lóaboratorium
appears every issue
on page 8, and is also
available as a daily
dose on her Twitter.
First 14: Bashar Murad Raises His Flag10: Do Or Die For Iceland At Euro 202012: Filibusters: Is The End In Sight?
34: Kira Kira Searches
For Music Miracles
28: Festival Frenzy:
Break Out The LSD
35: What Is Styrmir
Doing With His Life?
45: The Crowberry Wine
Revival
48: Enter The Búðir
Witchcraft Store
50: Westman Wonders:
Craft Beer & Fine Food

Jason Momoa surpris-
ingly (or not… he is
Aquaman, after all) hopped on board
a campaign of online criticism against
Iceland in the first week of June. The
target is against a pair of Icelandic sail-
ors who have come under harsh criti-
cism for mutilating a shark that got
caught in their fishing nets, releasing
it back into the sea without its tail.
This act was unprofessional, cruel
and sadistic. Other sailors have stated
that if the shark was hurt, they should
have killed it; if it wasn’t, then their
actions—which they filmed and posted
to Facebook—amount to old-fashioned
cruelty against animals.
Of course, people were upset. The
video was shocking. The sailors laughed
as they cut the tail off the shark, and
laughed even harder when the shark
attempted to swim away, followed by a
trail of blood.
Icelanders traditionally don’t have
much sympathy for sharks, or fish
in general, but the cruelty of this
act caused an outcry, and Icelanders
demanded action. The fishing company
responded by firing the two sailors on
the spot, despite their apology. It’s also
likely that they will be charged with
animal cruelty, and if they are found
guilty, they will be fined heavily.
Justice served, right?
Not in the eyes of Aquaman. Momoa
criticised the sailors on Instagram,
where he has an audience of 12 million
followers. It began fairly reasonably,
as he recognised that the fishermen
are probably providing for their fami-
lies—which they are. But his critique
got rougher from there. He ended up
calling their acts were “pure evil.” In
the end, Momoa told the pair to go fuck
themselves. Fair enough. The sea king
is allowed to despise these hunters if
he wants to.

But what happened next, is also kind
of “pure evil.”. The two sailors started
getting harassed by English-speaking
people shortly after Momoa’s post went
live. One sailor, Vísir reported, received
a message on Facebook saying “I hope
someone cut your children feet and let
them bleed out, you little bitch”.
This was followed by another chill-
ing message: “Hey bud, my next stop is
Iceland, Inow have photos of you and
your family. Your actions now have
consequences.”
These are just two of the hundreds
of messages that one of the sailors
received. People that threaten children
are no better than those that torture
animals. They’re worse, if you ask me.
And people with 12 million followers
that lead an online charge against a
pair of simple sailors also bear some
responsibility—especially when they
dehumanise the individuals they are
criticising. Because, as another super-
hero famously stated, “with great
power, comes great responsibility.” The
Icelandic sailors are not monsters; their
actions were cruel and juvenile at best.
They made a mistake.
Jason should apologise to those sail-
ors and their families for the harass-
ment they have endured from his fans.
It’s both the honourable thing to do, and
a clear message to people that it’s not
okay to threaten people or their chil-
dren—even if they made a bad and very
public mistake. VG
EDITORIAL
ON THE COVER:
Auður Eva Ólafsdóttir
PHOTO
Rut Sigurðardóttir
ABOUT THE PICTURE:
The cover was a
collaboration between
Rut and our Art Director,
Sveinbjörn. An attempt
at the metaphorical to
portray a plain-spoken
interview, aluding
to the origin story
of a generation, or
generations of women.
The Justice Of Aquaman
Still from Aquaman
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