'Aggressive Overtures': An Examination of Abuse, Harassment and Assault in the Entertainment
Today I sat in shock an horror while I read an article from the New Yorker.
If you haven't read Ronan Farrow's disturbing account of Harvey Weinstein's sexual assualt campaign over the past few decades, I HIGHLY suggest you take a moment and do so. Please do not miss the recording of the taped Weinstein attempting to convince a young actress to come into his hotel room during a NYPD sting operation:
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/from-aggressive-overtures-to-sexual-assault-harvey-weinsteins-accusers-tell-their-stories
I can't clearly remember, but I believe I was ten years old when my mother first began to inform me that the casting decisions made in the entertainment industry were not always made on merit or talent alone.
I believe I was eleven or twelve when she first began to tell me tales of 'the casting couch'.
While she was in school, she had directors who would arrive unannounced in the women's dressing room...for no foreseeable reason but to gawk at the young women in various states of dress.
Our current acting President has been accused multiple times by women (underage women, at that--minors!!) who have participated in his pageants of the same thing. Trump has been under criminal investigation for these charges, but no trial date has yet been set.
At this time last year, Trump's 'grab them by the pussy' from Access Hollywood was released. Billy Bush lost his job, and politicians and the Hollywood elite publicly damned the tape and the wording...but not the man behind them. A year later, and nothing has been resolved.
Bill Cosby, a beloved comedian, horrified the nation when he was accused of illegal drugging and sexually assaulting coworkers and acquaintances over the course of fifty years. FIFTY YEARS. His trial ended with a hung jury, and nothing more was done.
This latest scandal is just one in a disgustingly-predictable pattern, a cancerous growth that has seemingly sprung up amidst our entertainment industries. Or...has it?
According to Farrow, thirteen courageous women came forward over the course of a ten month investigation to file claims against Weinstein's actions, while multiple others anonymously donated their stories but refused to join the public prosecution; they are still living in fear of Weinstein's professional retaliation against them for speaking out publicly. Many of the women who have come forward to accuse Weinstein were aware of his reputation before meeting him. Take a moment to consider that: for at least two decades, this Hollywood mogul was known for assaulting and raping young actresses. TWENTY YEARS' worth of harrassment, assault, terrorizing and bullying women into sexual corecision and shaming them into silence. It was an 'open secret' amongst the Hollywood elite, and his own staff admitted to having full or partial knowledge of his actions:
Sixteen former and current executives and assistants at Weinstein’s companies told me that they witnessed or had knowledge of unwanted sexual advances and touching at events associated with Weinstein’s films and in the workplace. They and others describe a pattern of professional meetings that were little more than thin pretexts for sexual advances on young actresses and models. All sixteen said that the behavior was widely known within both Miramax and the Weinstein Company. Messages sent by Irwin Reiter, a senior company executive, to Emily Nestor, one of the women who alleged that she was harassed at the company, described the “mistreatment of women” as a serial problem that the Weinstein Company was struggling with in recent years. Other employees described what was, in essence, a culture of complicity at Weinstein’s places of business, with numerous people throughout the companies fully aware of his behavior but either abetting it or looking the other way.
They knew. THEY KNEW. The company was aware that, not only was Weinstein conducting himself this way in his personal life, but he was doing it on his company's grounds, using company funds and during company time. He lured those women to him with the promise of his company's prestige and furthering them professionally. Worse than that---the company's employees actively participated in placing those young women in compromising positions:
Two staffers who facilitated these meetings said that they felt morally compromised by them. One male former staffer said that many of the women seemed “not aware of the nature of those meetings” and “were definitely scared.” He said most of the encounters that he saw seemed consensual, but others gave him pause. He was especially troubled by his memory of one young woman: “You just feel terrible because you could tell this girl, very young, not from our country, was now in a room waiting for him to come up there in the middle of the day, and we were not to bother them.” He said that he was never asked to facilitate these meetings for men. None of the former executives or assistants I spoke to quit because of the misconduct, but many expressed guilt and regret about not having said or done more. They spoke about what they believed to be a culture of silence about sexual assault inside Miramax and the Weinstein Company and across the entertainment industry more broadly.
At best, the employee's actions were a form of active participation in furthering the rape culture. At worst, that's conspiring to commit a rape.
Since these charges have come out, four of Weinstein's company board members have retired (it should be noted that, ironically, the company boasts an all-male board) and Weinstein himself has been fired. His press secretary has issued a pathetically-flimsy statement, and Weinstein himself has issued a statement about 'needing to dig deep' into himself through therapy.
What I find particularly disturbing about this particular case was the complicity that was demonstrated over the course of two decades, the general malaise and nonchalant-attitude that everyone surrounding the situation seemed to display. Rape culture can now be described as an epidemic within American society, with new stories of campus assaults and dates-gone-wrong emerging everyday. I personally do not know of a single individual who would agree with the idea that sexual harassment and assault are acceptable social behaviors. Why is it that they seemingly creep into some industries and are allowed to fester, like a virus? What makes sexual harassment more socially acceptable on a movie set, but not in a corporate board meeting? Why would we, the American public, openly excuse and accept rape, assault, or sexual harassment as being 'excusable' within one industry and not another? Dismissing such behavior as merely being a 'part of the entertainment industry' only furthers the damage that one individual can have on multiple other individuals, as well as the industry at large.
I personally think the answer can be summed up in three words: money and power. Americans still feel very swayed by both of these factors. I'll go so far as to state that Americans still worship at the altar of these two demigods. The 'American Dream' is still the same vision of success as it was a hundred years ago: for a poor and destitute individual to work their way out of a horrible situation, to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and, out of seemingly nothing and against all odds, to become wealthy, prosperous and powerful. This imagery is powerful, romantic and intoxicating. Americans are still fascinated by the idea that money and power somehow equates to superiority; we are still somehow rooted in the Medieval notion that God has chosen and blessed the rich and powerful with authority and the ability to change our lives. Imagine the power this would grant an individual who finds themselves surrounded by both these factors. Imagine the sense of entitlement this individual would feel, the power and flexibility they would have within society, their industry, etc. If you have enough money and power to make anything happen, you could feasibly do whatever you wished with seemingly very little social (and sometimes legal) consequences. This bodes ill for society at large, but it is even worse for those of us who find ourselves in the lowly position of needing to barter or request something from these individuals. Business professionals often talk about the 'inferiority complex' that surrounds mergers or business dealings in which one individual's net worth vastly outnumbers anothers; it takes an already-inferior social position and makes it almost subservient. There is a sense of shame and fear that surrounds money in our society, and slight sense of desperation--now magnify that times a hundred for an actor entering a room to ask a famous casting director for a part in a movie that would surely 'make' their career.
So what can we artists do to protect ourselves from ending up in similar situations? What can we, the actors and singers and employees of the powerful, wealthy casting directors and producers possibly hope to do to combat this steadily-growing epidemic in our industry?
We can start by speaking out.
Last year, the Chicagoland theater scene was rocked by scandal. Profiles Theater, a prominent Non-Equity theater with a twenty-year reputation for producing excellent, edgy work, was shuttered amidst claims of sexual harassment, assault and abuse. One production in particular, Killer Joe, ran for eight-months while the lead actor/director rained down daily mental and physical abuse upon his castmates/employees. The production won three Jeff Awards (the local equivalent of a Tony Award), including one for Best Lead Actor...which went to the abuser himself. After the awards were granted, rumors began to circulate about the cast members needing psychological assistance to recover from the scenic work. The notorious reputation of the general director at Profiles began to garner more attention than just a casual mention between female colleagues and coworkers, and an investigation began. Over the course of a month, more than 30 former Profile actors and staff members came forward with stories of abuse and assault dating back to the 1990's. Many of these actors cited their previous silence with the same reasoning behind Weinstein's victims: they feared professional retaliation if they brought their abuse to light. (You can read a brilliant article addressing the Profiles Theater scandal here: https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/profiles-theatre-theater-abuse-investigation/Content?oid=22415861)
The scandal caused the theater to shutter within a week of the articles being published. Over seven hundred actors, producers, directors, Equity and Non-Equity theaters bonded together to swear that such bad behavior would never be tolerated in the Chicagoland theater community again. They formed a coalition, Not In My House, that seeks to police and protect crew members and actors from exploitation, harassment and abuse in the workplace. This is an incredibly-important movement: while Equity actors and theaters follow stringent guidelines to protect against situations involving harassment and abuse, Non-Equity houses and actors have no such safeguards in place...until now. You can learn more about Not In My House, their mission statement and their continuing work here: http://www.notinourhouse.org/.
At a communal level, I believe we as classical singers need to mobilize in a similar manner. As the classical music community in Chicago continues to grow, many individuals have been pushing for a similar coalition to form within Chicagoland borders. This coalition would serve a means of 'professional protection' for both for Equity and Non-Equity professional singers and choristers . While allegations of abuse or harassment have not formally surfaced to spur a coalition to form, many of us feel that it is best to organize before such a situation presents itself: the best form of dealing with a problem is preventative measures. Groups such as the Chicago Vocal Arts Consortium are working to formalize and mobilize the community; you can learn about CVAC and their efforts, or get the information to attend meeting here: https://www.chicagovocalarts.org/.
On an individual level, I believe we need to work to end the atmosphere of professional distrust and constant competition within the classical singing community. All too often, a sense of 'me vs them' attitude pervades everything we do, from sharing audition notifications to offering professional advice, constructive criticism and collaboration (I will be exploring this topic at a later date in a series of blog posts and interviews). The idea of there 'not being enough' pervades everything we do, from our time management skillsets to our vision of the industry and available gigs. We need to trust each other more, learn to openly discuss our values and our vision for our community. We need to engage in open and honest discussions about our industry and its current issues in order to guide its direction and, ultimately, its future.
Discussion breeds open environments, in which abuse and harassment cannot possibly hope to fester and grow. It is my hope, my vision and my personal mission to continue fostering such an open environment in both my professional and my personal relationships; I would encourage all of you to do the same.