Exposing Sexual Predators is Good, But…
These are the heartbreaking words of writer/actor/director Sarah Polley in her New York Times piece The Men You Meet Making Movies.The only thing that shocked most people in the film industry about the Harvey Weinstein story was that suddenly, for some reason, people seemed to care. That knowledge alone allowed a lot of us to breathe for the first time in ages.
Polley continues:
I’ve grown up in
this industry, surrounded by predatory behavior, and the idea of making people
care about it seemed as distant an ambition as pulling the sun out of the sky.
Polley’s testimony, among countless others, has saddened and
sickened me, though it also gives me hope. It appears that we as a society may
be growing more serious about dealing with sexual violence. Open secrets are
becoming more open and less secret, and that is good. I applaud the bravery of
women (and men) who have shared their #MeToo stories in an effort to affect
change.
At the same time, we must focus on more than just the
extreme examples of perversion if we are to see lasting results. We must acknowledge
that there are several (shall we say fifty?) shades of sexual violation that
need addressing, many of which are considered normal—even socially acceptable.
Because people don’t transition from prudent to predatory in
a single bound, we must also discern how these different shades of violation
can act like links in a chain. Otherwise, we will remain woefully confused as a
culture, condemning the last link in the chain while excusing, or even
encouraging, the other links. Or, to use a different analogy, we must not be like parents who teach their teenage drivers how to use an on-ramp (“Speed up to match the flow of traffic”), but then berate them for driving on the freeway (“Why are you going so fast?!”).
SEXUAL VIOLENCE IS A SPECTRUM
Consider the example of filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, who learned
from actress Rose McGowan that Harvey Weinstein had both raped and blacklisted
her. In response, Rodriguez offered her a starring role in his upcoming
Weinstein production, Planet Terror.
(This movie was designed as a throwback to earlier grindhouse films, which
often thrived on explicit sex and violence.) “We had a plan,” Rodriguez writes, “and more importantly, we had a mission. . . . Casting Rose in a
leading role in my next movie felt like the right move to make at the time – to
literally make [Weinstein] pay.”
To an extent, I can appreciate Rodriguez’s desire to somehow
right a horrible wrong. At the same time, his actions expose the shallow
understanding our culture has of what actually constitutes objectification. You
can’t effectively fight the private sexual exploitation of a woman by casting
that woman in a movie that utilizes, among other things, public sexual
exploitation.
McGowan herself came to a similar conclusion during a
Rolling Stone photo shoot promoting Planet
Terror. In a recent interview for Elle Magazine, she said how, while waiting to find out what her wardrobe
would be for the shoot, she had an awakening of sorts: “There was nothing on
the [clothing] rack except for two belts of bullets. I was like, where are the
clothes?”
It turns out that the cover photo for the magazine was
designed to show McGowan and fellow star Rosario Dawson posing mostly nude,
with only the belts of bullets draped over their chests. In a “moment of
clarity,” McGowan recognized her culpability in perpetuating male objectification
of women, and how it influences women to view themselves and others. As she put
it, “I was the thing set to make you feel like you weren’t quite good enough
and I was going to steal your boyfriend.” The thought now enrages her.
To be sure, there is a definite distinction between McGowan
being the victim of sexual assault and McGowan willingly participating in a
sexualized project. With that said, sexual exploitation can still exist even when consent is given by all parties. And if we truly wish
to combat powerful men who treat others as mere objects for their own pleasure,
we cannot dismiss other courses of action that encourage us to treat actors as
objects for our own pleasure.*
HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE?
While most of us may not wield the influence of a movie star
or producer, we are far from uninfluential. Just consider the example of former
child star Mara Wilson. In addressing the sexual objectification of actresses
from her own experience, she said, “The
people that were mostly a threat to me as a child were not Hollywood insiders,
but grown-up male ‘fans.’” And in a recent tweet,
she noted, “It’s not just executives doing sh--ty things. Sometimes, it’s
Viewers Like You.” Viewers can have an effect on those in the entertainment
industry, for good or for ill.
So what can viewers like us do to combat the societal
atrocities committed by men like Harvey Weinstein? How can we help reduce
incidents of sexual predation in our society? Below are four specific suggestions
for dealing with several links in the chain of sexual violence.
- Don’t evaluate women as possible sex partners. This is what Harvey Weinstein did. It’s what all sexual predators do. Don’t let yourself off the hook simply because you lack the power and opportunity to act out your selfish impulses. Contrary to what much of our pornified entertainment may communicate, women aren’t standing around waiting for you to mentally undress them and/or sexually interact with them. Their worth is not based on the amount of real, potential, or imagined sexual pleasure they can give. If we want fewer people acting like Harvey Weinstein, we need fewer people thinking like Harvey Weinstein.
- Don’t prioritize/emphasize others’ physical appearance. Praise movie stars for their acting abilities, not for their hotness quotient. Praise musicians for their artistry, not for how great they look gyrating around half-naked. Praise the women in your life for elements of their personhood they actually have control over—i.e., their accomplishments, character qualities, personal growth, and so on. Judging others first and foremost by their appearance turns a superficial issue into a super-important issue, and it places an unreasonable and unbearable burden on the shoulders of the women around you.
- Refuse to excuse, accept, participate in, or promote sex as an entertainment tool. Avoiding pornography and all forms of sex slavery are obvious examples. But there are plenty of socially acceptable forms of sexualized entertainment. To quote women’s rights advocate Caitlin Roper, “In media and advertising, women are routinely objectified and dehumanized, reduced to a collection of sexualized body parts. It is near impossible to escape the ubiquitous representations of women as sexually available and existing for men’s use.” It may be near impossible to escape, but it is not impossible to combat. Be an informed consumer. Interact with popular culture—movies, TV shows, music, videogames, advertising, etc.—in such a way that helps keep money away from products and services that are voyeuristic, exploitative, and dehumanizing.
- Similarly, make your entertainment choices pass the “golden rule” test. Novelist Zachary Totah recently wrote the following: “Constantly surrounded as we are by entertainment that shows, even encourages, sexual exploitation, it’s no wonder we live in a society where #MeToo is a sad reality.” You can change that reality. Let a love for your neighbors—including those whom you pay (directly or indirectly) to entertain you—influence what forms of entertainment you invest in. When appropriate, abstain from financially supporting sexual exploitation as entertainment, even if it comes in the package of a summer blockbuster, a chart-topping musical album, a record-breaking video game, or a prestigious Oscar contender. Yes, the “golden rule” test will limit your choices. But someone else’s physical, spiritual, and emotional degradation is a horrible price to pay for your freedom of choice.
Near the end of her New York Times article, Sarah Polley
says this: “I hope that the ways in which women are degraded, both obvious and
subtle, begin to seem like a thing of the past.”
I hope so too. If that hope is to become a reality, our
attention cannot be limited to sexual assault alone. We must fight both obvious
and subtle forms of exploitation. We
must address the routine, everyday, “normal” ways in which we violate the dignity of our fellow human beings. Then, and only then, will we be better positioned
to uproot the shoots of sexual aggression that are growing in society around
us—and in our own hearts.
Harvey Weinstein’s downfall was just the beginning. It’s a good beginning, but we still have a long way to go.
* It’s also interesting to note that during the filming of Planet Terror, Rodrigues began an adulterous relationship with McGowan, leading to the destruction of his marriage. Obviously, his view of what truly serves and honors and cherishes women (and, most importantly, his wife) was sorely lacking.
UPDATE: this article was expanded on 1/11/18 to reflect further revelations Rose McGowan made regarding her experience promoting the movie Planet Terror.
photo credit: Rubenstein via flickr, CC
* It’s also interesting to note that during the filming of Planet Terror, Rodrigues began an adulterous relationship with McGowan, leading to the destruction of his marriage. Obviously, his view of what truly serves and honors and cherishes women (and, most importantly, his wife) was sorely lacking.
UPDATE: this article was expanded on 1/11/18 to reflect further revelations Rose McGowan made regarding her experience promoting the movie Planet Terror.
photo credit: Rubenstein via flickr, CC