Last night, at the Golden Globes, the predominant motif was black clothing and self congratulation. All the celebrities would have you believe that they were wearing black to protest. That's right PROTEST! The general target was sexual harassment. Hooray! Sexual harassment is a bad thing.
But here's the inevitable truth that they avoided: it seems that the epicenter of sexual harassment in America has been Hollywood. Some of the very people protesting last night knew all about the various forms of sexual harassment rampant in their industry but said nothing in order to get ahead in their careers. Don't let them kid you. It isn't lack of knowledge. They stayed quiet in order to get to the point when they could be appearing on the Golden Globes as celebrities. Now that they've made it, it's become fashionable (and a matter of self-preservation) to speak out against what they all knew was happening (and what some of them, no doubt, participated in.)
Put it in proper perspective. If members of ISIS spoke out against terrorism, would that really matter? If convicted murderers went on TV to say that they are against violence, again, would that matter? If Russian soldiers who killed civilians in Ukraine on orders from their officers spoke out against war crimes, would they be any less guilty?
I have no reason to say that everyone who appeared on the Globes last night was involved in sexual harassment or even knew the details of much of it. I do know that the stories of that sort of behavior going on in Hollywood have been well known for many decades. Anyone in America who paid attention had heard of it. It even had a name: the casting couch. Sleep with the director/producer/etc. and get the part. If the celebrities want to stand up and shout mea maxima culpa, that's fine. For that group to lecture the rest of us, however, is hypocrisy run amok.
But here's the inevitable truth that they avoided: it seems that the epicenter of sexual harassment in America has been Hollywood. Some of the very people protesting last night knew all about the various forms of sexual harassment rampant in their industry but said nothing in order to get ahead in their careers. Don't let them kid you. It isn't lack of knowledge. They stayed quiet in order to get to the point when they could be appearing on the Golden Globes as celebrities. Now that they've made it, it's become fashionable (and a matter of self-preservation) to speak out against what they all knew was happening (and what some of them, no doubt, participated in.)
Put it in proper perspective. If members of ISIS spoke out against terrorism, would that really matter? If convicted murderers went on TV to say that they are against violence, again, would that matter? If Russian soldiers who killed civilians in Ukraine on orders from their officers spoke out against war crimes, would they be any less guilty?
I have no reason to say that everyone who appeared on the Globes last night was involved in sexual harassment or even knew the details of much of it. I do know that the stories of that sort of behavior going on in Hollywood have been well known for many decades. Anyone in America who paid attention had heard of it. It even had a name: the casting couch. Sleep with the director/producer/etc. and get the part. If the celebrities want to stand up and shout mea maxima culpa, that's fine. For that group to lecture the rest of us, however, is hypocrisy run amok.
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