mashable.com: If you've tired of hearing Hollywood A-listers feign shock while sending proverbial "thoughts and prayers" to Harvey Wesintein's sexual assault victims, you're not alone.
Scott Rosenberg, a screenwriter (Beautiful Girls, Con Air, High Fidelity) who worked closely with Weinstein and Co. for a little under a decade, has had enough of the bullshit, too. And he's saying something not too many people in the industry are saying right now: "I am sorry."
4 comments:
This piece was powerful. Scott Rosenberg’s statement of “everybody-fucking-knew” is what the world needs to acknowledge. When there is so much going on below the surface something will be showing and people will notice. I appreciate Mr. Rosenberg’s honesty when it came to this matter. He says that while he didn’t know about the rapes, he was worried that something was going on, but “no one wants to bite the hand that feeds them caviar in St. Barth’s”. And for that I have immense respect. It takes a strong man to say that he is sorry and come out and personally explain what he saw and how he did nothing. If everyone in the world was just a little more honest then things like this would happen less and less often. I hope to see more celebrities and people that worked with Harvey come out and say similar things as Mr. Rosenberg in the upcoming weeks. The time has passed for condolences and now what the world needs is apologies and some more owning up to being complicit.
Thank god for this article. Being a passive bystander that allows behavior like this is just as bad as being the actual person doing it. While in no way should other people be deemed responsible for Weinstein's actions, there are absolutely plenty of people that allowed it to happen, or turned a blind eye and acted like nothing was going on. While certainly on a smaller scale, it's similar to the argument that the Nazis had about not being at fault because they were just following orders. Everyone has the option to do what is right. While it is certainly not always easy, and frankly can ruin one's career in a matter of seconds, there is always a choice. I really hope that articles and statements like this will inspire others in the industry to do the same. Not necessarily about Harvey Weinstein specifically, but about the other Harvey Weinsteins that are still out there in the industry, perpetuating the culture that still very much exists.
It is refreshing to read an article from someone who is actually acknowledging that they were a bystander in this situation as opposed to making a statement about how "shocked and appalled" they were. When I first heard about the Harvey Weinstein scandal I felt deeply sorry for the victims but also was not surprised at all. Sexual harassment and sexual assault have run rampant in the entertainment industry for decades. So why did no one say something earlier? Rosenberg himself says it best: "Because no one wants to bite the hand that feeds them caviar in St. Barth's". People like Harvey Weinstein will continue to be able to use their wealth and status to overpower younger people in the entertainment industry until they are directly called out. I hope that all of the stories will help to make a change in the industry but the pessimist in me has feeling that after the dust settles everything will revert back. The reality is unless someone is called out by name or directly accused at that level of power they can just simply continue to sweep their actions under the rug. Yes, Harvey Weinstein will probably never work again but all the men like him won't even bat an eyelash.
This whole ordeal is just downright upsetting for everyone, but I am actually so happy to see Rosenberg being frank and straight forward about all the events and putting context into the culture of filmmakers and actresses and everyone else involved. I don’t feel better about the whole situation, of course, but this is still a way better write up of the events and circumstances than some other ones I have seen where people who were close to the events are claiming ignorance or shock at the news. There gets to be a question raised in these times about when it is appropriate to report this kind of activity and how much word of mouth can really hurt people in this field. In my opinion, there should always be a system in place for quiet inquiries and cross checks that wouldn’t have to bring this extremely public career and personal life even more public.
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