Sexual Assault and the Culture of Hollywood

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > Cinema Discusso > Sexual Assault and the Culture of Hollywood

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

https://www.facebook.com/EllenPage/posts/10155212835577449

quote:

�You should gently caress her to make her realize she�s gay.� He said this about me during a cast and crew �meet and greet� before we began filming, X Men: The Last Stand. I was eighteen years old. He looked at a woman standing next to me, ten years my senior, pointed to me and said: �You should gently caress her to make her realize she�s gay.� He was the film�s director, Brett Ratner.

I was a young adult who had not yet come out to myself. I knew I was gay, but did not know, so to speak. I felt violated when this happened. I looked down at my feet, didn�t say a word and watched as no one else did either. This man, who had cast me in the film, started our months of filming at a work event with this horrific, unchallenged plea. He �outed� me with no regard for my well-being, an act we all recognize as homophobic. I proceeded to watch him on set say degrading things to women. I remember a woman walking by the monitor as he made a comment about her �flappy pussy�.

We are all entitled to come into an awareness of our sexual orientation privately and on our own terms. I was young and although already a working actor for so long I had in many ways been insulated, growing up on film sets instead of surrounded by my peers. This public, aggressive outing left me with long standing feelings of shame, one of the most destructive results of homophobia. Making someone feel ashamed of who they are is a cruel manipulation, designed to oppress and repress. I was robbed of more than autonomy over my ability to define myself. Ratner�s comment replayed in my mind many times over the years as I encountered homophobia and coped with feelings of reluctance and uncertainty about the industry and my future in it. The difference is that I can now assert myself and use my voice to to fight back against the insidious queer and transphobic attitude in Hollywood and beyond. Hopefully having the position I have, I can help people who may be struggling to be accepted and allowed to be who they are �to thrive. Vulnerable young people without my advantages are so often diminished and made to feel they have no options for living the life they were meant to joyously lead.

I got into an altercation with Brett at a certain point. He was pressuring me, in front of many people, to don a t-shirt with �Team Ratner� on it. I said no and he insisted. I responded, �I am not on your team.� Later in the day, producers of the film came to my trailer to say that I �couldn�t talk like that to him.� I was being reprimanded, yet he was not being punished nor fired for the blatantly homophobic and abusive behavior we all witnessed. I was an actor that no one knew. I was eighteen and had no tools to know how to handle the situation.

I have been a professional actor since the age of ten. I�ve had the good fortune to work with many honorable and respectful collaborators both behind and in front of the camera. But the behavior I�m describing is ubiquitous. They (abusers), want you to feel small, to make you insecure, to make you feel like you are indebted to them, or that your actions are to blame for their unwelcome advances.

When I was sixteen a director took me to dinner (a professional obligation and a very common one). He fondled my leg under the table and said, �You have to make the move, I can�t.� I did not make the move and I was fortunate to get away from that situation. It was a painful realization: my safety was not guaranteed at work. An adult authority figure for whom I worked intended to exploit me, physically. I was sexually assaulted by a grip months later. I was asked by a director to sleep with a man in his late twenties and to tell them about it. I did not. This is just what happened during my sixteenth year, a teenager in the entertainment industry.

Look at the history of what�s happened to minors who�ve described sexual abuse in Hollywood. Some of them are no longer with us, lost to substance abuse and suicide. Their victimizers? Still working. Protected even as I write this. You know who they are; they�ve been discussed behind closed doors as often as Weinstein was. If I, a person with significant privilege, remain reluctant and at such risk simply by saying a person�s name, what are the options for those who do not have what I have?

Let�s remember the epidemic of violence against women in our society disproportionately affects low income women, particularly women of color, trans and queer women and indigenous women, who are silenced by their economic circumstances and profound mistrust of a justice system that acquits the guilty in the face of overwhelming evidence and continues to oppress people of color. I have the means to hire security if I feel threatened. I have the wealth and insurance to receive mental health care. I have the privilege of having a platform that enables me to write this and have it published, while the most marginalized do not have access to such resources. The reality is, women of color, trans and queer and indigenous women have been leading this fight for decades (forever actually). Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Winona LaDuke, Miss Major, Audre Lorde, bell hooks, to name a few. Misty Upham fought tirelessly to end violence against indigenous women, domestic workers and undocumented women. Misty was found dead at the bottom of a cliff three years ago. Her father, Charles Upham, just made a Facebook post saying she was raped at a party by a Miramax executive. The most marginalized have been left behind. As a cis, white lesbian, I have benefited and have the privileges I have, because of these extraordinary and courageous individuals who have led the way and risked their lives while doing so. White supremacy continues to silence people of color, while I have the rights I have because of these leaders. They are who we should be listening to and learning from.

These abusers make us feel powerless and overwhelmed by their empire. Let�s not forget the sitting Supreme Court justice and President of the United States. One accused of sexual harassment by Anita Hill, whose testimony was discredited. The other proudly describing his own pattern of assault to an entertainment reporter. How many men in the media � titans of industry - need to be exposed for us to understand the gravity of the situation and to demand the fundamental safety and respect that is our right?

Bill Cosby was known to be predatory. The crimes were his, but many were complicit. Many more chose to look the other way. Harvey was known to be predatory. The crimes were his, but many were complicit. Many more chose to look the other way. We continue to celebrate filmmaker Roman Polanski, who was convicted of drugging and anally raping a young girl and who fled sentencing. A fugitive from justice. I�ve heard the industry decry Weinstein�s behavior and vow to affect meaningful change. But let�s be truthful: the list is long and still protected by the status quo. We have work to do. We cannot look the other way.

I did a Woody Allen movie and it is the biggest regret of my career. I am ashamed I did this. I had yet to find my voice and was not who I am now and felt pressured, because �of course you have to say yes to this Woody Allen film.� Ultimately, however, it is my choice what films I decide to do and I made the wrong choice. I made an awful mistake.

I want to see these men have to face what they have done. I want them to not have power anymore. I want them to sit and think about who they are without their lawyers, their millions, their fancy cars, houses upon houses, their �playboy� status and swagger.

What I want the most, is for this to result in healing for the victims. For Hollywood to wake up and start taking some responsibility for how we all have played a role in this. I want us to reflect on this endemic issue and how this power dynamic of abuse leads to an enormous amount of suffering. Violence against women is an epidemic in this country and around the world. How is this cascade of immorality and injustice shaping our society? One of the greatest risks to a pregnant woman�s health in the United States is murder. Trans women of color in this country have a life expectancy of thirty-five. Why are we not addressing this as a society? We must remember the consequences of such actions. Mental health issues, suicide, eating disorders, substance abuse, to name a few.

What are we afraid to say and why can�t we say it? Women, particularly the most marginalized, are silenced, while powerful abusers can scream as loudly as they want, lie as much as they want and continue to profit through it all.

This is a long awaited reckoning. It must be. It�s sad that�codes of conduct� have to be enforced to ensure we experience fundamental human decency and respect. Inclusion and representation are the answer. We�ve learned that the status quo perpetuates unfair, victimizing behavior to protect and perpetuate itself. Don�t allow this behavior to be normalized. Don�t compare wrongs or criminal acts by their degrees of severity. Don�t allow yourselves to be numb to the voices of victims coming forward. Don�t stop demanding our civil rights. I am grateful to anyone and everyone who speaks out against abuse and trauma they have suffered. You are breaking the silence. You are revolution.

# ¿ Nov 10, 2017 19:07

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 06:23

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

https://twitter.com/ditzkoff/status/929050106246115329

# ¿ Nov 10, 2017 19:29

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

https://twitter.com/netflix/status/929072847137280000

# ¿ Nov 10, 2017 22:09

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

The fall of Louis continues

https://twitter.com/davidmackau/status/929102671755259904

# ¿ Nov 10, 2017 22:52

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

https://twitter.com/yashar/status/930195857613512704

guillotines please

# ¿ Nov 13, 2017 23:15

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

I know some of us already read Terry Crews's twitter story about his own assault experience, but here he is talking about it on tv:

https://twitter.com/GMA/status/930779189174665217

# ¿ Nov 15, 2017 19:03

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

Al Borland Corp. posted:

Apparently the woman says she accepts his apology and doesn't think he should step down unless others come forward. I disagree personally.

Link?

As a personal request could y'all link stuff when you find it?

# ¿ Nov 16, 2017 20:08

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

https://twitter.com/MPRnews/status/931232695694307329

Looking for video of the presser as well.

e:

Article with quote: http://www.businessinsider.com/leeann-tweeden-al-franken-allegations-sexual-misconduct-2017-11

MacheteZombie fucked around with this message at 20:59 on Nov 16, 2017

# ¿ Nov 16, 2017 20:56

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

porfiria posted:

I guess it won't happen but it would be pretty funny to live in a world where Franken steps down and Moore wins in a landslide.

The pessimist in me thinks this will happen.

e

https://twitter.com/AlxThomp/status/931262111979782144

MacheteZombie fucked around with this message at 21:59 on Nov 16, 2017

# ¿ Nov 16, 2017 21:34

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:

I actually will TW this one because it's fairly disturbing:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/silicon-valley-star-tj-miller-accused-of-sexually-assaulting-and-punching-a-woman

TJ Miller apparently is exactly what he appears to be.

I had to stop reading this partway through. loving horrible.

# ¿ Dec 19, 2017 16:56

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

Unless Guy has been accused of sexual assault can we drop him from this thread?

# ¿ Dec 19, 2017 17:16

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

muscles like this! posted:

Looks like Scientology only takes you so far as Danny Masterson has been dropped by his agent.

Is this the same agent that covered for him by saying it couldn't have been rape?

(Or am I thinking of a different agent and star? :smith:

)

# ¿ Jan 5, 2018 17:16

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

E: Nvm hat thoughts solved it!

MacheteZombie fucked around with this message at 06:30 on Jan 11, 2018

# ¿ Jan 11, 2018 06:28

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:

Seriously. They're six months off from publishing unpaid Medium style articles from "CNN Contributors" themselves.

Lol I figured they did already

# ¿ Jan 18, 2018 19:23

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

I'm scared someone might accuse me and upend my world

:thunk:

# ¿ Feb 8, 2018 19:59

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

https://twitter.com/AP/status/992107722379153408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fforums.somethingawful.com%2F

# ¿ May 3, 2018 20:29

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

Taintrunner posted:

He got a lot of backlash, changed, and moved forward to make stuff like GOTG1+2, which actually directly challenge toxic masculinity, so it’s safe to say he’s done plenty to make things right with his power and influence since the time of those jokes.

Hey can you post about this in the comic movie thread? I'm curious about your reading.

# ¿ Jul 22, 2018 20:59

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

Rhyno posted:

Absolutely. I'm really curious to see how this pans out and if she can prove he knew and what that will spell for his career.

My magic ball says mutually agreed resignation with a significant payout to Meyer, the guy who put a sign up in his locker room that reads, "treat women with respect"

# ¿ Aug 2, 2018 17:11

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

Did Momoa ever say anything about the story of him ripping out pages of Heards books?

# ¿ Mar 18, 2019 22:29

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

I couldnt help but laugh at the bit about Depp buying super expensive wine and his assistant/purchaser/whatever their title is was like, "we cant even call these wine purchases investments! He just drinks it!"

Cant find the exact article but it came out when he was started suing his money managers

# ¿ Mar 19, 2019 21:40

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

The new Tool album came out recently. Whatever happened with Maynard being a sexpest?

# ¿ Aug 29, 2019 16:44

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

Bust Rodd posted:

It’s was a handful of unsubstantiated claims that Rolling Stone spent a crap ton of money investigating before dropping it due to a total lack of any evidence whatsoever. They really wanted to break the story but exhaustive research revealed there was nothing to break.

As in, in this specific situation, it could’ve just been trolls.

Good to know! My friends have been gushing about it and I was biting my tongue since I wasn't sure.

# ¿ Aug 29, 2019 16:58

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

AceOfFlames posted:

Why? I understand eat the rich and all but even the only good thing they can do is bad? Are they all supposed to guillotine themselves then?

Philanthropy is often used as an excuse for not promoting real social change. "Why raise my taxes I donated to build a homeless shelter!"

# ¿ Sep 23, 2019 18:58

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

Catfishenfuego posted:

Hey I know you really really hate women and queer people but maybe do some googling before posting glib responses to easily sourced stories about a serial sex monster that preyed on my friends.

Also the whole forcing a woman to perform oral sex on him, he also tried to gently caress at least two of her underaged friends, one of whom I know was fourteen at the time they met.

Fixed link

https://time.com/5099415/violet-paley-james-franco-allegations/

# ¿ Oct 5, 2019 20:32

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

https://twitter.com/Nicole_Cliffe/status/1184535263692906496

# ¿ Oct 16, 2019 20:35

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

Or continuing to employ Depp

# ¿ Oct 17, 2019 21:39

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

https://twitter.com/NYMag/status/12...ingawful.com%2F

# ¿ Jan 6, 2020 20:30

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

About loving time

# ¿ Jun 17, 2020 22:52

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

Not sure if it's in those links, but he also said in an interview that he keeps nerdy things in his home to disarm women because he describes himself as "very threatening"

# ¿ Jun 19, 2020 18:15

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

Depp lost his libel suit and it was ruled a pet likely pooped in his bed*, not Amber Heard.

In more seriousness, the judge ruled that claims of Depps abuse had enough evidence to be shown as "substantially true". According to CNN news.

E:
Depps lawyers are likely to appeal saying the judgement is flawed.

*a quote from Page Six

MacheteZombie fucked around with this message at 21:19 on Nov 2, 2020

# ¿ Nov 2, 2020 21:13

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

I, Butthole posted:

Ah gently caress https://sharedhallucination.blogspot.com/2021/03/777-truth-will-out.html

Just awful

# ¿ Mar 17, 2021 02:57

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

While I think discussion of depictions of sexual harassers/assaulters has some place in this thread, please try to not get too sidetracked from the main thread topic of the real world abuses and the culture that perpuates them.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2021 18:21

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

Grabbed this from the greenlight thread
https://twitter.com/Variety/status/...ingawful.com%2F

# ¿ Apr 13, 2021 13:41

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

Lovely Joe Stalin posted:

Honestly you're not all that far off the mark. I don't know if it's still a thing but people here used to take blind item gossip sites (themselves riddled with Q theorists) as gospel truth.

Is this related to the Jamie Lynn Spears stuff?

# ¿ May 19, 2021 18:12

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

catapede posted:

I agree that sweeping Tara Reade's accusation under the rug was Dem's showing their true face when it came to sexual assault victims. Not a surprise, but still saddening. But it doesn't quite sit well with me that it "killed" Me Too. For me personally, Me Too was about being able to speak your truth, and highlighting how many people (with a large emphasis on women) have experienced and dealt with sexual assault. There is a world of difference between how sexual assault was talked about and/or handled before and after the "movement" gained momentum. And people are still calling out their abusers and gaining a platform. Yes, not enough people have faced real consequences for their actions, especially the powerful, but I just never felt like Me Too was exactly a "killable" thing.

This is a much better way to discuss the issue instead of the other poster calling this thread QAnon.

# ¿ May 20, 2021 00:22

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

wow in 2014 the "she wanted it" gross rear end deflection still worked.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2021 20:03

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

KitConstantine posted:

Michael Bay is well-known for his horny teen style of directing and framing women in his movies. He was super awful to Megan Fox on the Transformers sets.

I think Megan Fox has refuted these claims, or at least the car washing bit.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBwkEQ0lc62/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

# ¿ Sep 9, 2021 16:36

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

Lovely Joe Stalin posted:

I think it's getting into a weird place to be judging him based on his relationship to his mum. We don't know anything substantial about that, or whether she needs his assistance; nor should we.

He says in that interview he helped her with an IRS issue just hasn't bought her a house or car.

The foot conversation is getting a little weird and heading off topic.

# ¿ Sep 9, 2021 16:39

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

I read some interviews on Dusk til Dawn to see if Salma ever brought up the toe sucking, but the most I could find about that moment was Clooney complaining* that he's the one getting degraded by Salma during that sequence. That and she was terrified of snakes and had to be talked into doing it, Tarantino even said something like, "you know Madonna really wants your role", but in the end was happy she stuck it out and got over her fear

*with Tarantino responding, "I'm the writer that's why"

# ¿ Sep 9, 2021 18:59

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# ¿ May 21, 2024 06:23

MacheteZombie: Feb 4, 2007

Quit posting about the merits of stand up in this thread.

# ¿ Oct 14, 2021 20:11

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