The Chris Moeller Archives

Hollywood harassment

Some opinions on sexual harassment, Hollywoodland, and the news media, in the order that they occur to me…

1. One shouldn’t be so naïve as to believe that Hollywood was immune from this behavior on a large-scale basis, either because it’s in “woke” California or representative of some sort of ultra-modern industry. If anything, the entertainment business is likely among the worst environments for women. There’s an implicit understanding within the visual media that physical attractiveness is an acceptable characteristic to consider in hiring, with talent being very subjective and arguably meaningless. By that I mean, acting talent is an important ingredient in the quality of a particular production, but not necessarily in the profitability of that production. Talent there is, by and large, very disposable. Conditions are ripe.

2. I have had nothing but women as immediate supervisors at my work going back across two careers, five individual leaders, and 19 years. I can’t explain what a gratifyingly ideal it is to have the experience I have had and not to have dealt with any issues ever. I've taken that for granted, but shouldn't. Everybody should want a woman as their boss, based on my experience, regardless of the industry in which they work. Why don’t we have more women in charge? Aside: Do women have the same level of sex drive as men? I believe so, yes. Do they have the same sense of entitlement and license? No.


3. If I was given only one axe to grind on this topic, I would have to whet the protection of “innocent until proven guilty.” These now-daily reports are sickening in the details, but I refuse to let emotion cloud any of it. It is exactly wrong that all accusers deserve to be believed. I don’t know who came up with that. All those that are accused and deny the charges deserve to be believed until they-- and we-- have been presented with the evidence, and they have been allowed to defend themselves against it, and even then we should recognize the imperfections of the justice system. We are naturally skeptical of charges of crimes-- I hope, and that’s as it should be. I do not care if this gets me labeled as insensitive to this issue of sexual assault. I’m not going to apply a standard to sexual harassment or even rape that I don’t apply to murder or any other heinous crime. Professed victims of crimes deserve to have their charges investigated to their fullest, and without the threat of harassment, and if that's what's meant by "deserve to be believed," then I'm with that completely. But when charges are denied, I'm going to go with the evidence. Weinstein makes it easy because his comments today indicate he still doesn't get it.

4. I simply stop reading if I read an article that links the alleged predatory behavior of Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, James Toback, Brett Ratner, and others within the Hollywood power circle to the political phenomenon that is Donald Trump-- if it then does not also link it as well to the legacy and the facts of the public life of Bill Clinton. To a man, the behavior these guys are accused of engaging in predates this time last year when Trump was elected, and also to a man, these are all Bill Clinton supporters going back to the 1990’s (as Trump was also for years). If there is anything in the political landscape that enabled the actions that we’re finding out now, it was the free pass that Bill Clinton got from self-described liberals and feminists when he was accused by Paula Jones and Juanita Broddrick of predatory behavior. He earned that pass only because he was pro-choice, and attached to it has been a very damaging legacy for the Left.

5. That’s all that the rest of us needed was one more issue where Trump gets to claim a victory because the Clintons’ financiers are revealed to be hypocrites.

6. I have more understanding for Hollywood denizens like Matt Damon and Quentin Tarantino, who reportedly knew of, or were witness to Weinstein’s behavior but said nothing. They both say they regret their inaction. If we’re going to cut the victims a break for not reporting assaults for fear of reprisal, then we also have to cut a break for onlookers that were subject to the same fear. When some of these people heard rumors and stayed silent, maybe that’s because they were rightfully aware of the lack of physical evidence in many of the cases and the risk of a defamation suit. Indeed, Ratner let loose with a very expensive defamation suit against an accuser this week.

7. It's all so icky, so warped. Corey Feldman says he’s going to name his sexual abusers, but first he needs several hundred thousands of crowd-sourced dollars to reveal the names as part of a movie that he’s planning to produce. And can a person emerge from the closet in a less affirming way then Kevin Spacey just did? He hides his homosexuality for decades and then he comes out in what certainly seems likes a ploy to change the focus of an attempted assault on a minor that he doesn't deny took place.

8. I’m not giving any pieces of art back. I still plan to watch and take pleasure in Weinstein Company movies and in the handful of Kevin Spacey performances that I really enjoy, just as I won’t give up the Cosby Show.

posted by CM @ 9:59 PM