I have actually had to retype this blog seven or eight times now. I wanted to start with Weinstein but the creeps kept coming. Holy Toledo, is Harvey Weinstein and James Toback and fill in the blank Hollywood scumbag news depressing. In fairness, most news is – there’s so many child abusers and killers running around all areas of society it’s staggering. I read account after account and it really is stunning – ranging from bizarre creepiness to nine women accusing him of rape. I think the only fair thing is to cover him in pheromones and toss him into a giraffe pen when it’s in heat like the Romans managed to figure out. The aftermath has been very eye opening and here’s what I’ve learned so far.
These guys are way more powerful than I thought. (I’m going to say all these are alleged and based off new stories because no one has been convicted yet and I’d rather not get sued, just in case). Bill Cosby was an enormous star, but he drugged all his victims. Harvey and the more recent vermin didn’t even bother – each woman that came forward was fully cognizant and this story has been simmering SINCE THE MID-80’s. Many of the victims were intimidated, but there were way too many people that knew about this behavior and it was tolerated because they personally benefited (or could benefit) from Harvey’s power. The same Hollywood crew that routinely gives us smugness, infidelity, hypocrisy and debauchery, managed to slide in a conspiracy of silence and their own female cohorts suffered tremendously.
In both Toback and Weinstein’s cases (and now Louis CK’s – more creep edits!)…and this is even weird to type…did they think their “methods” would seduce these women? Harvey is a fatback with a pock marked nose and offered to shower in front of these women? Didn’t work, so how about I pleasure myself in front of you! Toback is said to have humped Selma Blair’s leg…if a dog does that you turn a hose on him. Both of these guys look like they couldn’t seduce a woman without a Hollywood type of mind control device in a shitty superhero movie. Even removing the assault factor, who thinks women would ever go for this? “Hey girl, want watch me soap up this saggy, bloated, corpse looking body?” “Oh God no!” “Well, how about I really wow you by rubbing my high school boner on your leg?” “Well, why didn’t you offer that the first time!” (The end rolls across the screen, shot of the two of them running through a meadow).
I completely believe this is going on much more than just Weinstein and crew plus Corey Feldman’s pedo alerts are potentially something more explosive than this…if more people come forward. There needs to be a serious press from authority. I’m constantly hearing people call for other industries to raked over the coals. If gas goes up .10/gallon, people lose it and mutter about crooks and thieves in Big Oil. Big Pharma is under the gun for drug prices and possible opoid addiction ties. Big Hollywood needs more than a quick gaze if rape and assault are being passed around like candy on Halloween. Even Kevin Spacey was terrorizing men and boys, according to reports, so it’s even men being targeted and no doubt children from some of these animals.
The #metoo campaign was very exhausting. I saw way more personal stories than I ever thought possible. My only issue with it? Like most internet trends, now what? I read some stories from some friends that were really sad and my blood began to boil that many knew their attackers, who are still just walking around, living life. I hope it changes some behavior, but I have a pessimism that those willing to rape women really don’t care about a hashtag. I’d like to see some of these dbags get sent away. I also think, like most great ideas, it gets dragged into the weeds. I saw some people slapping #metoo on their pages for horrendous acts of violence, but others were using it to lambaste others for using it incorrectly according to their perceptions of what to do with it. That’s the worst part about the internet activism. People try to make it their “thing” and police others instead of just taking in the magnitude of an event.
Even in comedy – good ol’ fun time comedy. Bill Cosby, America’s dad in the 80’s has been brewing for a decade. The Louis CK story has been hinted at, then outed for years, but it’s just now making waves, probably due to the avalanche of accusations being revealed every single day. The sad thing is both men used their incredible talent for humor on one hand and abused women by being a lech on the other, hiding behind fame. Both also alluded to their behavior in jokes also, which is even stranger. Not just producers and comics – Kevin Spacey tried to come out as gay as a defense to the story of him climbing on top of a 14 year old and was thankfully trounced when everyone saw through the ruse, then dozens more stories started pouring out.
I guess the one cautionary tale I will offer is that yes, in the majority of these cases victims have been ignored for years, but there is the basic foundation in this country of presumed innocence. I had a good friend falsely accused of slipping a roofie in a girl’s drink and I literally saw her steal a beer out of his fridge with my own eyes. It nearly went to the cops and a lawsuit before the claim was correctly dropped. His reputation was trashed and took a lot of work to rebuild. Then again, in Weinstein and Cosby’s case, it wasn’t an isolated incident, it was dozens of victims.
Another common reaction I see that is disheartening is lumping everyone into something they didn’t do. Example: not every Muslim is a terrorist, not every gun owner is a killer, and so on. I thought very hard through my past to uproot any predators and I can’t think of one I was friends with ever doing anything like this. I vividly recall my fraternity brothers putting drunk girls in their rooms and standing outside the room to make sure no one got any ideas. I remember being yelled at by a girl years ago because I confronted her boyfriend about rumors he hit her frequently. She went off on me and I really, at the time, barely knew her. Years later, she actually thanked me for trying to help and thankfully had moved on. My point is, no, most guys not only aren’t like this, a stout majority don’t put up with it. I’ve had several other males tell me they heard things, but the victim asked them not to say anything or get involved. Getting a bullhorn and screaming at men like we have a secret Y chromosome rape pact is pretty pointless and actually probably shuts more ears than turns hearts. I can assure you, if anyone touches my wife or daughter, there won’t need to be enough evidence or need to take written statements and lie detector tests, I’m pretty sure I can figure out castration on the fly. If you want to attack anyone, go after the ones that knew and sat on the sidelines. Looking at you, Matt Damon and Russell Crowe. Hope it was worth calling off the dogs ten years ago.
That’s my stupid thoughts on all this disgusting behavior. Encourage and support victims and if you see an opportunity to get their attackers off the streets with prosecution, please help. I hope the next story I read in this mess is about a trial and conviction for one of these sickos. Or maybe getting hit by a car also, that’s a lot faster. Don’t look both ways, Harvey, it’s clear!