Back in 2014 the Tumblr blog “Your Fave is Problematic” reigned supreme. The blog featured multiple posts calling out famous celebs for their problematic attitudes. Whether it be cultural appropriation, assault, fat-shaming, discrimination or simply rude behavior, the blog called attention to the various celebrities’ wrongdoings. Often times these celebrities or any person of power receive no backlash or consequences for their actions and have entire PR teams to make such mistakes disappear. When the blog creators were asked about their content, they said, “We just document problematic things celebrities have done. We are record keepers, and nothing more.” However, their content served as a democratic record for the general public to learn important information. Celebrities are often times built up by the “halo effect,” and the general public sees them as the characters they portray on television. Unfortunately, the blog has been inactive for over a year now, but our faves are still problematic.
Today, the recent sexual assault “allegations” are more than problematic. They are inexcusable, fire-able and criminal offenses. Men in positions of power have been preying women, children and other men since the beginning of time and it needs to end. While the acts themselves might not end soon, we as a society need to alter the way we treat these criminals. As of October 12, 64 women have come forward about their forced interactions with producer Harvey Weinstein. Director James Toback has been accused of sexually assaulting at least 38 women. Now, these are just the women who have come forward–statistically 2 out of 3 sexual assault victims will never report the crime to the police. While these men were fired, often times disgustingly similar men have faced no consequences. Take Woody Allen for example, who continues to have a successful career to this day.
Kevin Spacey is just the most recent problematic “fave.” Most people love his characters in American Beauty, House of Cards and most recently, Baby Driver. However, just this past week a young actor, Anthony Rapp has come forward about a predatory encounter with Spacey when Rapp was just 14 years old. Additionally, this Wednesday, even more male actors have come forward about Spacey. Kevin Spacey’s response to these accusations was to finally come out as a gay man.
Spacey’s announcement is problematic for several reasons. It seems as if he is justifying said allegations by stating that he likes men. It also seems that he is trying to distract and deflect from the real issues by saying that he is “choosing to live my life as a gay man.” IndieWire’s article on Spacey, “You Cannot Hide Your Shame Behind Our Pride” and Vox’s “How Kevin Spacey’s Coming Out Fuels A Dangerous Myth About Gay Men and Pedophilia,” offer the best, most educated and supported criticisms of Spacey’s choice words. According to the articles, men and women in the LGBTQ+ community have long been accused of pedophilia and sexual assault, with no evidence to support these claims. Spacey announcing his sexuality immediately after these creepy allegations does more harm than good. Comedian Billy Eichner jokingly tweeted that, “Kevin Spacey has just invented something that has never existed before: a bad time to come out.”
Further, amidst these claims Netflix has “indefinitely suspended” House of Cards. The streaming service initially stated that the show would end after the current season, but has since backtracked and has stopped all production.
Overall, it seems that in the past month more and more public figures have been added to the problematic list. However, these current allegations go back over 40 years and span multiple industries. These assaults are not about sex, instead they are about power. The men and women coming forward decades later are incredibly brave and pave they way for more to do the same.
Cover Photo via House of Cards Official Site
Tweets courtsey of @KevinSpacey and @billyeichner
For more statistics on sexual assault in the US, check out RAINN