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

He's been treated as a very sympathetic figure. Kevin Spacey lost his career. Louis C.K. lost his career. Harvey Weinstein lost his career. Others have lost their careers - and rightfully so.

What has Aziz Ansari lost? Nothing that I can tell. He hasn't lost his show. From what I have seen, his fellow celebrities have not denounced him. (Tell me if I'm wrong about this.) The mainstream media has largely rallied around him. Every time his behavior is criticized, even slightly, it is only insofar as the criticism can be utilized to pivot to the real culprit here - Grace.

These are reactions to a story that, on its face, described an act of criminal sexual abuse.

The Humiliation of Aziz Ansari

Apparently there is a whole country full of young women who don’t know how to call a cab, and who have spent a lot of time picking out pretty outfits for dates they hoped would be nights to remember. They’re angry and temporarily powerful, and last night they destroyed a man who didn’t deserve it.

Opinion | Aziz Ansari Is Guilty. Of Not Being a Mind Reader.

If you are wondering what about this evening constituted the “worst night” of this woman’s life, or why it is being framed as a #MeToo story by a feminist website, you probably feel as confused as Mr. Ansari did the next day. “It was fun meeting you last night,” he texted.

“Last night might’ve been fun for you, but it wasn’t for me,” she responded. “You ignored clear nonverbal cues; you kept going with advances. You had to have noticed I was uncomfortable.” He replied with an apology.

Read her text message again.

Put in other words: I am angry that you weren’t able to read my mind.

Can #MeToo movement do harm? Ansari story raises question

Michael Cunningham, a psychology professor at the University of Louisville, said the Grace/Ansari encounter reflected misunderstandings that may arise due to differences between conventional dating relationships and hook-ups.

“It appears that Grace wanted Ansari to treat her as a potential girlfriend to be courted over multiple dates, rather than a pickup from a party engaging in a mutually acceptable transaction,” Cunningham wrote in an email. “When he did not rise to her expectations, she converted her understandable disappointment into a false #MeToo.”

Liz Wolfe, managing editor of Young Voices, a D.C.-based organization that distributes op-eds by millennials, said the Ansari story gets at the core of what men and women are taught regarding dating, sex and romance. Men should pursue, women should play hard to get.

“So many women have wondered in a situation, ‘Have I said “no” decisively enough?’” Wolfe said. “They can’t quite figure out whether they want to go forward or leave. ... And from the male perspective, he can’t quite figure out what the woman wants.”

 

You and Dick want this to be a thing, that he is "perhaps even as a more sympathetic figure than he went into it as" because it furthers whatever agenda you are looking to play. But its just not true. You find the person who thinks Ansari comes off better after this story came out. Link?

I think many people think that he as aggressive as fuck, and doesn't come off too well.... AND that, after they both had their mouths on each other's genitals for a period of time, that the rules of engagement for the evening change. I think that's what many people think.

 

We have no idea whether Spacey, Louis CK, Weinstein, or Ansari have lost their careers. It's been, what? A week with Ansari. A few weeks and months for the others? There is no way to know or predict what will happen to any of them when the dust settles.

But if you think Ansari isn't going to have "The Claw" haunt him at least a little, I don't know what to tell you. He's certainly not completely unscathed.

Would you want to experience his last week? No? Why not? He's "completely unscathed." What difference does it make?

 

None of that makes Ansari look any better. Or even sympathetic. These quotes are castigating the woman.

 

Ansari hates Trump, so he can't be that bad.

 

You're pushing this angle. I just don't see it from anybody else but you.

 

I know you're just being glib, but Louis CK hates Trump. Spacey hates Trump. Weinstein was a major Democratic fundraiser. Their anti-Trumpism didn't save any of them.

 

I don't think that's what it is, either.

There are a lot of factors that guide the reactions, including group think. He's likable, and what he did wasn't that bad. (Recall, of course, that Ellen Page explained to us that there are no degrees when it comes to sexual misconduct.)

As described by Grace, of course, it was criminal. Mildly criminal. But criminal nonetheless. I don't think any of Louis C.K.'s accusers described even arguably criminal behavior, not that that should be the only barometer.

 

You just said we don't know if they lost their careers.

Anyway, it's obvious that a certain segment has painted Azari as sympathetic. There's no denying that. There's also no denying that what he did doesn't rise to Spacey or Weinstein levels. Although I think what he did is worse than Louis C.K. Maybe not as cringe-inducing, but certainly closer to serious criminality.

 

I just don’t see his career as being hurt.

If the only people who boycott you/your product are people who weren’t previously consumers of you/you’re product, the boycott isn’t going to hurt you.

His personal reputation? Is it hurt? I really don’t think so.

They had oral sex. He pushed for, but didn’t get intercourse. They watched Seinfeld.

If he can’t get dates as a result, I’ll be very surprised.

 

Okay, now do "completely unscathed."

 

You think all these incidents are comparable? What Weinstein and Spacey did was heinous and does not compare to what Ansari is accused of doing?