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 As film producer Harvey Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in
prison for rape and sexual assault this week, the cultural
revolution that his downfall fueled in Hollywood's casting couch
culture, workplace ethics and dating is being explored on
television and in movies.
"Hollywood is now becoming its own loudest voice in helping to
call out what a bad thing this is," said Robert Thompson,
professor of popular culture at Syracuse University.
More than two years into #MeToo, shows are exploring the nuances
of sexual misconduct, where men are not always portrayed as
monsters and women are more than traumatized victims.
Both fictional and fact-based, they are creating a cultural
record that will likely endure long after the Weinstein case
fades.
"The #MeToo movement was at the front lines in getting people to
pay attention to this. Then it becomes institutionalized by
these films and TV shows which people will continue to be able
to watch years and years later in a way they won't be watching
news coverage of #MeToo," said Thompson.
Writer and director Kitty Green described "The Assistant," now
playing in U.S. movie theaters, as about predatory bosses. She
based the film on interviews with more than 100 women working in
industries ranging from show business to technology and
engineering.
"A lot of men come out (of watching the film) feeling very
uncomfortable," Green said. "I think a little bit of discomfort
is what we need right now if we want things to change."
REVENGE, SATIRE AND GENDER DYNAMICS
"Promising Young Woman," arriving in U.S. movie theaters in
April, takes a different tack. It's a black revenge comedy
starring Carey Mulligan as a woman who ruthlessly turns the
tables on the bad behavior of both men and women.
Director Emerald Fennell, who also wrote the script, said the
film goes beyond #MeToo to take a wider look at decades old
sexist culture.
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"There's nothing in it that isn't extremely commonplace," said
Fennell. "I'm much more interested in our culture and thinking, how
are we all part of this awful knot that we need to unpick?"
"The Morning Show," produced and directed by women, is set around
the personal and professional earthquake following the firing of a
likeable anchor, played by Steve Carell, on a national television
show. One of his victims commits suicide after reporting his
behavior but being silenced by network executives.
"It's about gender dynamics, power dynamics, abuse of power and not
just sexual abuse of power," said Jennifer Aniston, who plays
Carell's loyal professional partner and friend.
Aniston described Carell's character as a "sort of gentle,
charismatic narcissist."
"Curb Your Enthusiasm" takes a satirical approach.
Larry David, playing a cantankerous version of his rich, white male
TV producer self, repeatedly stumbles into sexually inappropriate
situations with women, while his manager, played by Jeff Garlin, is
repeatedly mistaken for Weinstein.
"'Curb Your Enthusiasm' is supposed to make us uncomfortable, but
some of the ways it is treating this is really kind of dicey," said
Thompson. The comedy series has won some of its best reviews in 10
years.
Other #MeToo content includes "Bombshell, starring Charlize Theron,
and television series "The Loudest Voice," starring Russell Crowe,
about multiple sexual harassment allegations at Fox News that led to
the ouster in 2016 of founder Roger Ailes. Ailes denied the
accusations and died a year later.
Thompson believes it's all just the start of a wider trend.
"There is still a lot, lot more to tell about this story and these
events," he said.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; editing by Richard Pullin)
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