Oh dear. Oh deary, deary me. We’ve seen some spectacular falls from grace in the spotless world of entertainment but this is notable just as much for its velocity as its magnitude. Until last week Harvey Weinstein was just an oily, grasping Hollywood mogul who came across as a good candidate for chief adviser to Genghis Khan. As much primate as human. Being of the type who likes films and loosely follows most things Hollywood-y I’ve read about him before and it’s terrible to say, but sometimes what you see is what you get.
He may well be revered for producing some excellent films but study the whole clutch of his output and there are some non-starters too. Scrawny, beakless, stuttering chicks that even a lazy fox wouldn’t bother with. For every ‘Reservoir Dogs’ there’s a ‘I Don’t Know How She Does It’. Frankly he has always come across as an opportunistic bully and a man far more interested with the accumulation and trappings of wealth rather than facilitating great artwork. Meryl Streep called him ‘God’ once but then she’s a gushing prat and had probably just won some award. She’s taken it back now, naturally.
As the paper cut of rumour and accusation has blossomed out into a vast gaping wound fat Harvey’s luck has not so much run out but been strapped to a rocket and fired up his own voluminous backside. This morning the news came that his impossibly good looking wife was leaving him. Take a look at their photo and it’s hard to imagine what motivated her to marry him in the first place other than money and the chance of an ‘A List’ dinner party every fortnight. I think the word is shallow. Or stupid. Certainly stupid enough to not have the measure of the man before having two children with him. So shallow and stupid.
All together Harvey is in deep sh*t to put it mildly and it sounds like it’s a hole entirely of his own making. Clearly he has issues that need addressing (we all do, just not that badly) but the fact he has assumed he’ll be given a second chance betrays the galactic level of arrogance that pretends to fill his sordid silk underpants. Surely any lawyer worth their salt would have just told him to disappear and never be seen again.
Perhaps – “I’m so sorry for everything I’ve done. I hate myself and I want to die, not that that would come close to bridging the enormous chasm that exists between my existence and that of normal people. As an insubstantial form of compensation I’ll be giving all my money away to charity and if I don’t get locked up for a long time (where people will watch me take a shower whether I ask them or not) I’ll be going off to live in the rainforests of Papua New Guinea. On my own, with only my underpants for company. You’ll never hear from me and I’ll never make a film like ‘I Don’t Know How She Does It’ again”.
Although all of the filthy, misogynistic, predatory blame lies at Weinstein’s hairy bellybutton I can’t help notice that only now, a week on, have some rather big hitters emerged from the shadows to voice their backdated ‘concerns’. A lot of non-famous and semi-famous people have complained enough to get him on the radar but only now have stars of the Gwyneth and Angelina calibre bothered to chirp up. No doubt after exhaustive consultation with their lawyers.
I find this most annoying and so must many young starlets who put their acting dreams on hold to sustain their personal integrity. They’re now waitressing instead of following their dreams but at least they had integrity and standards. Paltrow and Jolie got their fame and fortune and have been seen hugging and purring around creeps like Harvey on the red carpet for years but have suddenly decided that he may have acted inappropriately towards them on their way to the top. Too late. Far too hypocritical.
They may claim to fight the feminist power fight now but what about when they could have done something about it so much earlier? As Hollywood’s finest clamber over each other to say how disgusted and disappointed and repulsed they are about Weinstein’s behaviour surely it exposes a collective failure to do the right thing on all levels. If so many knew so much yet decided to keep taking the money and say nothing then that makes them borderline complicit.
The whole thing is a dreadful, painful, embarrassing farce and a complete mess. Worse still is that it never had to be that way. Hollywood Babylon indeed.
G B Hewitt. 11.10.2017
For all records – it’s still him and it’s still his fault. We can discuss the rest whenever you have a moment.
On stupidity......and other causes for concern. 