The past few months have been turbulent ones in the movie industry.
Just a few of the powerful men in Hollywood who have had sexual assault/harrassment allegations brought against them
The never-ending unveiling of sexual harassment allegations turned Hollywood and the media upside-down, and the Golden Globes were a perfect display of it.
Now, before I begin I would like to stress that I am one hundred percent in support of equality and have zero tolerance for harassment of any kind. No person deserves to feel helpless and humiliated at the will of a twisted individual. The unspeakable actions of Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey (among others, but these cases are exceptionally terrible) are ones that deserve repercussions.
Since these two key-players in the film industry were exposed for their crimes, it appears that almost every actor in Hollywood has turned into a misogynistic sex-obsessed animal, as claims seem to come out of left field targeting the most seemingly wholesome actors.
Even Aziz Ansari was brought into the mess when a woman accused him of taking advantage of her after they went on a date and she agreed to go back to his apartment. He responded in utter disbelief to the text exchange that he initiated the following day in which he told the woman he had a great time with her and hoped to see her again. She never reported to resist Ansari, and Ansari said that what happened that night was consensual.
This report gained the attention of women like myself, who found the Golden Globes to drag. It seemed that every minute there was a sarcastic jab at men, and a rally of women’s empowerment for change.
In all of this drama and overthrowing of societal norms, the most important part of moving toward equality is being forgotten, and that is picking your battles. The process is agonizing to the oppressed, but choosing a few instances of cruelty backed by irrefutable evidence (Weinstein), has much more impact than mentioning Weinstein’s offense in the same breath as countless incidents with little to no evidence of harassment (Ansari).
The compiling of the incidents implies that they are all at the same level of heinousness, boring the public and leading them to turn away.
What the Golden Globes and the “Me Too” movement needs to understand is that one poignant, well-executed speech will have much more resonance than a venting session against men that lasts three hours.
If the speech for equality were left up to just Oprah, a strong, intelligent and beloved woman in the industry, it would have been perfect. Oprah touched on all the bases in her optimistic speech.
However, the issue is that countless winners had already done so in their short, aggressive speeches. In the end, the only speech the media chose to tune into was Oprah’s because, taken out of context of the rest of the program, was exactly what Hollywood, and the world needed to hear.
Nothing more, and nothing less.
With great social change comes an even greater amount of effort in restraining impulsive and excessive counter-attacks toward the oppressor. The Golden Globes and all of Hollywood must remember this if the industry wishes to make permanent change.