The Weinstein factor: A catalyst for real change?
Published in The Australian Jewish News
October 19, 2017
Harvey Weinstein is a name that has been inescapable over the past two weeks.
The Hollywood heavyweight is at the centre of a media storm amidst a grotesque string of allegations of rape, sexual assault and harassment spanning three decades.
While it all began with a New York Times article alleging Weinstein paid off sexual harassment accusers for years, a subsequent piece in The New Yorker detailed the harrowing accounts of women who had allegedly experienced sexual assault and harassment by the co-founder of Miramax and the Weinstein Company.
Yet, as each day passes, it seems another claim comes to the fore from another actress, model, journalist or former employee.
At the time of print, 51 women have made accusations against Weinstein, among them Angelina Jolie, Ashley Judd and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Each testimony follows a familiar pattern: Weinstein showed interest in a “pretty girl”, then lured her to his hotel room with the promise of a confidential discussion about the prospects of an upcoming role, where he would then launch his assault. When resisted, he would use the threat of his status, promising the woman that if she did not comply, she would never get another role again.
And more often than not, the threat would become reality, with many women attesting serious damage to their acting careers for not falling to the Weinstein whim. Then would come the harassment, with many paid off or intimidated into silence.
It was the perfect formula: brandishing sex as a weapon of power and control, fed by shame and silence.
As details have emerged of Weinstein’s alleged behaviour over the decades, one is left asking, how? How, in this age of the ever-present smart phone, eager to tweet, snap and share, has one of Hollywood’s best-kept secrets evaded the spotlight? As director Judd Apatow asks, what about the people who were signing the cheques for all these years?