Now that Matt Lauer has been taken down by the sexual harassment tidal wave sweeping the nation, it's hard not to wonder how Harvey Weinstein reacts each time he hears about another man being brought low.
He must absolutely love it, in a misery-loves-company sort of way. For him, each new scandal must be like a mug of hot cocoa on a cold winter day.
Each time a new figure gets accused of some sort of sexual misbehavior, his own crimes fade just a little bit more.
The accusations that have been made against various men range from the ridiculously inconsequential (dirty talk and relatively mild overtures) to the serious (actual assault and rape, and not just as defined by the third wave feminists).
The more actual assaults there've been, the smaller a piece of the overall picture Weinstein's crimes were. And the more silly accusations that get made, the stronger the backlash will be when enough people finally realize that to some extent, men are simply being penalized for being, at worst, ill-mannered.
And both of those things benefit Weinstein, if only in a vague and indirect way.
Of course, Weinstein is reportedly guilty of several rapes, along with a number of other less serious, but boorish behaviors.
So, whatever backlash ensues won't help him.
Nonetheless, he must delight in each new scandal. Maybe, in his own twisted way, he even takes "credit" for them coming to light.
After he gets out of prison, and after he settles the various lawsuits, how will Weinstein present himself? You have to think there's going to be a certain amount of reinvention involved. Maybe he'll become seriously religious, a la Ivan Boesky. Maybe he'll try to present himself as one who has seen the light and repented, and even become an advocate for women. Or, maybe he just avoids all publicity.
It'll be interesting to see.
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7 comments:
Hate to be Mark the Marxist here but I wonder how much of the problem is caused by Rose or Lauer making 100 times more then the people they are working with(young female assistants). I wonder if over time, this causes a subtle change in attitude. Now the big money guys are going to get the press but it seems like the very highest profile TV guys are having the most problems(throw O'Reilly into the mix). Personally, I wish management would show this much backbone when negotiating contracts with their stars but I don't think that change is coming.
Mark the Marxist --
I think you're right, actually, that definitely has something to do with it.
But maybe evermore than that, I think a lot of these guys just have a certain learned narcissism from having been celebrities for so long. And they get used to women falling at their feet, so when they encounter a little resistance, their instincts tell them to push forward anyway. It's a sort of sloppiness that comes with having been celebrated too long.
I am amazed by the number of people who are happy with the news of Matt Lauer's firing (having noticed this via different websites).
- birdie
Birdie --
I haven't been to any other websites, but it's understandable. He came across pretty smug. And, I'm not sure of this, but I got the impression he's the type of liberal who paid lip service to feminism and who probably would have expressed horror at Trump's hyperbolic comment about grabbing women by the pussy.
Many people thought him to be as you described smug, arrogant, a bully, etc. Not many people are saddened by his downfall. The only people I feel for would be his wife and children.
- birdie
Fair point about the sloppiness. Particularly in Rose's case, the extreme age disparity that arose in the last ten or fifteen years probably changed the social dynamic of these situations(he is 75). Rose may not have been self aware enough to realize that. How the women reacted to him was different now then in the 80's, the cultural that those women grew up was different then Rose's childhood. Also, the fact that he was probably older then their dad was, I would think, a turn off.
Anon (Mark?) --
Yes, true about Rose. The other dynamic working with him is that he was quite good-looking when he was younger, so that was another reason he expected them to fall at his feet. He probably looked in the mirror and saw the guy he had been, rather than the old man he'd become.
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