A word of caution on the “Weinstein Effect”

As a student unlucky enough to not currently have a functioning VPN, I’ve had to make use of the Yahoo search engine with increasing frequency as of late. I remember waiting for the Yahoo front page to load one day, when to my dismay the first thing to pop up was a front page headline declaring in bold letters that Kevin Spacey was allegedly a pedophile and a rapist.

I was a little thrown off by this.

Kevin Spacey? The Kevin Spacey? Frank Underwood from House of Cards? The crime lord from Baby Driver? The evil grasshopper from A Bug’s Life?

This was rather disturbing news to me.

But the news was real: on October 30^th of this year, Mr. Spacey joined the rapidly growing ranks of those within Hollywood being accused of sexual harassment. Known for his lead role in the massively popular Netflix show, House of Cards, the actor was accused of making unwanted sexual advances towards a 14-year-old Anthony Rapp. Spacey then made a somewhat unsubstantial public statement in his own defense, confusedly announcing his homosexuality along the way before claiming he could not remember the events due to possibly being inebriated at the time. This, needless to say, did not improve matters.

It is jarring, dissonant even, to find such well-known names appearing in reference to such a disturbing context, especially considering these names are generally of men once held in incredibly high esteem in the past. “[What stood out to me] was how their popularity and fame…overshadowed their misconducts, and how they actually had the audacity to use that popularity and fame to do these actions,” remarked avid film-goer Luke Chong (11A).

These events bring to light all the more the sheer massiveness of this growing web of allegations now circulating across Hollywood. Accusation after accusation has been poured out over various actors and directors and such, all as a part of this “Weinstein Effect” — so named for the first accused producer whose downfall served as the linchpin to the whole movement. And now, with social media, this effect has grown in influence to a nearly global scale, manifesting itself as the internationally trending “#MeToo” movement on Twitter.

However, while a new nationwide movement devoted to finding and calling out sex abusers is itself a wonderful thing, there is still something more cautionary to keep in mind. As these accusations have piled up against these men, many have been ousted from their respective projects and organizations, with Weinstein being fired from his own company, and Spacey being removed from the House of Cards Netflix show. This may not seem particularly awful considering the crimes these men have been accused of, but it is vital to recall that for all the allegations made against them, no one has yet been convicted of their crime.

Herein lies the difficulty surrounding the Weinstein Effect: America has long practiced the concept of “innocent until proven guilty”. With social media as brutally effective in spreading information now, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain such neutrality; indeed many have begun openly acting against these men as if they already have been proven guilty, hence the ousting of Spacey and Weinstein from their respective positions. “Trial by media”, as one online commenter noted. Thus, this whole movement is at once heartening and incredibly foreboding. If these allegations are true, then Hollywood is one enormous cesspool of abuse, and the movement to cleanse it is a wonderful thing. However, if many of these allegations are proven false, then this movement is truly terrifying: it would be the equivalent of the Red Scare Witch Hunts of the 1950s, with Hollywood actors falling under fire to groundless yet morally appealing accusations and thus losing their livelihoods.

The most important thing, then, is to wait for accusations to be confirmed by evidence—whether by the authorities, the accused, or by their accusers.

If all this proves true, then there is an enormous amount of depravity in Hollywood that must be cracked down upon. If false, then there is still an enormous amount of depravity in Hollywood that must be cracked down upon, only it would be of a different nature. In both cases, however, it is vital that authorities first verify these claims; and for all of us, that we hold off on rushing to judgment.

Featured Image – featuring Harvey Weinstein at the 2014 Oscars Courtesy of Flickr