HuffPost: When David offered Mary a job on the set of a major feature film in 2016, it seemed like a golden opportunity. She’d moved to Vancouver the previous year to start her dream career and, at 28, found herself working 100 hours a week on various gigs across production sites. Now, David, in his 40s, an assistant location manager with a great reputation, was offering her a job she couldn’t pass up: production assistant in the location department of a big-budget production.
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I was not surprised with the content of this article. One of the most frustrating conversations I have been apart of at CMU was the title nine discussion during conservatory hour where all they talked about was the casting couch. I sat there with my legs on my hands because I just wanted to scream that the amount of harassment women receive behind the camera might be more than actresses. I’m not saying one problem is more important than another, but the issues that go on behind the camera are under discussed and rarely ever solved. I am so sad to read the stories the Huffington Post decided to share because they remind me that this will be something I will face when I enter the film industry. No production assistant should feel like they’re unworthy because they’re not a good piece of “eye candy.” This is a professional industry, not a fucking locker room. Women deserve to be treated like intelligent collaborators.
I am frustrated to again have to write about articles that seem surprised that women who are part of the entertainment industry, outside of the field of acting, experience harassment. We have reached a point in this conversation where it is no longer a new idea. We know women are harassed, no one needs anyone to tell us this. It is time to grow up and actually address the problem with action. The point of continuing writing these articles is to ensure that we don’t become complacent and neutral towards the knowledge of these actions. We cannot continue to act surprised. This bad behavior has been allowed to the point that they are simply a part of our societal structures, and it needs to stop. People do not need to learn to accept that this is a part of their future. It should not be a question of when they will face this. It is something that we all have a responsibility to bring into the light, and demand justice for those who have suffered, and condemn any who continue to act as such.
It is so discouraging and saddening to read these kinds of stories of passionate hard working women being taken advantage of and then losing their dream career because of it. I think the punishment for sexual assault in the entertainment industry is completely backwards. How is it that the woman who suffers from this problem is let go, deemed “difficult”, and has to suffer from mental deterioration because of the incident while the men only have to write an apology letter if any, keep their job, and continue to sit on a pedestal of power and money without even thinking about the consequences. There needs to be more protocol for incidents like these. There needs to be more backlash against the perpetrator. And this kind of story is not gender specific either. Men can suffer from sexual harassment from other men and even women. It is great that woman are finally being heard; however, I want to hear other stories too, the problem needs to become more real for everyone in order for change in the right direction.
While I was updating the Greenpage tonight, I made a conscious note of how many of the articles are talking about sexual assault and harassment in the film and television industry, months after the Weinstein scandal. While I could never be glad that these horrible things keep happening to both men and women in the field, I am grateful that there are still articles beings published about it. The public refuses to let this issue go, we are demanding these men to be held accountable. The public outrage will not let these men get away with the horrible things they've been doing for so long without punishment. While this topic is uncomfortable to face and confront it needs to be talked about in order for society to punish these wrong doers and enact policies and laws that will never allow for sexual abuse and harassment to happen in any workplace without punishment for the offenders.
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