Hey, Harvey, What If You Don’t…
Hey, Harvey, what if you don’t have your lawyer try to get all your corporate emails? I’m sure some of the women who claimed you sexually assaulted them sent you ingratiating emails at one point or another. Such are the interactions and economics between Those in Power and Those They Have Power Over.
Hey, Harvey’s attorneys, what if you don’t do the typical blame-the-victim defense? You should be embarrassed, and please don’t hide behind the “everyone’s entitled to a defense” argument. Yes, everyone’s entitled to a defense. But you don’t have try to get emails to slut-shame. This goes especially for Harvey’s female attorneys; is the paycheck really worth it?
Hey, Academy, what if you don’t say “it’s done” by ousting Harvey? Set up a real, empowered, permanent Truth and Reconciliation Commission to change the workplace dynamic in Hollywood.
Hey, Agencies, what if you don’t keep doing business as usual? Look to your own houses and practices. You’re party to a lot of this. You have covered for clients and for years you have set clients up with attractive, young, aspiring newcomers hoping for a break.
Hey, People Not in Hollywood, what if you don’t smugly assert this is a Hollywood problem? This is a societal problem. Time for you to clean up your acts, too.
Hey, Employers, what if you don’t hold people to their NDAs? Issue a broad directive stating there will be no ill consequences for people who come forward. Sunlight. The best disinfectant.
Hey, HR People, what if you don’t maintain your jobs by keeping executive transgressions under wraps? Shouldn’t you be mandatory reporters? Legally mandatory reporters. Executives shouldn’t be shielded just because they work for companies that can pay hush money. While you’re at it, why don’t you stop cajoling victims into settlements before a criminal investigation starts, in order to keep a criminal investigation from ever starting?
Hey, Men, what if you don’t talk about your revulsion and reaction as if you are heroic? The victims who have come forward are heroic. We men, who knew this was part of the culture, we’re just catching up, doing and saying what we should have done and said a long time ago.
Hey, Women who knew this was part of the culture, and said and did nothing, same goes for you.
Speaking of which, hey, Barbara Bush, what if you stop just rolling your eyes and smiling when your husband, Bush 41, says, “Who’s my favorite magician? David Cop-a-feel,” then grabs the ass of a young woman next to him?
Hey, Media, what if you don’t slut-shame victims who come forward, as the Italian press has blatantly done with Asia Argento, and as US media is starting to do, with sometimes-subtle insinuations?
Hey, Consumers, what if you don’t keep supporting that kind of media?
Hey, GOP, what if you don’t keep insisting that Trump’s “pussy grab” is just locker-room talk, while what’s happening in Hollywood now is proof of left-wing malignancy?
Cynics, some of whom call themselves realists, say that there will not be any sweeping change. That Hollywood’s had sex scandals before, and after another news cycle this one will fade away: sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Hey, America, what if you don’t prove the cynics right?
[alert type=alert-white ]Please consider making a tax-deductible donation now so we can keep publishing strong creative voices.[/alert]
Author
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adam Leipzig is the founder and CEO of MediaU, online career acceleration. MediaU opens the doors of access for content creation, filmmaking and television. Adam, Cultural Daily’s founder and publisher, has worked with more than 10,000 creatives in film, theatre, television, music, dance, poetry, literature, performance, photography, and design. He has been a producer, distributor or supervising executive on more than 30 films that have disrupted expectations, including A Plastic Ocean, March of the Penguins, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Dead Poets Society, Titus and A Plastic Ocean. His movies have won or been nominated for 10 Academy Awards, 11 BAFTA Awards, 2 Golden Globes, 2 Emmys, 2 Directors Guild Awards, 4 Sundance Awards and 4 Independent Spirit Awards. Adam teaches at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. Adam began his career in theatre; he was the first professional dramaturg in the United States outside of New York City, and he was one of the founders of the Los Angeles Theatre Center, where he produced more than 300 plays, music, dance, and other events. Adam is CEO of Entertainment Media Partners, a company that navigates creative entrepreneurs through the Hollywood system and beyond, and a keynote speaker. Adam is the former president of National Geographic Films and senior Walt Disney Studios executive. He has also served in senior capacities at CreativeFuture, a non-profit organization that advocates for the creative community. Adam is is the author of ‘Inside Track for Independent Filmmakers
’ and co-author of the all-in-one resource for college students and emerging filmmakers
'Filmmaking in Action: Your Guide to the Skills and Craft' (Macmillan). (Photo by Jordan Ancel)
Previous Article
Can Liberal Arts Education Get Past Identity Politics? (Part I)
Next Article
Deadly East L.A. Festivities Go Hollywood