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Flat White

Golden Globes: black is the new black

8 January 2018

5:07 PM

8 January 2018

5:07 PM

The stars have all arrived at the red carpet for the 75th Golden Globe awards, most of them wearing black in solidarity with #MeToo, or as LA street artist Sabo puts it, “We All Knew”:

Hollywood’s hypocrisy is truly breathtaking. There must be a handful of people in the industry who over the years have not heard about Harvey Wesinstein and other sleazebags and predators – and no one said a word or did anything. But now that at least some of it is out in the open – outrage! Outrage and black dresses and more outrage!

Just like the Germans after the war – “But we knew nothing” – except the Germans had the good sense not to protest too much.

Hollywood elites attending the latest self-congratulating awards ceremony … get a rude reminder: That they “all knew” about Harvey Weinstein’s alleged predatory behavior.

L.A. street artist Sabo posted several pieces of art around Rodeo Drive, just in time for Sunday’s Golden Globes awards show.

One poster features show host and Hillary lackey Seth Meyers…

Sabo put a deified Weinstein on a bench, adding a quote from Meryl Streep, when the famed actress once referred to the serial harasser as “god”…

Streep has attempted to deflect questions about her awareness by attacking President Trump.

Of course she did.

“What we are seeing and hearing coming out now is a fraction of the ugly reality in this town,” a prominent producer says of the sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations that have emerged out of Hollywood in recent months. “And it’s going to ultimately stay small, trust me,” she adds.

Three months to the day after the New York Times first published its detailed exposé alleging decades of sexual harassment and sexual assault by Harvey Weinstein, a female producer, agent, actress and a showrunner all told Deadline they fear a backlash against women who initiate allegations of sexual harassment or sexual assault against A-list men — especially at the studios, networks and uber-agencies.

Probably just in case every man in Hollywood gets outed.

When Hollywood’s most prestigious organization, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) — the group of nearly 7,000 actors, directors and other industry types who dole out the Oscars — expelled Harvey Weinstein on Oct. 14,audiences applauded. But by acting so swiftly, a mere nine days after the New York Times first reported allegations of sexual assault against the movie producer, the outfit now finds itself facing a dilemma.

Put simply: What to do with the rest of them?

“Harvey opened the floodgates,” said one male Academy member. “Now the Academy’s drowning in a tide of s—t. They don’t know what hit them.”

But a useful reminder, in “The New York Times” of all places, that the “Pervnado” has also seen in dangerous blurring of concepts:

The women I know — of all ages — have responded by and large with a mixture of slightly horrified excitement (bordering on titillation) as to who will be the next man accused and overt disbelief.

Publicly, they say the right things, expressing approval and joining in the chorus of voices that applaud the takedown of maleficent characters who prey on vulnerable women in the workplace.

In private it’s a different story. “Grow up, this is real life,” I hear these same feminist friends say. “What ever happened to flirting?” and “What about the women who are the predators?” Some women, including random people I talk to in supermarket lines, have gone so far as to call it an outright witch hunt…

What happened to women’s agency? That’s what I find myself wondering as I hear story after story of adult women who helplessly acquiesce to sexual demands. I find it especially curious given that a majority of women I know have been in situations in which men have come on to them — at work or otherwise. They have routinely said, “I’m not interested” or “Get your hands off me right now.” And they’ve taken the risk that comes with it.

The fact that such unwelcome advances persist, and often in the office, is, yes, evidence of sexism and the abusive power of the patriarchy. But I don’t believe that scattershot, life-destroying denunciations are the way to upend it. In our current climate, to be accused is to be convicted. Due process is nowhere to be found.

And what exactly are men being accused of? What is the difference between harassment and assault and “inappropriate conduct”? There is a disturbing lack of clarity about the terms being thrown around and a lack of distinction regarding what the spectrum of objectionable behavior really is. Shouldn’t sexual harassment, for instance, imply a degree of hostility? Is kissing someone in affection, however inappropriately, or showing someone a photo of a nude male torso necessarily predatory behavior?

We’ll just wear more black and all will be well.

Arthur Chrenkoff blogs at The Daily Chrenk where this piece also appears.

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