Every one of my friends has probably heard me say “Oh my god, it changed my life” about most books and movies I manage to finish despite the fight put up by my wildly unimpressive attention span. I am deeply affected by the media I consume, what can I say. However, there are a few select pieces that have made a long-lasting impact on me, one of which I feel particularly compelled to share on this platform. If you read my articles, there is a very good chance you are either a college-aged girl about to embark on the search for employment in a patriarchal society, or my mom (hi mom, thanks for supporting my writing). Anyway, this book is a must-read, and I’m not using that term lightly.
So– this book– let’s get into it. Published in 2019, “Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators” was written by Ronan Farrow, recipient of the Pulitzer Prize in Public Service for his reporting. You might recognize his name, you might not, but either way it is one you should know, as his work in journalism is a breath of fresh air among a lot of noise in the news industry. It is clear from his initial MSNBC show that got him his start to his more recent pieces in The New Yorker that he is in pursuit of the truth, and he is on the side of the people, specifically women. He has become one of the few people I have grown to trust in this hellscape we call reality.
Catch and Kill is his second book, and aside from the fact that it reads like a literal crime thriller, it reveals a disgusting and irrefutable truth about the state of the world and the ability of those in power, specifically men, to abuse it. The plot chronicles Farrow’s efforts to expose Harvey Weinstein’s history of sexually abusing women. It was his work that largely gave way to the #MeToo movement, and without overshadowing the voices of the victims themselves, he fought to elucidate the truth behind a deeply-buried Hollywood horror story that can, unfortunately, be understood on a personal level by almost every girl.
One in every six American women have been victims of rape in their lifetimes, according to RAINN. Statistics aside, it is a heartbreaking reality that all women come to internalize. From my own experience, I need both hands to count the amount of female friends my age that have confided in me about their own experiences as victims of sexual assault. Farrow’s book is full of first-hand accounts of the terrifying reality faced by many women just trying to get a start in their careers. Sexual assault in the workplace is not limited to the lives of actors, however. It is in every workplace, in every field, and that is the real takeaway from the book: people in power are getting away with far too much, and the media is letting them.
Catch and Kill is scary, but it is also empowering. The world right now is scary, but we need to take the information that we have and use it to arm ourselves against ignorance. We must protect each other, and we must fight to dismantle the system that not only permits, but protects this egregious behavior of people we are supposed to trust. Ronan Farrow helped so many women share their stories, so read this book, know their names, and fight for their cause. Let this book be a guide along the way.