The curtain has been pulled back, and, oh, is it messy.
Hollywood has always revelled in scandal. The rumour. The whisper. The unfortunate photograph. The apology and return to grace. But the recent sex abuse stories have turned into a parade of tawdry violations and twisted passions, the stuff of movies acted out in real lives against the unglamorous air of disgrace, endless transgressions that even Ray Donovan, Showtime’s half-shaven mercurial fixer, couldn’t clean up with all his hush money and muscle.
The rape and sexual abuse allegations surrounding Harvey Weinstein, Brett Ratner, James Toback and others have shattered the awards-season aplomb in a town that imagines itself bold and freewheeling but prefers the tempered and scripted. The entertainment industry has slipped into a multi-polar catharsis of emboldened women, nervous men, threatening lawyers, broken deals, spoiled careers and the uncertainty that comes when cracks run like lightning through facades.
“I think the industry is forever changed,” said Marcel Pariseau, a publicist whose clients include Scarlett Johansson and Olivia Munn, one of six women who accused Ratner of sexual misconduct in The Los Angeles Times last week. “Every morning we wake up and we don’t know what’s going to be next. You’re almost afraid to get on your gadget to see what the new story is.
“No one is going to be going to a producer or director’s hotel suite anymore,” he added. “All meetings will be done with somebody else in the room for protection for both sides. It’s a defining moment. It’s vigilance.”
Instagram accounts are being scrubbed, Facebook pages edited, publicists consulted and memories jogged about what might have happened where and with whom on that blurry night years ago. The cocktail circuit is jittery; the Oscar buzz feels a bit listless. Talent agencies are dropping clients and scouring their own houses. Studios are pruning relationships, firing executives hours after an allegation is made public.
In every pitch or development meeting, “people want to talk about it,” said a female television writer who preferred to remain anonymous. “It’s like everyone needs a little bit of therapy. It’s preoccupying people’s minds because they either have a direct connection to it or it’s like driving by a car crash; you’re just riveted. In the way Trump stuff used to lead a lot of things, now this stuff leads every single sit-down.”
NEW RULES
This is the new Hollywood. Restless, unsure, demanding justice, looking for cover and wondering how to move beyond a long history of discrimination and sexual harassment and toward the kind of enlightened world it so often supposes in its art.
“We’re all having a conversation now about whether or not we are protecting people in our industry from people committing violent crimes against them,” said comedian and producer Judd Apatow. “I personally would not be comfortable making it a big part of my business trying to keep rapists and people who commit sexual assaults on the street. We all decide how we want to make money. We all decide what’s ethical. I’m well aware that all criminals deserve representation, but at the same time sometimes we’re putting other people in danger.”
It’s hard to fix things when even hallowed names are in the headlines: Dustin Hoffman has apologised after being accused of sexually harassing a 17-year-old intern in 1985. Kevin Spacey said he was seeking “evaluation and treatment” after allegations of sexual assault and harassment.
The consequences against the accused have been swift: Netflix cancelled Spacey’s House of Cards and Warner Brothers cut ties with Ratner, who has denied claims of sexual harassment and misconduct from a number of women.
“When the Dustin Hoffman thing broke I was like, my gosh, now there’s going to be a library of great movies that I can’t watch anymore because of the ick factor. The ick factor is real,” said the TV writer.
Audiences and critics have already begun reevaluating Weinstein’s films, many of which were nominated for and won Academy Awards, including Shakespeare in Love, whose star Gwyneth Paltrow says that the producer assaulted her in a hotel suite when she was 22.
Many women are by turns horrified and relieved; a number of actresses believe the accusations are forcing the industry to finally police itself, and to realise the dangers of an entrenched “boys club.”
SPEAKING UP
The raised fist of Rose McGowan, who says she was raped by Weinstein, and worries of Woody Allen, who cautions against a “witch hunt,” are the opposite ends of this unsettling expanse. The scandals strike at the core of this town’s power — who has it, how they wield it — and follow years of complaints over racism and discrimination that culminated in the #OscarsSoWhite campaign and then, many believe, had a part in handing this year’s Best Picture Academy Award to Moonlight, a gay coming-of-age story by a black director and cast.
But the back-slapping lasted only months.
“When I started in this business in my 20s, there was a pervasive feeling that rich, powerful men in any business could do what they wanted — and that’s just the way it was,” producer Christine Vachon, whose credits include Carol, Still Alice and Boys Don’t Cry, recently said. “It was baked into our lives.”
Social media — from #MeToo on Twitter to endless Facebook pages — have become constant pre-occupations in the city, modern-day town criers that not only alert women to the latest infractions but also provide a reframing of previously tolerated behaviour.
“Whether it is conversations I’ve had with writers, or just the general vibe, there’s a genuine respect and admiration for the women who have come forward to speak out against this,” said John Eisendrath, a television writer and executive producer of The Blacklist. “Like every guy, and I am certain I am no exception, I have gone over in my mind the 30 years I have worked in this business. Have I seen it? Was I exposed to it? Did I ignore it? Did I not do enough in situations?”
Alec Baldwin says the culture of the town has changed and there may be backlash and recrimination.
“At least for a considerable amount of time in the future, you will almost never see an unchaperoned casting session again. Ever,” he said. “Everybody’s going to want to have somebody in the room with them to make sure nothing questionable is going to happen.”
He added: “My agent contacted me and said that they’re concerned that people who are quiet are going to lose work as a result of this. Because they’re going to find some photograph of you with [someone who has] been accused of something untoward, and I just hope people proceed with this very carefully.”
