Variety: The British Film Institute and Women in Film & TV industry group weighed in Wednesday on the Harvey Weinstein scandal, describing it as an appalling consequence of the lack of gender parity in the entertainment world. British government culture secretary Karen Bradley said the accusations against the legendary Hollywood producer were “very disturbing.”
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Sigh. Here we are again. Part of me wants to write this comment about how men like this are on their way out and how women will rise and everything will be okay in the world but I am just not sure anymore. I do think that one day all of these idiot men will be gone or at least will be eliminated quicker because we have a system that supports women, but I don't think that I will ever see it. What is so discouraging about the way that this whole Harvey Weinstein thing has happened is that there are a ton of men in positions of power who have been accused of the same thing or of similar things that people are not going to stop working with just because they have been accused and that is what needs to happen. We have to stop valuing the art of powerful men over the lives of helpless women. So many of these victims were under 18 when they were assaulted and I am positive that there are many more like them. The problem is that we have to make our culture more open to allowing women to feel comfortable speaking out and saying that thy have been assaulted. I am glad that the U.K. industry is calling for this and I hope that they will succeed but I am just unsure.
I think the key point made in this article here is that the problem lies not only in the hierarchy of Hollywood and film production, but within the very values of Hollywood itself. I believe the function of women within the current Hollywood paradigm is the true problem behind the treatment of women in such a manner. Rather than simply decrying the treatment of women in the workplace, the larger issue is how women are perceived by society, especially through the lens of film. Film is such an influential lynchpin of modern culture; it is both a tastemaker and precedent setter in terms of societal expectations not just for women, but for all. I think perhaps the most beneficial thing to do in times like these is to not just penalize those who abuse power over women in their work, but to really look at the purpose and point we give women onscreen. More so than what occurs off-screen, the films and programming being produced feeds directly into the vicious cycle of women being degraded, and put in positions of impaired power.
The Academy voted to strip Weinstein of his membership on Saturday. The Producers Guild of America votes on his membership on Monday. Weinstein has been voted out of his own producing company. I am reassured slightly by his brother's condemnation of Weinstein's actions. The problem is that Harvey Weinstein is not the only figure in Hollywood with a damning history. There are many professionals accused of sexual assault or sexual harassment in Hollywood (Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, etc.). Weinstein just happens to be the largest, most recent, most public case. That is why it angers me that the Academy, in particular, say they ousted Weinstein because they want to advance the "ethical standards" by which Academy members operate. Where was the Academy when Roman Polanski raped a minor? Like Amanda said, the problem lies within the culture of Hollywood. It is just sad that it has taken this long for any sort of governing board to make a statement about the state of the industry.
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