This harassment thing is the gift that keeps on giving. This time, some Hollywood chickies have put together a video because nothing changes the world like a video. This group includes Jennifer Lawrence, Nicole Kidman, Emma Stone, Gal Gadot, Margot Robbie, Jessica Chastain, Mary J. Blige and beatch Jake Gyllenhaal. In this video these women bravely tell us "I will not be silent."
Uh... ok.
Of course, if we're being honest, what they are really saying is "I will not be silent another 30 years as I let known predators rape other women."
But hey, that's still cool.
Um... wait. If we're being completely honest, then I think we also need to mention that they all seemed to claim that many men had harassed them and yet they only identified Harvey Weinstein. So really what they are saying is: "I will not be silent another 30 years as I let known predators rape other women unless you're talking about men other than Harvey Weinstein, in which event I shall indeed remain silent."
Ya know, this might not be so brave after all.
Uh... ok.
Of course, if we're being honest, what they are really saying is "I will not be silent another 30 years as I let known predators rape other women."
But hey, that's still cool.
Um... wait. If we're being completely honest, then I think we also need to mention that they all seemed to claim that many men had harassed them and yet they only identified Harvey Weinstein. So really what they are saying is: "I will not be silent another 30 years as I let known predators rape other women unless you're talking about men other than Harvey Weinstein, in which event I shall indeed remain silent."
Ya know, this might not be so brave after all.
Better late than never. Sex abuse doesn't get less wrong because time has passed, though there is of course a statute of limitations for prosecution.
ReplyDeleteLike I said several weeks ago this raising of the bar is tripping up a lot of people that in a wide range of industries. Policies on the books have always been tough but a lot of exceptions were made for favorites. Old previously ignored evidence is now being used and (rather than new never before heard allegations) is driving a lot of these quick falls.
On a related note the Santa Barbara Police just discovered a 1993 tape of Corey Feldman naming the people who he says abused him as a child. He's long done this weird thing where he alleges widespread pedophilia in Hollywood but refuses to name names, saying he has already talked to the police (which they had denied).
I think that all of this started out as a healthy purge, but now it is going into witch-hunt/McCarthyist territory where anyone who looked at a women and smiled is being accused of "rape". But then that goes along with bandwagon jumping #Metoo brigade and the "martyrdom" and self-sacrificing (with full lifetime pensions intact) act of our swamp-dwelling Congress Critters falling all over themselves in their parade of Batman-like Virtue Signalling.
ReplyDeleteI actually saw a headline in the NY Daily News extolling the virtuous Al Franken throwing himself on the sword of self-sacrifice while Trump and Moore are allowed to...what, I am not quite sure.
Bev, I'm going to disagree.
ReplyDelete1. This started when a couple women (Rose McGowan in particular) went nuclear. A group of second tier actresses then piled on... eventually forcing the women who will not be silent to mention that they too were raped by Weinstein.
2. Then it turned into a purge of a handful of true predators.
3. Then it turned into a movement in name which only of women vowing never to allow this "epidemic" again even as they refused to name names, refused to lobby for actual changes, and protected the predators they liked.
4. Now it's turned into a revenge thing/witch hunt thing, but an impotent one where the only people to get in trouble are people who report to boards of directors who are afraid to face multiple rape charges.
At the same time, we are in the virtue signal phase now, which is what this "I will not be silent" crap is. They are still silent and plan to remain silent but it sounds brave to say they will actually say something in the future.
P.S. The Al Franken stuff drives me nuts. Liberals are now patting themselves on the back for being willing to dump their own predators... sometimes... when the pressure becomes too much to bear... and it's expedient.
ReplyDeleteAnthony, "Better late than never". I'm not entirely sure what is better late than never since (1) these women didn't really speak out against Weinstein until he was dead and on the spit already, (2) they still refuse to name the others, (3) they defend the ones they like, and (4) they took zero steps to make any actual changes.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I have had a problem with through all of these accusations is the knee-jerk reactions to them. Careers, reputations, and lives are being destroyed. If the men are guilty, so be it, but much of this is happening on the word of an accuser and in the face of denial by the accused. If they deny it, shouldn't they have the chance to defend themselves before all is stripped from them?
ReplyDeleteAndrew - I actually think we are on exactly the same page. Except this all started years ago on college campuses. And it's not just a women's issue. It's also a Yuuuge gay issue that is kind of being pushed aside 'cause the SJW's can't really pin that kind of sexual assault on Trump..
ReplyDeleteBut all of the politicians who are "forcing their colleagues to resign are only doing it for political expediency. Kirsten Gillibrand was lionizing Franken and Conyers as great leaders until she realized she's up for reelection next year. She can't be caught with that on her record...er...conscience.
Stacy, that bothers me too - the whole "We must believe women" no matter what 'cause who would make this kind of humiliation up"? Answer: More than we'd care to think would.
ReplyDeleteBev, Stacy, RE: who would make this up? Two brief anecdotes. First, my divorce was ugly; my ex alleged just about everything against me, including you-know-what. Second, in college I crashed after a party. One girl tried to crash in the same room and her friends dragged her out. One came back to tell me that the girl had a habit of making rape claims and they were keeping an eye on her.
ReplyDeleteI understand why Feldman wouldn't name names on TV, especially if the police were denying the interview. First of all, that's easy evidence that law enforcement isn't backing him up. And making such accusations opens him up to charges of calumny.
ReplyDeleteBev, A girl I dated briefly in college said I was harassing her. It turns out that she had a history of making harassment claims at the school -- prior female roommate and professor. In my case, she first blamed me. Then she slowly added the dorm RA and her boss. The school was ready to sacrifice us all until one day when she called the school's dean to say that I had just come to her door and threatened her... only, I was sitting in the dean's office at that very moment. Whoops.
ReplyDeleteSo I am well aware of how easily false claims are made.
Later, as a lawyers I ran across a certain female attorney each of whom's clients alleged harassment and rape in divorce proceedings. Gee, what are the chances?
Tryanmax, Andrew and any other man similarly situated: It is time for this part of the story to come out too. I suggest men start their own #MeToo campaign against women who have done what you all have written. That's why the "We Must Believe ALL Women" campaign was so scary.
ReplyDeleteBev, I agree. The "all women must be believed" campaign is scary. It's is designed to allow the use of false allegations as a weapon.
ReplyDelete