As you are surely aware, after the revelations about Harvey Weinstein, there has been a cultural sea change in Hollywood. Many offenders, including Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, George Takei and Louis C.K. have been called out and shamed. Many of them have lost jobs and some are even facing criminal charges.
Obviously it is a good thing that many of these predators are being charged and exposed. It's obvious that in Hollywood and the entertainment industry there is a culture where powerful people (I won't say men because some women have been accused as well, most notably Mariah Carey) feel like they can get away with criminal behavior. That needs to change and I am glad that it is finally changing.
I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for any of these people. Most of them should have been imprisoned years ago, especially the ones that targeted children. They do indeed deserve to lose their jobs and reputation. I in no way excuse their behavior. This shouldn't be considered a defense of their actions or support of the current culture among the elite.
But I do worry about some things. For example, one of the accusations against Louis C.K. seems fairly minor and he is losing his job for it. The encounter seemed consensual and didn't actually involve any sexual contact, just doing something for an audience. Obviously what made the encounter unacceptable was that he was doing it to people he had power over since they were employed by him. What he did was wrong and I don't want to defend him. If there is a chance that an action will make someone think their job is on the line of they say no, then you should never do it.
That being said, my fear is that we may eventually go too far in the other direction. It's good that Hollywood is burning down and people might change their behavior. But I also worry that the culture might shift so much that a creepy and sad encounter like the one Louis C.K. was accused of will become unacceptable in itself. Though I find what he asked for pretty sad and pathetic, it's not illegal to ask and if he hadn't been in a position of power and as long as he backed down if and when they refused, he shouldn't have been punished for it. Obviously that doesn't cover what Louis C.K. did, but I worry what will happen to a normal person who makes a risque suggestion in a situation with normal power dynamics.
I'm also thinking that Mike Pence might have the right idea. Pence famously refuses to be alone with any women that isn't his wife. Many people despised him for that stance as they perceived it to be sexist, but I wonder if he might be on to something. It may be a good idea for rich and powerful men to avoid lone encounters with members of the opposite sex (or even same sex if they are gay) if they can't control themselves. It's a plan with some obvious flaws, but I don't know what else can be done without a massive cultural shift.
Still, I don't want to make it sound like I don't want these people to be exposed. It is very clear that there is a serious problem in the entertainment industry and it is good that these people are being exposed. I am not worried about the people in Hollywood because they made their own bed and now have to lie in it. But I do worry that we might go to far to the point where simply asking for something, even if you aren't in any kind of position of power, can get you in trouble...
I also worry about the potential for false accusations. Most of the entertainment/Hollywood accusations seem credible but that doesn't mean all of them would be. There is always a chance that someone will accuse someone and be lying about it. In this culture where everyone is believing everything that is being accused, it would be extremely easy to ruin someones life by falsely accusing them of something. That's just as unacceptable as these rich and powerful people running people's lives by assaulting them, so I sincerely hope that their remains some skepticism in our culture.
When it comes to these kinds of things we need to keep one thing in mind. Trust, but verify. We always need to consider that people can lie about these things or even just remember them incorrectly. That doesn't mean we should defend people that clearly are guilty, but we should at least give some of them the benefit of the doubt...
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