CMU School of Drama


Friday, October 20, 2017

Escape? Punishment? What Will Happen to Weinstein Now?

The Atlantic: Almost a year to the day after the publication of what would become known, with polite euphemism, as the “Access Hollywood tape,” The New York Times published a related kind of revelation: Harvey Weinstein had been accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct—an alleged pattern of psychological manipulation and strategic harassment that spanned decades—and, in many cases, paid them for their silence. The paper’s report was followed up with an investigation in The New Yorker that included allegations from three different women that Weinstein had raped them. The stories—and the many, many more from women who have come forward in recent days—have been met with a mixture of shock and its opposite among Weinstein’s fellow celebrities. “I didn’t know about these things, but they don’t surprise me at all,” Emma Thompson told the BBC on Thursday. She was speaking, it seems, for many in her field.

1 comment:

Madeleine Evans said...

While very sobering, this Atlantic article hits the nail on the head: "When you’re a star, you can do anything, Donald Trump said, and his insight was terrible and correct. Is it still?" The fact that one man is toppled due to his crimes and yet so many more with well documented evidence remain in power is just a painful reminder that we still have so very far to go. The idea that "The famous are famous, the idea goes—the powerful are powerful—the stars shine above us—because they are, somehow, touched: with talent, with genius, with the capacity to make the things that, in turn, make the world richer and better" is really quite an accurate account of how the world currently works. If you don't have fame or fortune, you will be held accountable for your actions, but if you do, there is a chance you can get out of it. "We Americans are good at many things, but one of our most finely honed skills is our ability to be surgically selective in our vision and our outrage," and have proved time and time again, those who are famous often walk away with little more than a slap on the wrist--nothing that a good PR campaign can't fix.