Page 30 - aruba today

A30 PEOPLE/ARTS
Tuesday 10 OcTOber 2017
In Harvey Weinstein’s downfall, a

moment of reckoning for Hollywood

By JAKE COYLE stein. “One thing can be clari-
AP Film Writer The movie business has fied. Not everybody knew,”
NEW YORK (AP) — If in a found it increasingly difficult said Streep, who called
movie, Harvey Weinstein to shy away from questions Weinstein’s behavior “inex-
would probably cut the about how it treats women. cusable.” ‘’Harvey support-
scenes of sexual harass- Studies have shown year ed the work fiercely, was
ment that have been after year how few female exasperating but respect-
described against him. directors are hired for ma- ful with me in our work-
They’re too cliché. jor productions. Just four ing relationship, and with
The hotel room seductions, percent of the top movies many others with whom
the massage requests, at the box office in 2016 he worked professionally.
In this Jan. 6, 2016 file photo, producer Harvey Weinstein partici- the coercive suggestions. were directed by women, I didn’t know about these
pates in the “War and Peace” panel at the A&E 2016 Winter TCA They are, as the Los Ange- according to the University other offenses.”
in Pasadena, Calif. les Times editorial board of California’s Annenberg Patricia Arquette, Lena
Associated Press called them, “classics of School of Communication Dunham, Mark Ruffalo, Brie
the genre.” The encounters and Journalism. The dis- Larson, Kevin Smith, Judd
depict a Hollywood culture parity prompted a federal Apatow, Julianne Moore
immediately recognizable, investigation by the Equal and many others have
one where power-broker Employment Opportunity voiced their support for
sleaziness is an accepted Commission. the women involved. But
and acknowledged part of A pay gap, too, has been among Weinstein’s asso-
the business. brought to the forefront ciates, the majority of re-
Hollywood now finds itself by vocal stars like Jenni- sponders have been wom-
in a crisis not just because fer Lawrence and Emma en. Others, including Lena
one of its most prominent Stone. The best-paid stars, Dunham in an op-ed piece
moguls has been dis- the majority of the execu- for The New York Times,
graced and fired from the tive jobs and most of the have implored a stronger
company he co-founded, filmmakers remain over- reaction from male stars
but because the allega- whelmingly male in Holly- and industry leaders.
tions against him describe wood. “The reason I am zeroing
a dark underbelly of the Such a male-dominated in on the men is that they
movie business rarely scru- culture could have contrib- have the least to lose and
tinized outside the industry. uted to the conditions that the most power to shift
It’s a moment of reckoning allowed the alleged inci- the narrative, and are
for a Hollywood that has dents involving Weinstein probably not dealing with
faced increasing scrutiny to occur, and to remain the same level of collec-
over its treatment of wom- quiet. tive and personal trauma
en, from pay equality to fair “It’s been an open secret,” around these allegations,”
employment opportunity said Greta Gerwig, who Dunham wrote.
behind the camera. makes her directorial de- If this is to be a turning point
Weinstein’s ouster may but in the upcoming “Lady for Hollywood, more must
have been a long time Bird.” ‘’It just makes me re- be done, Rose McGowan
coming, with allegations ally sad and it makes me told The Hollywood Re-
going back to 1990. (Wein- really depressed but not porter. The Times reported
stein is yet to respond to surprised. What can you that McGowan settled
directly though on Thurs- say? I really admire Ashley with Weinstein in 1997 af-
day he apologized for the Judd. It’s scary to do.” ter an incident in a hotel
pain he’s caused.) But by On Thursday, The New York room during the Sundance
apparently bringing down Times reported that Wein- Film Festival. Last year, Mc-
such a pivotal figure — the stein reached settlements Gowan said on Twitter that
kind that has long been with at least eight women she was raped by a studio
considered untouchable over sexual harassment al- boss whom she declined to
because of industry and legations. Judd also de- name.
legal might — many see a scribed an incident two “Men in Hollywood need
watershed moment for the decades ago in which she to change ASAP,” Mc-
industry. said Weinstein invited her to Gowan said on Sunday.
“There is a tectonic shift go- his hotel room, greeted her “Hollywood’s power is dy-
ing on with people having wearing a bathrobe and ing because society has
the courage to say, ‘No asked if he could give her changed and grown, and
more,’” said Melissa Silver- a massage or if she would yet Hollywood male be-
stein, the founder and pub- watch him shower. havior has not. It is so not a
lisher of Women and Hol- In the aftermath of the ex- good look.”
lywood, an influential blog pose, many have voiced It’s been an especially bad
that advocates for gender their support for Judd and look lately for realms of the
equality in Hollywood. “The other alleged victims. On movie business both high
climate about the conver- Monday, some of the ac- and low. In August, allega-
sation in gender in Holly- tresses who have frequently tions of sexual assault led
wood has clearly shifted in starred in and won awards to the exits of two high-
recent years.” in Weinstein’s movies spoke ranking executives at Los
“There’s no going back up, including Meryl Streep Angeles’ independent film
anymore,” added Silver- and Judi Dench. venue Cinefamily. q