Sexual Abuse and Prominent People

[Nearly Sane]

Strong article by Heather Graham


http://variety.com/2017/film/columns/heather-graham-harvey-weinstein-sex-for-movie-role-1202586113/

[floo]

Sexual harassment of any sort is totally unacceptable and people need to speak out against it. It is more usually perpetrated by the male of the species, but some women are guilty of it too.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41586442

Bafta has suspended Weinstein.

[Harrowby Hall]

We have come a long way since the days of the casting couch.

Studio bosses like Darryl F Zanuck is reported to have created several stars - or at least, relatively successful acting careers - from women who were prepared to sleep with him.  J F Kennedy's father, Joseph, deliberately involved himself in the film industry in order to gain access to young women. He became US ambassador to the United Kingdom.

It worked the other way, too. An aspiring young actress named Norma Jeane Dougherty (nee Mortenson) deliberately used studio executives, casting directors and producers to ease her way into the movie industry. We know her as Marilyn Monroe. She was reported to be on good terms with Joseph Kennedy's sons John and Robert.

Different times, different values.

[Nearly Sane]

Surely, if the allegations against Weinstein are correct, we have precisely not come a long way from the casting couch?

[Rhiannon]

The only thing I see that is even vaguely different is that this perp has actually got found out and sacked.

[Harrowby Hall]

Surely, if the allegations against Weinstein are correct, we have precisely not come a long way from the casting couch?

It would appear, from the storm which has arisen from reports of the activities of Mr Weinstein, that his activities are uncharacteristic of the present-day film industry and that they are unacceptable within that industry. If this is the case, then the best you can say is that Mr Weinstein is trying to revive an obsolete practice.

[Rhiannon]

Those values don't seem to have done Donald Trump any harm.

[Rhiannon]

And there's this.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/oct/11/actor-terry-crews-sexually-assaulted-by-hollywood-executive

[jeremyp]

Surely, if the allegations against Weinstein are correct, we have precisely not come a long way from the casting couch?

Surely that depends on whether Weinstein is an isolated example. And, of course, the accusations have become public and have, at the very least, ended his career. That didn't happen in the past.

[Sriram]

We have come a long way since the days of the casting couch.

Studio bosses like Darryl F Zanuck is reported to have created several stars - or at least, relatively successful acting careers - from women who were prepared to sleep with him.  J F Kennedy's father, Joseph, deliberately involved himself in the film industry in order to gain access to young women. He became US ambassador to the United Kingdom.

It worked the other way, too. An aspiring young actress named Norma Jeane Dougherty (nee Mortenson) deliberately used studio executives, casting directors and producers to ease her way into the movie industry. We know her as Marilyn Monroe. She was reported to be on good terms with Joseph Kennedy's sons John and Robert.

Different times, different values.

Yes...that's true.  We normally think of the 1950's and 60's as the good old days with family values etc....but lots of people seem to have have rather loose sexual values back then compared to now.

A senior army officer in India has been punished today for sleeping with his juniors wife (consensual of course).  Similar steps have been taken with another officer in the air force. And I thought that sort of thing (having affairs) was the accepted norm in the Defence forces!! 

Hmmm....not bad I say!

[Udayana]

Affairs not bad?

Generally there seems to be a lot of doublethink on this. Sexual harassment has been rife throughout history. Many rich and powerful men are sex obsessed as, also, are many not very rich or powerful, it seems unlikely that publicly shaming a few of those exposed will change anything fundamental in society.

[Nearly Sane]

Marina Hyde on Weinstein



https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lostinshowbiz/2017/oct/12/harvey-weinsteins-rehab-just-your-basic-2000-a-night-sex-offender-programme?CMP=share_btn_tw

[floo]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41606140

An actress has accused Weinstein of rape.

[Nearly Sane]

And again not surprised

https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/17/sexually-bullying-industry-british-tv-film

[floo]

It is a great pity sexual harassment, which appears to have been par for the course in the entertainment industry, wasn't nipped in the bud years ago.

[Robbie]

Too right!  (The following is hearsay, no pun intended.)
I read that Mylene Klass came across the slimeball at the 2010 Canne film festival; he propositioned her and even had a document for her to sign that she would not disclose anything.
Mylene told him to "F*** off".  Good for her, I would expect nothing less and feel proud of her.

Not everyone is so confident tho', there would have been girls who were intimidated.  People like Weinstein home in on them.
I hope the book is thrown at him.   Cosby appears to have got away with it - so far.

[Nearly Sane]

While I would in no way defend some of his remarks, it underlines for me why being an elected politician is a far from jolly job that something you wrote 15 years before being elected is then this significant. There are things I did at 22, and indeed last week that I regret. If we don't accept that politicians will have feet and legs and other bits of clay, then we  will have no politicians. It also shows that the vetting of candidates isn't up to scratch, and that people really have to confident about what they put online.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-41724540

[Walter]

While I would in no way defend some of his remarks, it underlines for me why being an elected politician is a far from jolly job that something you wrote 15 years before being elected is then this significant. There are things I did at 22, and indeed last week that I regret. If we don't accept that politicians will have feet and legs and other bits of clay, then we  will have no politicians. It also shows that the vetting of candidates isn't up to scratch, and that people really have to confident about what they put online.



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-41724540

an orgy with Girls Aloud ; I wish!
he sounds like a pretty normal bloke to me

[Aruntraveller]

an orgy with Girls Aloud ; I wish!
he sounds like a pretty normal bloke to me

I'm with NS on this - we've got to stop expecting everyone to be on message all the time. I was thinking of the other MP (Clive Lewis?) who got into trouble for using the word 'bitch' (towards another bloke) because it was mysoginist language. Really? I mean ok dodgy language - but that is all you've got to worry about in this world, an off colour joke made after a few drinks?

[Nearly Sane]

I'm with NS on this - we've got to stop expecting everyone to be on message all the time. I was thinking of the other MP (Clive Lewis?) who got into trouble for using the word 'bitch' (towards another bloke) because it was mysoginist language. Really? I mean ok dodgy language - but that is all you've got to worry about in this world, an off colour joke made after a few drinks?

Some of the stuff on homosexuals is more dubious than what's quoted here but it's also ancient, and reads as if he's exaggerating for effect. Meanwhile Philip Davies remains on the Women and Equalities Committee despite what he does in parliament now.

[floo]

http://money.cnn.com/2017/10/23/media/bill-oreilly-misconduct-allegations/index.html

Is this guy for real?

Mind you, I suppose god should be protecting the guy from sexual harassment claims, seeing many of god's buddies like Abraham and his ilk would probably have been charged with that and rape, if they had been around today. 

[Humph Warden Bennett]

Sexual harassment of any sort is totally unacceptable and people need to speak out against it. It is more usually perpetrated by the male of the species, but some women are guilty of it too.

In my life I have only ever seen two examples of the same, a bunch of office girls teasing a young Indian boy to kiss one of them .....and a drunken lesbian chasing an unwilling receptionist into the ladies loo at a Christmas Party.

[floo]

In my life I have only ever seen two examples of the same, a bunch of office girls teasing a young Indian boy to kiss one of them .....and a drunken lesbian chasing an unwilling receptionist into the ladies loo at a Christmas Party.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm! I have experienced actual sexual impropriety on three occasions, at ages 14, 17, and when I was in my 30s, none were at my instigation, it wasn't pleasant!

[Keith Maitland]

I wonder if a person's physical appearance has anything to do with the motivations of harassers like Harvey Weinstein.... He is a profoundly unattractive man. There can be no doubt that without his powerful position, he would be chum in a regular dating pool and he must know it. So what people call an addiction to pleasure could, as easily, be diagnosed as an addiction to degrade and abuse those who they know would not look at them twice if they were behind the counter of a convenience store.

We can treat people like him for addiction, but if he thinks the women enjoyed any of this, he might want to consider counseling for delusion as well.

[Nearly Sane]

I see he has been suspended by the Labour Party