If I were to ask of you your favourite film many of you no doubt claim the likes of Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, Annie hall etc.. Many films that people claim to be the greatest of all time have been created and produced by truly terrible people. At the time of writing this, accusations of sexual assault and harassment have been confirmed against A-List Producer, Harvey Weinstein. What struck me most about this case is the general reaction of “Oh god, HIM TOO?!”. Have we grown to almost expect this from the people we rely upon to provide us with entertainment through film, television, music and more.
Allegations have also been made against comedian Louis C.K. which are currently “unconfirmed”. Although when I bring this up to people many are completely unaware despite claiming to be fans of C.K. I’m not saying that be a fan of someone you must know everything about them, but why is this not brought to our immediate attention. Sure, when accusations are proven true, it may dominate the news for a few days, maybe a week, but that’s it then it disappears into the wind. The person who is outed as a genuine piece of shit will have their career ruined (most of the time) but no significant change is made. I could go down the rabbit hole and talk about how truly broken Hollywood is and how mankind is inherently evil but I would like to look at this from a different perspective. Can we still enjoy any piece of work these people were involved in?
Acknowledgement or Forgiveness?
Casey Affleck Oscar Win. Digital Image. Business Insider. March 1 2017. Web. October 12 2017.
If you simply decide not to consume any piece of media that was made by people who were caught or accused of committed such crimes. I challenge you to keep a note of all the movies, music, TV shows or whatever your chosen medium is, and then research the people involved. If you’re an avid media consumer, I can almost guarantee you couldn’t make it through the week without realising a perverted or abusive director, actor, producer or some other role, made it into the list.
Can we watch a monumental piece of film like The Godfather ignoring the sexual assault committed by Marlon Brando on actress Maria Schneider on the set of Last Tango in Paris? Can we separate what happens on-screen and real-life? If the answer is No, then we simply lose some the greatest works in history of film, television, comedy, etc… Yet, is simply separating the two and enjoying the works regardless, condoning their behaviour? This isn’t a topic with a simple answer, but I believe it’s a question that’s not being raised and one that could cause some very interesting debates.
Reality is overrated 