Hollywood's Reaction

[KMCINVA]

I was talking with a few people and we had the same reaction. Hollywood's reaction of the disclosures of sexual abuse and harassment has been swift--from the firing of Weinstein, Spacey, Grasham, Venit and the others--fired from their company, fired from TV shows and movies as well as talent agencies. We remarked unlike the other institutions from the churches, educational, etc, they did not lawyer up and go into denial mode. Those institutions that did are still burdened by their need for lawyers and controlling the flow of information related to the abuses. Maybe this is a step in the right direction and others will follow.

Maybe I am trying to see a silver lining that the future will be different for survivors.

Kevin

 

[Greg56]

I've heard of all but...spacey. Is that Kevin Spacey?

I once heard an interview with Corey Feldman. He was talking about being abused (although he didn't realize it at the time) between the actor's trailers by a producer. He tried convincing Corey(something, Heim maybe?) who he had done many movies together and were good friends, into doing the same thing with him. He said that he told the other Corey how much fun it was. The other Corey committed suicide some years later. I think it was a Heroin overdose.

I hope you're right...in that at least someone is taking the appropriate steps.

much love
Greg

 

[C. E.]

Hi, Kevin -

I hear you, and I do appreciate your hopeful tone. I tend to look for those silver linings myself. But I don't think we are seeing any epiphany of conscience here. A significant factor at play here is that Hollywood is a stage - in so many ways.

Consider that it took over ten years of known abuse for Penn State to be exposed - and that was only because they could no longer keep the antics of a former assistant coach of the Penn State football machine under wraps. Consider that Corey Feldman has been carrying this banner of wide-spread sexual abuse in Hollywood for years, and was largely dismissed as an eccentric. It took a Harvey Weinstein to bust it all open. It took a Kevin Spacey. It took a march of celebrities who felt safe enough to share their stories.

And this is why I don't think any fundamentals have changed. The same rats that have been turning a blind eye to Weinstein or Spacey for years are the first ones to distance themselves from them once they are uncovered. The interest of those "rats" in either case is precisely the same: self preservation. Once these high-profile characters are exposed publicly, they are worthless and a sudden liability to the reputations of those who once were willing to overlook their indiscretions to reap the benefits. Look no further than Jimmy Savile to find another example of how this works in the very public business of television and film. Nobody came forward out of courage or conscience - only when the lid of secrecy could no longer cover the enormity of the crimes. This is not an epiphany. It is the attainment of critical mass.

Until institutional heads decide it is more important to take care of the more vulnerable ones in their charge than to take care of themselves, nothing changes. We are seeing the same stuff - only in a different form.

 

[KMCINVA]

Eirik

Thank you for your comments. I am trying to get to a place where I can openly and verbally help other survivors. I look for signs where people speak out and the response is positive and supportive. As you correctly stated, the response for many is driven by some whose concerns are not out of compassion but rather survival for the business, their economic risks, and for many their own fears and denials. But I still am happy to see the number of people coming forward to confront their past that was impacted by people in the movie industry, Congress and the latest a Senator who is seeking re-election. This issue of sexual abuse is an issue that goes back since the beginning of time.

I have trouble understanding why people cannot fathom the depth of pain of a survivor, why they cannot face reality or their own demons as well as the pain the recognition of others suffering may impact them.

I do hope this is a turning point, I am trying to have hope for all survivors and selfishly for myself.

Best wishes,

Kevin

 

[Bluedogone]

Hi Kevin,

I'm glad you're hopeful that this may be a turning point in the attitude to reporting of sexual abuse. There's always hope.
But I have to wholeheartedly agree with Eirik on this.

The all new "outrage and action" seems to me to be just a passing fad. Soon the headlines will shift to another scandal or story, and this phenomenon will pass quietly.

In the early days of Hollywood, Fatty Arbuckle and Ramon Navarro were well known predators, but the outrage came only after it was impossible to keep them out of the headlines. Their separate scandals were a potential threat to Hollywood. Several people at the time stepped forward. Fast forward to the '50's, 60's it was a not so well kept "secret" that among others, Judy Garland seduced the young James Dean who was also "known" to prostitute himself from time to time. It only became headlines and reported when it was no longer possible to control the press coverage. Of course today, partly thanks to Weinstein, there's Cory Feldman who knows 5 or 6 predators now working in Hollywood. He also knew them right after his friend Corey Heim's death, and right after Michael Jackson's bad publicity. These 5 or 6 apparently will be revealed if he can crowdfund $10 million for a movie.

I waited years before I even acknowledged to myself that I was abused, even when 5 different guys helped themselves, so I probably have no right to question why someone didn't step forward. But Hollywood's history of "playing to the audience" when it comes to reporting predators leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[Chris4TheMill]

My first thoughts were that a few factors are in play here:

1) Hollywood's fortunes are way more sensitive to public opinion than the fortunes of churches or educational institutions. So as Eirik and Bluedogone said, this is likely to be more self-preservation and damage control than actual moral enlightenment.

That being said, why now? This has been going on for decades.
I think it has to do with the political climate, specifically the last election.

2) So many women - and men - are still raging against the president for what they see as his similar, alleged crimes against women (although strangely, Bill Clinton gets a pass, but I digress...). Well they have not been able to prevent his election, nor have they been able to take him down. So when a Weinstein or a Seagal or a Toback or a Ratner or even a Spacey comes along, guess what? Those men become the stand-in, or the effigy, to direct the rage at. They represent power that is used oppressively, like Trump is viewed. They represent an oppressive power structure that uses economic leverage to extract special demeaning "favors" from weaker members of it's socioeconomic structure.

I really don't think this would have happened without the Trump election. Just my two cents....

Still, these swift moves can only bode well for the future and will likely help others avoid the same, so I don't see this movement of justice / punishment as being entirely worthy of pessimism or cynicism. I think we can also just say that there is justifiable anger there that is finally getting heard.

Maybe 20 years late, but better late than never. Justice is justice, it doesn't need a hall pass if it arrives late.

 

[KMCINVA]

I think for me the most disturbing aspect of all this is that many are now coming out and saying the "stories" have been around for years and these people remained silent. I believe this was the case in Penn State, the Church and other institutions--we will never know how many people kept and still are keeping silent what they heard or knew of someone's abuse. I hope in the future the silence of those in the know or suspect something is wrong will have the courage to come forward, to be there for the survivor.

I guess only time will tell the impact of these disclosures on society and allowing the survivor to have a sense of safety to disclose.

Kevin

 

[C. E.]

I hope in the future the silence of those in the know or suspect something is wrong will have the courage to come forward

...One seemingly benign and simple sentence which understates precisely what will most effectively decrease future membership at MaleSurvivor.org.

 

[MarkK]

the other method of decreasing membership isn't worth the cost ...

 

[Suwanee]

Everyone raises valid points here, and I think the Hollywood reaction reflects a variety of factors converging at this moment. Here's a few I've identified:

1) Money. Hollywood runs on money which is in the form of funding for new production, talent, and yes, box office receipts. Like traditional brick and mortar retail, Hollywood is experiencing a de-centralization of the entertainment business along with new disruptors to the traditional method of delivering product to the consumer. This isn't the 1980s. They *have* to take action. Inaction as an action no longer works.

2) A "critical mass" of incidents has pushed the establishment to react swiftly to preserve and protect the commodity now that very large names are public. Now, the industry can no longer be saved by sacrificing a young/up-and-coming actor's career by denigrating or threatening he/she to toe the party line or else.

3) The cases we are seeing involve males and females. Although Corey Feldman was written off as a loon by many of the power brokers, his years of allegations now have much more merit--even if the SOL may be up.

4) The legacy of recent, but albeit long-running scandals involving churches, scouts, and Penn State serves as a cautionary example of how not to handle a crisis of this type.

5) The political climate is decidedly different. People (maybe I'm speaking for myself) are not in a mood to be trifled with. The current occupant of the White House is on tape gloating about this sort of thing--keeping in mind this was a known quantity, not a post-hoc character discovery. This to me *has* to trigger a deep-seated sense of societal unease regardless of how one voted in 2016.

6) Finally, for a paradigm shift in how society approaches sexual abuse, I'm looking to see if the "blame the victim" mentality is waning. We're seeing some encouraging signs right now. I'll feel even better if it's sustained beyond the headline phase of the news cycle.


Will

 

[C. E.]

the other method of decreasing membership isn't worth the cost ...

Nor do I suspect anywhere near as effective.

 

[JustScott]

In my opinion Hollywoods's "reaction" is purely self motivated to try and look good and decent despite that many who should have done or said something long long ago.

They dump Weinstein and Spacey real quick... based purely on allegations, but good ole Roman Polanski is still worshiper and adored and hasn't been stripped of his various memberships and honers and he was fucking convicted and even plead guilty!!!!!

Please, Hollywood is a cesspit and before all this came up they were in trouble with declining ticket sales.... this would have further put the nails in their collective coffins, and so they HAD to do something to try and save their collective asses, but their disgusting and blatant hypocrisy shows very very clearly if you are looking in the right places.