The Hollywood Reporter: When it was founded in the months after the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke in 2017, Time’s Up was supposed to put Hollywood’s considerable power and money — and its sudden outrage — to work fighting sexual harassment. Instead, today Time’s Up is a ghost organization, technically still operating, but with no CEO or programming offered in nearly a year, and with a skeletal board.
4 comments:
I remember when Time’s Up started, and the #metoo movement was the talk of the town for a while. Let me be very clear from the start: the general, international #metoo movement, and work done to support victims of SA and/or prevent SA are crucial, so important, and need to be talked about. That said, Time’s Up did feel like a flashy, palpable option for the big name people to publicly dip their toes in enough to seem like they did something. And, as this article says, the fund (which is run by an entirely different organization) is the one sustainably successful thing the organization has ever done. I think that those big Hollywood names need to be putting their money into grassroots organizations, local groups- people doing the work already: they deserve and need that support. I honestly forgot about hearing about Time’s Up until I saw this article, I wonder if it will officially dissolve soon.
I remember Times Up and #MeToo was very popular when it was first started and the buzz it created around SA awareness and the exploitation of workers in Hollywood. However I forgot about it until now which makes sense as the article points out it’s slowly devolving and losing structure as an organization. It’s too bad it failed so rapidly as it not only makes the whole movement look cheap and like a publicity stunt but also it probably had potential with its big donors to do something productive. The fact it's in shambles also may give some people on the topic the idea that it wasn’t that important or as large of a problem which is very unfortunate. I hope past present and future victims find aid in well running pre-established programs and that the perpetrators are held accountable and removed from their high status.
It’s sad to see something that felt like it was supposed to be so important fade into obscurity. Like I remember when everyone started really getting emotionally impacted by all of the constant sexual assault in the news back in like 2017 and when people were talking about how celebrity’s voices were pretty powerful. But after all of that was said and done and people stopped caring about the scandals because they went in forever, everyone moved on. We shouldn’t have, and I’m sure there are still people out there who could really use the emotional support of not feeling alone. I don’t really get how those famous people who did start this movement didn’t want to actually continue with it? Didn’t they see how much good they were doing for so many people? Or how it really helped the community? And like, didn’t people donate to that organization? Is this all some weird money laundering conspiracy now?
This news is disappointing, but not at all surprising. The movement came off as unorganized and unspecific from the start, less about activism and more about calling out. That's not to say that bringing light to abhorrent behavior is wrong, but that's a much different mission than providing support to victims -- financially, emotionally, or otherwise. Part of the reason BLM has grown since its inception is because the effort to organize and establish a clear mission. If Times Up wants to rebuild, I think it would be wise to look at BLM and figure out what BLM does right. It's fine if Times Up only wants to focus on the entertainment industry, that might be the best place to start, but if they do so, they need to support all women in the industry, not just household names. And it can't be about "bringing someone down" -- it has to be about empowering women and creating a better society.
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