Former film magnate Harvey Weinstein has been accused of harassing or assaulting over 47 different women.
Recently, the New York Times and The New Yorker uncovered decades of sexual harassment and assault allegations against the famed Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. For years, these rumors trailed Weinstein, and, finally, news outlets verified and published the reports. It appears that Mr. Weinstein has been paying women hundreds of thousands of dollars to keep their accusations under wraps. There is also evidence that Mr. Weinstein ruined the careers of at least some of the women who attempted to bring his behavior to the light.
With his brother Bob Weinstein co-founded Miramax in 1979 and has been one of the most influential figures in Hollywood ever since. He has produced many award-winning films, including Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love, The English Patient, and Sex, Lies, and Videotapes. He is known to be a liberal icon, hosting events and donating to Democratic candidates, including Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama.
This case adds Weinstein’s name to the list of powerful men in the media — including Bill O’Reilly, Bill Cosby, and Roger Ailes—who have recently been outed for long patterns of sexual misconduct. We are hearing the same story over and over: Prominent male figure uses his power to get away with sexually abusing women for a long time. Eventually a reporter will break through all of the roadblocks to getting news of this published and are finally able to accuse him publicly for years of horrendous behavior.
It is a horrifying story, but what is more horrifying is people’s shock. Friends, colleagues, and the public are always surprised when a scandal of this sort arises. We need to stop. We need to see that this is a pattern. This is still an integral part of how Hollywood, the media, and the greater business world operates. It is 2017, and women’s rights have come so far, but we often forget how much further we have to go. If we don’t recognize this as the reality, we have no hope of changing it. It is only when we can admit our failures that we can start to grow.
This is not to say we should normalize or accept this behavior. We need to admit to this so we can make a point to teach people this is not acceptable. We need to teach people what to do, why not to sexually harass others, what to do if you are harassed sexually, and what to do if you find out it is happening to someone else.
The pain in recognizing sexual harassment is what is stopping us from progress as a society, but also as artists. If we continue this way then we are never going to able to hear the ideas and see the work of a large part of the population. Many just won’t play by the rules that the sexiest hierarchy sets. If this is the reality then we will never be able to fully see the human experience in art. We need to see a pattern, recognize it, and stop it for the good of art and therefore the progress of society.
