GOD is dead. His wife has left him, he’s facing a string of sexual abuse allegations and been hung out to dry by his own company.
The working life of Harvey Weinstein, the film producer once christened a deity by Hollywood goddess Meryl Streep, is over. He’s now a lengthy court case waiting to happen and very possibly the subject of bio-pic (made by The Weinstein Co?)
And what a story it will make, of the man who gave us classy movies such as The King’s Speech and Sex Lies and Videotape, this socially aware liberal who turns out to be a bloated sleazebucket.
Yet, the script will ask serious questions; why was Weinstein, as is claimed, allowed to trash lives and reputations for twenty-five years? And who else is culpable?
Writers will look hard at his support system, the women whom The New Yorker magazines describes as “honeytraps”, who’d turn up at meetings with their boss and the young acting hopefuls - then conveniently vanish. They will look closely at TWC’s four company co-directors who have now resigned, and ask how much they knew of his repugnant behaviour.
But the bio-pic will surely focus on Weinstein’s POV, whereby his character will argue the casting couch was standard business furniture – and still is. He will suggest the allure of the stage, the promise of stardom, however nebulous, is still as powerful as in the days Joan Crawford and Marilyn Monroe slept their way to the top, (with Monroe later describing Hollywood as “an overcrowded brothel,”), that women are somehow complicit.
Yet, what of the Weinstein’s alleged victims? BBC Scotland’s Kaye Adams yesterday revealed a quarter of women in Britain claimed to have suffered sexual harassment, yet only 13 per reported it. Is this because, as in Hollywood, women fear reprisal and career suicide?
They can’t be blamed. But can law enforcement agencies? The New York Times says the city’s police have been trying to capture Weinstein for years. But the system works against itself. “If someone reported they were robbed the police wouldn’t say ‘Are you sure you didn’t mean to give them your television set,’” says film-maker Amy Ziering, poignantly.
Yet, police argue complaints are often complicated by detail. Italian actress Asia Argento, cast by Weinstein in B. Monkey in 1999, claimed she was forced to perform a sex act to land a role. Yet in the intervening years admits she had consensual sex.
Is the media guilty? Did some back off when heavy hitters such as Matt Damon and Russell Crowe were drafted into Team Harvey, to make pleas to reporters. (Damon now denies this.)
And a debate is now raging about women being paid off by Weinstein in exchange for signing a non-disclosure agreement. Newsnight’s Evan Davis put it to Amy Ziering that payment is acceptance of a crime. Ziering demurred, understandably. Yet, the reality is accepting payment is an enabler for abusers to continue.
What was also an enabler, argues Scream actress Rose McGowan, is silence. McGowan Tweeted “Ladies of Hollywood, your silence is deafening.” She’s right. It’s great that Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow have now come forward to join the accusers, and a chorus of disapproval has struck up now from the likes of Kate Winslet and Julianne but why wait until the floodgates are open?
Tinseltown is a tiny village, and many don’t wish to throw rocks at the palace walls for all the obvious reasons. Yet, while a Miramax secretary may stay schtum, or indeed a hopeful actress, what of an established star? Did the LA smog deafen eardrums to rumours or blind eyes to Tina Fey’s incredibly bold 2012 episode of sitcom 30 Rock in which Jane Krakowski’s character declared “I’m not afraid of anyone in showbiz. I turned down intercourse with Harvey Weinstein on no less than three occasions – out of five. I’m fine.”?
The film of Weinstein’s fall from grace may feature a defence, of sorts, from Lynsey Lohan, but she’s cracked in the head. Donna Karen has also sided with the producer, resulting in the fashion designer being described by Rose McGowan as “scum in a fancy dress.”
The comment at least suggests abuse victims’ voices are being amplified. Yet, we need to look at a legal system that allows for men to buy their way out of jail by giving their victims money. We need to question how a monetary value can be placed on human dignity – a scheme that allows the perpetrator to continue to run amok and wreck lives.
What’s also needed is the end to the contracts of employment in which employees are forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement whereby they can’t reveal sexual impropriety, as was the case with TWC.
Focus on these issues and the casting couches won’t all be humphed off to the council skip anytime soon. But they will be used less frequently. And the Weinstein bio-pic will have a happy ending, with women no longer seen as little more than playful prey.
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