There was the supposed support for survivors of assault and rape at the Golden Globes last Sunday -- supporting them by applauding *alleged* rapist Kirk Douglas?
- Twitter Calls Out Golden Globes For Honoring Kirk Douglas, Accused of Raping Natalie Wood: ‘Not a Good Look' http://bit.ly/2CQYGee
Apparently, Natalie Wood deserves no sympathy.
It's bad enough that TCM has been selling the great 'love' of Kirk and Ann Douglas (they share a love for money, at least), but to see so many at the Golden Globes stand up and applaud the rapist?
Did they have a clue?
No, they didn't.
Nor did the press. Oprah Winfrey's been praised for a very bad speech that took up 998 words and was off message and factually wrong repeatedly.
At one point, she whined, "They're the women whose names we'll never know."
But, in fact, the names the viewers would never know were the men who survived assault and rape because although MeToo#'s biggest takedown was Kevin Spacey and Kevin Spacey's victims are said to be boys and men, Oprah and the other women couldn't acknowledge these men who came forward.
Oprah was "proud and inspired by all the women who have felt strong enough and empowered enough to speak up and share their personal stories" but that pride didn't extend to Anthony Edwards (Jonathan Schaech, another high profile example, would tell his story after the Golden Globes aired).
She was especially off topic when insisting she had "gratitude to all the women who have endured years of abuse and assault because they, like my mother, had children to feed and bills to pay and dreams to pursue."
What children did Rose McGowan have?
None and she's done more than anyone.
It has nothing to do with having children -- something the childless Oprah should grasp.
She was all over the map.
And, of course, the second biggest take down, Harvey Weinstein, was her best buddy -- as countless photos of the two attest.
More to the point, where was her concern for Jordie?
Or does she think we forget him?
The child Michael Jackson had to pay millions to, the child she met before sitting down with Michael to do a puff piece posing as journalism.
What about Jordie? Molested by Michael Jackson. A detail never mentioned on her special with Michael that over 90 million people watched.
Oprah's no one's political hero. She's damaged by her own relationships and could go under at any minute.
In other words, step back from Oprah lest you drown with her.
In the days after the broadcast of the Golden Globes, two themes emerged in the press.
1) Oprah for president. Because closeted lesbians always make the best leaders?
2) Poor Michelle Williams.
That second one? It dominated last week.
We weren't aware that Michelle was involved. We were told she was. But we refused to believe it because we loosely know her.
But she was involved, it turns out.
Involved in what?
We're back to Kevin Spacey. And we'll be back to him to one more time still before this piece is over.
But for now, this is about ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD.
Both the film itself and greed -- passive-aggressive greed.
Kevin Spacey filmed a role in ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD, his scandal broke, it was decided to refilm his scenes with another actor.
For the reshoots, Michelle Williams went around grabbing press attention insisting she reshot for free (not really, she did take a per diem) and that she did it because it mattered to her, the principal. She really didn't define the principal but we'll get back to that later.
Mark Wahlberg?
He got paid $1.5 million for the reshoots.
Why?
Because she has lousy representation and he had a strong contract. (Not unlike this analysis noted early on last week.)
Mark had cast approval written into his contract, he and his representation used that to get the $1.5 million.
This was played as "poor Michelle" and as an issue of gender pay.
It wasn't.
It was a case of woman revealing she's a cold hearted bitch.
And if you think that's harsh, grasp that until Saturday we had always been Team Michelle. The ones who never were, men and women responsible for hiring, they think she's a money grubbing blackmailing bitch and she's going to find a very harsh future awaits her.
She spent a week making Mark the poster boy for all that was wrong in Hollywood until he donated the $1.5 million to Times Up! and then she emerged from the shadows with a statement thanking her "fellow actresses [who] stood by me and stood up for me."
We call her a bitch now. Most others in the industry use a much harsher term.
When you go for money, you get a reputation and Michelle has it now.
Lots of luck selling yourself as Janis Joplin with that new film, Michelle.
As one (female) producer pointed out, Michelle's never been bankable and she's had a few leads "but so did Carrie Snodgress and look how that career unwinded."
She tarred and feathered Mark Wahlberg and blackmailed $1.5 million out of him.
She's trash. Watch her for the next few years as the projects she's already signed for make it to the screen (briefly) and then look for her on basic cable where she might get a guest starring arc.
You don't do what she did without paying a cost.
And no one wants to work with her now.
At 37, she's been around for decades and never established herself as box office. It's character parts for her, if she's lucky. She brought it on herself and our defense of her last week is the last time we will ever defend her.
We've defended Jamie Lee Curtis for years.
Now we wonder why.
As the week drew to a close, the big talk in the entertainment industry was Eliza Dushku coming forward to explain she was assaulted by the stunt coordinator Joel Kramer while filming TRUE LIES at the age of eleven.
Where was Jamie Lee?
Tweeting about Donald Trump.
It had already been a bad week for Jamie Lee.
She had reTweeted this:
Jamie Lee Curtis Retweeted
Two weeks ago a 26-year old soldier raced repeatedly into a burning Bronx apartment building, saving four people before he died in the flames. His name was Pvt. Emmanuel Mensah and he immigrated from Ghana, a country Donald Trump apparently thinks produces very subpar immigrants.
Sorry, Jamie Lee, you don't get to rehab William Kristol or any other neocon pimping war on Iraq.
In other words, f**k you, Jamie With A Penis.
On Sunday, Jamie Lee could suddenly comment on Eliza's revelations -- using the term "alleged" and confessing that a few years ago Eliza told her about what happened. But Jamie didn't do anything, did she?
No.
And even now, she's using "alleged.''
Alleged describes Jamie having a penis.
"Alleged" is not saying that Kelly Curtis, her older sister, looks like a woman and always has. That's reality.
"Alleged" is not noting that as young girls -- check out the photos -- Kelly looks like a girl and Jamie looks like a boy with long hair. Again, that's reality.
"How dare you!" Jamie Lee hisses on YOUTUBE in the hilarious clip where she's (finally) asked if she was born with a penis.
That is the rumor. It's been a rumor for years. The rumor's even made it into print.
"How dare you!" Jamie Lee hissed insisting she had children (adopted).
She does have children.
And there are children, to this day, born with both sex organs.
So maybe Jamie Lee should be helpful and caring and say, once and for all, "That's what happened to me" or "That's just a rumor."
Instead, she's the one treating it as shameful and embarrassing and something that can't be spoken of.
She's an adult. She needs to learn to speak about adult topics and grow the hell up instead of hiding behind, "How dare you!"
If it's true, it's true. If it's not, it's not.
But she doesn't need to treat the topic as though it's shameful and embarrassing.
Kevin Spacey's been shamed and embarrassed out of a career.
Should that be the case?
Here's a list of 13 accusers of Kevin Spacey.
Anthony Rapp got things rolling. The actor came forward to say that when he was 14, he went to a party at Kevin Spacey's apartment -- Spacey was then 26 or 27. He went off into Kevin's bedroom and watched TV until past midnight when Kevin showed up in the doorway of his own bedroom and, per Rapp, was obviously drunk. From BUZZFEED:
Rapp recalled this all happening — Spacey appearing at the door, coming into the room, picking him up, and putting him on the bed — in one clumsy action, with Spacey landing at a slight angle on top of him. He said Spacey “was, like, pressing into me,” and that he remembers Spacey “tightening his arms.” But while he can't recall exactly how long Spacey remained on top of him, Rapp said he was able to “squirm” away after a short period.
That must have been very scary for Rapp and we don't doubt what he says happened.
But whether Kevin knew his age or not, we don't know.
We also don't know what Anthony Rapp, now well over 40, would think if he came into his own bedroom after midnight to find one of his partygoers on his bed -- after all the other party goers have left.
Rapp is gay and out. But in his tale there's more than a little bit of homophobia in his remarks -- both in the description (that makes no sense) of being carried by Spacey (if he was already on the bed why did Spacey carry him to the bed?) and in his remarks about what happened when he was (alone) in Spacey's bedroom and saw a photo of Spacey hugging another man.
What happened wasn't rape.
If Kevin knew the age of the boy, it was more than wrong.
If he didn't know the boy's age then it was a pass.
And nothing more.
Now Richard Dreyfuss son came out and said that Spacey actively flirted with him and groped him in front of his father. Richard congratulated his son and then found out that he could be called out for his own actions.
Harry Dreyfuss says he told his story "at parties for laughs" for years.
There's a 2008 alleged assault that's being investigated. If it's found to be true then that's a serious issue and a crime.
We're not going to weigh in on someone who wants to tell their story of what allegedly happened when they were 14 and yet they don't want to provide their name.
We're all for rape victims filing charges and having their names protected.
We are not for someone coming forward to say "This happened to me too but I don't want to give my name."
That coming forward happened at such a time that it fueled panic and hostility towards Kevin Spacey.
For that reason, the person should have provided his name.
Package gropes? Etc?
If we cried assault every time our ass was grabbed, we wouldn't have time for anything else.
Does that mean it's right to grab someone's ass or their 'junk' or their breasts?
No.
But it also means that if we're against assault in the 13 cases USA TODAY provided, we're not seeing rape in one of them. We're not seeing anything going forward once the person made clear their displeasure.
We do not think Kevin Spacey should ever be in charge at the Old Vic because one of his 13 involves him pressuring/flirting with someone working under him.
Kevin Spacey's a good actor. He did six years on HOUSE OF CARDS. He's not accused of anything on that set though. Although certain parties did leak, during the Spacey hysteria, that certain young males were told not to go into his trailer alone. What happened if they did? Supposedly Kevin flirted and propositioned with them.
Newsflash for all the pearl clutchers, women have had to deal with men flirting with them for years. You may not like it -- and a number of men (including two gay men) did not -- but that's too bad, that's just life.
Ben Affleck's a friend.
Ben grabbed some woman's butt and he's suddenly Butt Man and made to go into hiding.
Reality, grow up.
If you're offended because Ben or anyone grabs your butt, you say so. You can even slap him.
Reality, Ben doesn't think he's hot or good looking.
He grew up believing he was goofy looking. This was as a teenager and continued through his early adult years.
When he started his career, he was not cast in parts for good looking men.
When he became good looking (all it took was a stylist and some confidence), women that ignored him were suddenly all over him. Is that an excuse for him to grab a woman's butt?
No.
But grabbing a butt -- even our butts -- is not the end of the world.
He went through a phase and grew out of it.
That's not true of Al Franken, of course.
We've called out Al Franken and we've called out Harvey Weinstein. We did so because we know them and we know what they did.
But not all cases are so clear because we do not monitor the entire world.
Apparently some do -- or think they do.
Last week saw Mira Sorvino and two we-never-heard-of-them-befores announce that they would never work with Woody Allen again.
Ever.
He raped them?
No.
He assaulted them?
No.
Because Dylan Farrow insists that she was molested by him.
Dylan Farrow?
She's not an actress. She lacks talent and she's unattractive.
She's another in the line of Gary Crosby, Christina Crawford and B.D. Hyman.
Children of someone famous who never achieved anything on their own.
At least Crosby, Crawford, Hyman and Parker managed to produce books.
Dylan is the adopted daughter of Academy Award winning film maker Woody Allen and failed TV actress Mia Farrow.
That is what Mia is -- a failed TV actress. She was a semi-popular actress on the TV soap opera PEYTON PLACE and that popularity was inflated with her affair with and marriage to Frank Sinatra. After that, she starred in one hit film (and was out acted by everyone -- including Ruth Gordin and Charles Grodin) ROSEMARY'S BABY.
That one hit (in 1968) was followed by one flop after another.
Teaming, as a freak show, PSYCHO and ROSEMARY'S BABY star in ROMANTIC COMEDY, brought her to the attention of Woody Allen.
But Mia, like Mira, now disowns Woody.
A real shame since nine or ten films with Woody are classics.
Mia disowns a lot.
Like a friend. There was a friend she had who had a big, nasty divorce. The friend took the sole child with her. The child missed her aunt (who lived with the couple and their child). To 'help,' an incident was 'relived.' The aunt, on the phone on a private call, had closed the door once and it had closed on the little girl's hand. That moment was relived over and over for 24 hours by two adults and the child, relived and reshaped. In 1989, Mia was fascinated by that event.
Interesting, isn't it? How a child's memory of an even can be shaped and manipulated.
Dylan insists she was molested.
The prosecution had a New Haven - Yale team review the events and they found Dylan had not been molested.
With this contested event, Mira's decided she can no longer work with Woody.
Now to be clear, Woody and Mira last worked together on 1995's MIGHTY APHRODITE.
He's basically made a film a year during the 27 years since and never felt the need to ask Mira to do another film.
So it's sort of an empty gesture.
But if Mira wants to disown that film, it really only leaves her with ROMY AND MICHELLE'S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION.
We're reminded of the laughable Gloria Steinem. MOVING BEYOND WORDS was published after Mia and Woody had their public split. And Gloria felt the need to attack Woody in the book and insist that women should be working with filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola.
People laughed in real time -- and for good reason.
Francis (who we consider a friend) is not known for great women's films or roles. Diane Keaton was not provided with a role in the first GODFATHER. And let's not forget the way he brutalized (and that is the word, Francis) Winona Ryder on the set of 1992's DRACULA.
So the 1993 claim by Gloria was hilarious.
Woody Allen's provided many memorable roles for women. Some, like Mia, achieved nothing outside of Woody's films. Or, like Mira, achieved once or twice outside of Woody's films.
Judy Davis, Diane Keaton, Dianne Weist (whom Mia hates), Elaine May, Louise Lasser, Anjelica Huston, Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett, Parker Posey, Penelope Cruz, Tracey Ullman, Barbara Hershey, Debra Messing, Tea Leoni, Shelley Duvall, Scarlett Johansson, Blake Lively, Miley Cyrus, Joy Behar, Kristen Stewart, Charlotte Rae, Colleen Dewhurst, Kathy Bates, Jodie Foster, Lily Tomlin, Emma Stone, Julie Kavner, Judith Malina, Freida Pinto, Geradline Page, Gwen Verdon, Bernadette Peters, Carrie Fisher, Charlotte Rampling, Janet Margolin, Carol Kane, Maureen Stapleton, Mary Beth Hurt, Nati Abascal, Lynn Redgrave, Mary Steenburgen, Julie Hagerty, Elaine Stritch, Sandy Dennis, Blythe Danner, Gena Rowlands, Cybill Shepherd, Joanna Gleason, Kate Nelligan, Goldie Hawn, Drew Barrymore, Natasha Lyonne, Gabby Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, Mariel Hemingway, Demi Moore, Kirstie Alley, Helena Bonham Carter and Patricia Clarkson are among the women who've achieved significantly in Woody's films.
Forget Francis Ford Coppola, not even "women's director" George Cukor could lay claim to a list like that.
Did Woody molest Dylan?
We don't know.
But we do know that she's tried to act like she's Lucie Arnaz when she's not even Sachi Parker.
She's the daughter of a has-been Mia Farrow and she's a little nothing.
Unable to go after Woody apparently, she tries to attack women who've worked with him.
They don't owe her a damn thing.
And all she's done is damage her own case.
We were on her side for years. It's only 2014 when she overplayed her hand.
She's her own worst enemy and if she truly believes it happened and she has still not gotten over it to the point that a Woody film being released 'triggers' her -- she has more mental problems than anyone we've ever known.
Mira and others like her (Ellen Page) were lucky to work with Woody. They've burned that bridge based not on what Woody did on his sets but on what he may or may not have done in his personal life.
"Witch hunt."
People are tossing the term around.
For good reason.
Matt Damon -- an ass, yes -- attempted to help come up with some parameters.
He was slammed for it.
Liam Neeson, over the weekend, was being attacked for 'mansplaining' when he compared some of the targeting to a witch hunt.
'Mansplaining,' as one comment online noted, is the perfect way to avoid dealing with an issue being raised.
Ashley Judd, a victim of Harvey Weinstein (but not of others she apparently slept with for her career), felt the need to congratulate James Franco last week.
We love Baby Franco.
And word that he might have assaulted women has us very appalled and sad.
Franco's reaction was to acknowledge the charges and to basically say he was not going to defend himself because this was so serious --
No, James.
No.
If it's not true, you defend yourself.
This is national conversation.
We remember when Dylan first resurfaced and was attacking Diane Keaton among others.
Certain 'sisters' online wanted to control the conversation.
They started issuing rules.
It was not, they insisted, pertinent and shouldn't even be raised that Mama Mia had defended Roman Polanski (who committed statutory rape -- several times he committed it -- once he confessed to it) or that the only member of Mia's circle convicted of child molestation was her own brother -- a detail she and Dylan never discuss.
Sorry, but it is pertinent.
She's attacking others and that's when she lost our sympathy and made us question the support we'd given her over the years.
Diane Keaton has known Woody Allen for decades. At one point, they were lovers. She doesn't believe that he would molest a child. That's her right. She knows him. She can make her call.
That doesn't mean it's the right call. Doesn't mean it's the wrong call.
But that's her friend, her former companion and who the hell is Dylan to try to shame her for that?
Dylan the liar who tried to pretend like she and Diane were friends when they never were.
Dylan had her case heard before the American people and in a New York court in 1992.
We've all moved on. Most of us have accepted that we'll probably never know for sure what did or did not happen.
But here's Dylan whining again about something from decades ago.
Has nothing in her life ever gone right?
Is she forever defined by the age of five?
Many women and girls -- and, yes, men and boys -- have gone through traumatic moments including assault and rape and have gone on from that. It's the difference between survivor and victim.
If, at this late date, Dylan still can't process what she thinks happened, she's sick beyond repair.
And our society's pretty sick as well.
Dylan has nothing to back up what she says.
But we're yet again supposed to run someone off because of the charges made by one person.
And it's someone who didn't give a damn about the boys her uncle molested. She's never said a word about that, has she?
But she can attack this actress or this actor for working with Woody?
We're sick of it.
She thinks she can nag the country into going along with her campaign against Woody.
Assault and rape are very serious.
And we should make every effort to ensure they don't happen.
But there's a world of difference between some of what's being accepted as fact and assault and/or rape.
Michael Douglas was in the news last week as well.
He says that a magazine was about to run a story on him where a woman claims he assaulted her and masturbated in front of her.
Some of his statements were laughable. He called the woman a "feminist," for example. He acted like that was a good thing. But he hates feminists and he always has and even the reporters should know that.
Some of his statements rang true.
And he certainly has a right to defend himself.
As does James Franco.
And shame on any aged sexpot whose cheeks have been stretched out with fillers who tries to say that the appropriate response for any man accused of assault and/or rape is to be silent.
That's not the real world, it's not the adult world.
It may be the world of Miss Mary's Kindergarten Experience but we're adults -- or we're supposed to be.
Aziz Ansari acted like an adult. He still ended up in the news last week.
He went out on a date. They left dinner early to go back to his place. He went down on a woman. She went to the bathroom. She came back and went down on him for a bit. She decided she didn't like it and left.
That's not rape.
That's not assault.
We're not even sure it qualifies as a bad date.
But Aziz has to do a dance where he walks around now saying he's considering the feedback.
What feedback?
She didn't like the date?
Oh, damn well on the woman.
A date you don't like? It's not a legal matter. There are lots of dates people go on that they don't like.
All of this kind of crap deflects from real assault and real rape.
The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done--
"It's very rude of him," she said,
"To come and spoil the fun!"
Lewis Carroll wrote those words centuries ago.
Reality, the moon has a right to be there and so does the sun.
And if that is spoiling someone's fun, too bad. And if it spoils the fun to point out that a bad date or a groped butt is not rape, too bad.
As the Walrus says, "I weep for you, I deeply sympathize." But we can cry with you while also agreeing that no law was broken. Bad experiences don't have to be crimes to be unfortunate moments.