Even The Wolf likely can't clean up Harvey Weinstein's pending troubles

Stay around. Relax. Shoot the shit. I like you. We all like you. I am sure you are easy going in real life. My real life isn't defined by a bad Aziz Ansari take. Shotglass's isn't defined by a bad Penn State take.

 

Yours is, however, defined by your bad high-waisted pants take.

 

True.

 

Good luck, man. Sincerely.

 

And none of you have said anything as objectionable as the Brad Garrett thing.

 

You want a guy who has a crazed look and mannerisms to match? Get Garrett.

You want Rego Park Acting 101 role playing? Get Bardem. 21 critics agree!

 

I have to go play footy. Nobody do anything interesting till I get back.

 

Oh, hai, Mark.

 

Wow. I check back on this thread to see what the reactions were to my name-dropping True Hollywood Story about Aziz Ansari only to find that things went completely off the rails before a stunning M. Knight Shyamalan* third-act twist. If only some of my screenplays had been this dramatic, I might have actually sold them.

* I also have an M. Knight story! But maybe this isn't the time. I wish all the best.

 

So I read the Aziz thing, and read it again. I agree he doesn't come off well.

I also think it's fair to have a discussion -- which some people think just having the discussion means you're pro rape -- about how to handle anonymous claims like this where the line between what was consensual (clearly much of it was) and what was not (repeatedly trying to pressure her into sex) is murky. Like it or not, we are now in a climate where a piece like this can ruin a career, and the only way this outlet verified it is by going over text messages? I just don't know what to think. Is any of what happened here a crime? Is "he tried to get me to put my hand on his dick many times after we'd engaged in oral sex that I wasn't that into" enough to say he's a creep and should never work again? It's very possible. I think it would be worth trying to sort through some of those questions, but I also feel like an allegation is just the end for some people. He's guilty, he's terrible, nothing he can say can change that. I've yet to see a single statement released where the social media mob was like 'That's how he should respond." It's usually some version of "How dare he deny this..." or "Don't applaud him for doing the right thing and admitting he did something he regrets."

Dave Chapelle talks about the Louis CK thing in his latest stand-up, and he wades into some interesting (if clearly dicey) territory, saying "The woman said Louis CK masturbating in front of her made her give up comedy? Or masturbating on the phone? Woman, can't you hang up the phone? I sorry, hon, but if that broke you, you were too delicate for this profession." Then he points out that Ben Affleck was like "Hey I want to help by an ally" and people immediately attacked him and made it seem like he was just as bad for the TRL thing. And Chapelle's point is this is both offensive (he acknowledges it repeatedly) and a worthwhile discussion to have, I think. I think Louis CK will be back one day, tbh. But even saying that draws howls of protest. Of all the shit that's gone down, he's actually the one guy who (in all but one case) the women agree he asked for permission to do what he did. And then he did it, and afterward people were like "I felt powerless to say no." Ok, so the discussion of consent is: When does a woman feel able to say no? When she knows she won't be murdered? Because yes, that is a valid concern for a lot of women. When she knows she won't be harmed professionally? Yes, that's a concern too, even though we never had any evidence the women in the Louis CK thing were harmed professionally, just that they had a "feeling" they might have not been booked for shows (or something). Lots of women are harmed professionally.

I guess my point is, we ought to be talking about these difficult without immediately suggesting we're rape apologists if we have questions about the journalism, or about incidents that don't involve Harvey Weinstein or Bill Cosby, or if you try to point out the complications of people who hook up at work, like Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson, for example, when he started dating her when she was clearly his superior and now it's a wonderful love story.

 

Just to clarify, did you mean "now" there?

 

Yes.