Monday, October 16, 2017
Harvey Weinstein Is Gone. But Hollywood Still Has a Problem.
NYTimes.com: When I read the recent allegations that Harvey Weinstein had sexually harassed women for decades, I thought — well, of course. Mr. Weinstein was a famously swaggering bully, and while I hadn’t heard about the specific charges of sexual abuse by women working for him, such behavior fits the movie industry’s pervasive, unrepentant exploitation of women. And then on Tuesday, The New Yorker revealed that three women, including the Italian actress-turned-director Asia Argento, said that “Weinstein raped them.”
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2 comments:
The topic of normality in this article, while relatively unsurprising, is definitely the most important part of Dargis's writing. I had a similar reaction to Dargis when I heard that Harvey Weinstein had a long history of sexual assault and harassment. This was not big news to me; of course someone with the power and ego of Weinstein would use that power to overpower and oppress other people. And that is the problem. Not being surprised by sexual assault and unforgivable behavior is unacceptable. The systematic oppression of women and minority groups needs to be demolished, however it is not that simple. Because sexism, misogyny, and oppression stem from beliefs and stereotypes that started so incredibly long ago, the conversation about reversing this ideology needs to go much deeper than "behave nicely". Women, men, and everyone in between need to come together in this discussion, and that is the way to start fixing normalized issues like Harvey Weinstein.
Sexism and sexual assault in “normal” in theater and the film industry because it’s “normal” everywhere else in our society. Anywhere men are in power (not to say that women in power don’t sexually harass and assault others – they do. However men are the much more egregious offenders), the dynamic Harvey Weinstein exploited exists. The same pattern of assault exists in large and small businesses, colleges, high schools, and society as a whole. I agree that we, as an industry (and as a school – it happens here too) need to sit down and talk about what is going on. The perpetrators need to be named by the victims, prosecuted, and punished for their actions. The daily sexist microaggressions (and macroaggressions in some cases – talk to the scenic designers) need to stop. We can fix the issue on a smaller level within our own community. Then we can focus on actually getting law enforcement to believe victims, test rape kits, and prosecute offenders.
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