Posted on 10/13/2017 6:20:21 AM PDT by Kaslin
What is it about these pathetic men with a paunch who imagine their looks and libidos are immortal and think their excuse for manliness continues to attract sweet, young flesh? You might ask some of the women.
These men have something women want. It can be money, a piece of the action that such creeps control and a ticket to a glamorous party life. Submission sometimes works for a woman who can tolerate demeaning behavior, and not giving in to crude appetites can mean losing more than her dignity. It can mean cutting off access and opportunities to make it in a world dominated by men. An ambitious woman might exchange degradation for a role in a movie, or take a role as arm candy to get introductions to influential people. A woman exploited by a powerful man might move up to stardom with passive acceptance or silence. Challenging a creep can be costly.
Bad behavior is nothing new. The casting couch and lecherous directors, like the lechers and creeps in Washington, have been figures of satire in Hollywood as far back as the 1930s, and even earlier. But hype and exposure today raise the stakes, and the most glamorous and powerful people assist the culprits because they have a lot to gain. There's guilt by association and a lot to lose by speaking up. Wives, for example, are glibly called "enablers," but they can lose money, status, support and powerful associates if their husbands are exposed as cads. Only now is Georgina Chapman leaving Harvey Weinstein.
When then-President Bill Clinton was accused of dalliance with a young intern, his wife, the first lady with political aspirations of her own, blamed a "vast right-wing conspiracy." When other victims came forward with accusations of rape, she accused them of peddling lies. It was a pact with the devil, and the devil paid off -- she got to run for president twice.
When Woody Allen snapped nude photographs of his stepdaughter (and "legitimized" his prurient taste by eventually marrying her), Hollywood focused on his talent, not his character. Roman Polanski, who pleaded guilty to having unlawful sex with a 13-year-old, won an Academy Award.
Showbiz people have the advantage of using their flaws and failures, as well as those of others, as fuel for the creative imagination. Two of the biggest stars in comedy are just getting attention now by sensationalizing sexploitation.
In one episode of the new season of Tig Notaro's "One Mississippi," a liberal radio station programmer plagued by rumors of bad sexual behavior invites a female employee to his office for a meeting and pleasures himself behind his desk as he talks with her. (Does this character sound like anyone we've all been reading about?) The comedian Louis C.K. is dogged by tales of similar creepiness. He stars in a new movie, "I Love You, Daddy," that touches on gossip about sexual transgressions of stars like Woody Allen and himself.
"Part of what makes the comedy of Louis C.K. and Ms. Notaro exciting is that they both often suggest they are giving us a peek at an actual life," writes theater critic Jason Zinoman in The New York Times. But actual life is giving us lots of actual life already. Moral judgments are cheapened as sexual distinctions in entertainment narratives blur the reality.
Piggy men breed cowards, hypocrites, and opportunists. Reporters who solicited comments from Hollywood players when the Weinstein scandal broke found that the ample self-serving pieties applied to fallen conservatives were suddenly in short supply. It took five days for Hillary Clinton to be "shocked" enough to speak up and days for Michelle Obama and former President Barack Obama -- who allowed their 19-year-old daughter to work for Weinstein -- to discover that they were "disgusted."
Now, there's a preening rush to judgment as sordid details of the Weinstein scandal escape into the public prints. It's a truism that a big man's fall from grace never happens at the height of his power. Judging him a pariah now is easy. "I don't think that people were looking the other way," George Clooney told The Daily Beast. "I think that people weren't looking, because in some ways, a lecherous guy with money picking up young girls is unfortunately not a news story in our society."
A tweeting reader on the web nailed it best when she said why Harvey Weinstein was finally brought to ground and unceremoniously sacked by the company he founded and ran for so long. "The Weinstein Company didn't fire Harvey because they found out he was a sexual predator," writes Upworthy's Laurie Stark. "They fired him because WE found out."
Since the dawn of time!
Go back to the silents (Wallace Reid, anyone?), pre-code era of Hollywood (Clara Bow, anyone?) and the 40s and 50s (Marilyn, anyone?) and you’ll see that Hollywood has always attracted drunks, cokeheads, tramps and monsters. Nothing new. I’m surprised anyone is surprised.
You said it. Money and power and fame - you want it, you pay, assuming you have the right "coin".
If Harvey were to announce tomorrow that he was casting a movie, girls would still show up today willing to pay.
the first line says it all.
Many women play the game too, willingly. I’m not talking about real assault victims, but I worked in the media/advertising industry and women sleeping around to control business relationships was common. I knew one woman who preyed on married men, and she had the ability to make them kowtow to her. She wasn’t even super attractive physically, but she was aggressive and made it easy for guys to want her.
Hillary Clinton dreaded making a statement because she’s closely tied to Weinstein. And because her husband is a rapist. She had to say something eventually though!
“Many women play the game too, willingly. I’m not talking about real assault victims, but I worked in the media/advertising industry and women sleeping around to control business relationships was common.”
You’re right about that. I raised my son to have common sense and Christian values. He recently finished school, and has a young marriage and a beautiful baby. Because of his talents he landed a coveted post-production job this summer, and when Hollyweird women saw who he was working with and his earning potential, they began targeting him. His happy family life is apparently no obstacle to them. I pray for him often.
I just assume that anyone with wealth and/or power is a creep and an exploiter. I’m seldom wrong and when I am it means being pleasantly surprised.
Most people are A-holes in direct proportion to their power and influence over others.
Then the rare exceptions are put on pedestals so high that we can’t help but see their flaws :-(
Isn’t he the best!
I don’t remember the name, but there was some silent movie actress creep who used to lurk in public bathrooms, waiting to proposition any female who came in. And I mean any female. They said if a six-year-old came in, she’d say, “Honey, want me to show you something that feels good?” The POS died young from cancer, but I’m sure she molested as many as she could for as long as she could.
Those in the company that knew about the hush money to silence assaulted actresses, and said nothing, have BIG problems.
(HAT TIP RayChuang88) The entire political Left it terrified of the Harvey Weinstein revelations b/c it makes untold numbers of people Weinstein dealt with as (A) either culpable (aiding and abetting), or, (B) as material witnesses. Possibly every national TV talk show host with Left political leanings have consulted their lawyers over this.
Expect many Democratic politicians to consult with their lawyers, too.
And if the company charged off the hush money as a "business expense"....the IRS is about to come calling.
Poor Jean Harlow couldn’t get a dinner. The platinum blonde looked so intimidating, guys were afraid to ask her out, assuming she’d turn them down. At times, she’d put on a disguise and go out at night to meet strangers.
The problem spilled over into her public life, too, as she married unattractive losers, one of whom beat her so severely she suffered kidney damage. Her mother, a Christian Scientist, delayed Jean’s getting any real medical help until it was too late, and Jean died of the malady.
But at least she gave Clark Gable a good boink.
I love Jean Harlow! Funny, beautiful, hard-boiled. Yeah, that husband who committed suicide leaving that weird note...beautiful women do have it tough. The only guys willing to ask them out is the one guy they don’t want to be caught dead with.
They actually put the hush money in his contract, lol! What idiot lawyer came up with that??
Ah, yes.
I remember it well....the halcyon days of the Clintons. Take sex wherever it becomes available. If the bimbos complained, just pay them off. No biggie.
Then Obama.....laws?...... what laws?
Funniest presidential PR stunt-—Obama went to Hollywood to see his donors......but only males were allowed in the PR pic (in a town teeming w/ nubile starlets). Phoney as a three dollar bill.
Acne scars, stubble, and fat.
Catnip to young actresses.
Grandma? Is that you? They told me you were dead!
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