Hollywood After Harvey: Will Anything "Really" Change?
SECTION 1:
HOLLYWOOD REFUGEE CAMPS
SECTION 2:
AND THE ACADEMY AWARD GOES TO...
SECTION 3:
HOLLYWOOD & HARVEY FOR NEOPHYTES
SECTION 4:
BOY TOYS ON CASTING COUCHES
SECTION 5:
NEOPHYTES, UM... DON'T BE A NEOPHYTE
"It’s clear –– some kind of dirty, dirty bomb has gone off in this town. A bomb called "Harvey."
Section 1: Hollywood Refugee Camps
CHYRON: DOOMSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2017
FADE IN: EXT. WEST HOLLYWOOD — PERPETUAL NIGHT.
A dark ominous cloud hovers over WeHo with a persistence never before seen. The streets are emptied and post-apocalyptic. It’s clear –– some kind of dirty, dirty bomb has gone off in this town. A bomb called "Harvey."
An endless flow of black chauffeured sedans with tinted windows race down a vacant Santa Monica Blvd. A troublesome bottleneck forms at the 405 North entrance ramp –– WeHo’s single escape route.
24 minutes north, freshly fueled private jets stand in cue ready for the next wave of speeding Town Cars. All hands are on deck at the Van Nuys Airport.
Oh. This purge is real.
Disillusioned Hollywood execs cross the tarmac, their limited belongings and Oscar trophies in either fists. They flee like well-dressed, war-torn refugees. Personal assistants begrudgingly follow in tow, clutching freshly inked NDA’s. No one is safe. An un-natural disaster has hit and is spilling over its cracking levees. No one knows who’ll be outed, masticated and swallowed next.
SFX: GHOULISH LAUGHTER.
[Aaaaaand... scene.]
FADE TO BLACK.
Yes, Hollywood, CA has been that cinematic in the last four weeks. And not to be Valley girlish about it, but, "Like, literally?" The geographical playground for the film industry itself was turned into an unintentional movie set. It wasn't Aaron Sorkin who penned the epic biopic this time. Best Screenplay will go to Jodi Kantor and Ronin Farrow for The New York Times & The New Yorker –– with a story by credit attributed to you know who –– of course. We heard his official WGA registered pen-name is "Douchebag Esq."
Oscar contention is very likely. The epic boasts one of the biggest names in Academy Award history as its chief protagonist and worthy piñata.
"But, rest assured. No, rest very assured. It most certainly was no shock for those in the industry –– nor the industry adjacent."
Section 2: And The Academy Award Goes To...
Hearing about famed Hollywood producer, Harvey Weinstein, founder of The (#UltraPrestigious) Weinstein Company, and his reported real-life indecent proposals, may have come as a complete shock to America’s movie going public. But, rest assured. No, rest very assured. It most certainly was no shock for those in the industry –– nor the industry adjacent.
The only authentic shock within the tightly roped boundaries of the Hollywood initiated was seeing a huge powerbroker like Harvey caught, outed, tarred, feathered and deflated like a Macy’s parade balloon. And, via public firing squad, at that. Now, that’s a shock. Sex play for screen play? No shock. Harvey’s Hollywood impeachment? Shock. Get the gist?
As predicted, however, you can cue the 32-piece Hans Zimmer film score orchestra now, because the acting has begun. And it will continue –– especially as everyone gets lawyered-up. Everyone important and corporate in Hollywood is going to blow the dust off their Meisner notes, continuing to feign righteous indignation about this news, putting on their best Oscar fetching performances, pretending surprise. They have to. That's not a judgement. They just do. They're trying to survive the shark-infested waters of Hollywood like everyone else. Harvey is just one Orca on the hook.
Therefore, as they do, perform, understand that you are watching just that –– a performance. I mean, that’s what Hollywooders do better than anyone on the globe -- perform. And they are downright the awwwwesomest at it.
So, orient yourself. Be aware of the greater context roped around the context of these chain-reaction Meisner gasps. It's showtime.
If you're continuing to follow this story closely, nibbling your Twizzlers and buttery popped corn, completely enjoying all the ‘shock and awe' screen tests before the visiting news cameras and not-so-good J-School lighting, enjoy all of the daily plot twists. But when you reach the bottom of your buttery bucket, consider the following.
When the news crews fly home after the curtain falls on this spectacle in a few weeks, you and I will know what time it really is in Hollywood. It’s “business-as-usual-o’clock,” Pacific Standard Time.
"Whether Harvey's in Europe getting THE EQUIVALENT OF genital shock-therapy or simply in a Thailand brothel trading massages for auditions, don't think you're safe."
Section 3: Hollywood & Harvey For Neophytes
So, um, Harvey's reportedly in Europe getting sexual-addiction therapy? So what. Houston, we still have a problem. A serious one. And by "Houston," I mean Hollywood. And by "problem," I still mean Harvey. But more specifically, I mean "Harveys." And no, I'm not just talking about Bob. There's an army of Harveys.
Hollywood Neophytes need to understand that Harvey isn't truly half, a third, a fourth, nor a sixty-fourth of the problem. The problem is the Hollywood culture that breeds little Harveys, medium Harveys and colossal sized Harveys like Weinstein. Whether Harvey's in Europe getting the equivalent of genital shock-therapy or simply in a Thailand brothel trading massages for auditions, don't think you're safe. They're everywhere out here. And if you think this problem is going to be gone just because he's gone, you truly are a neophyte.
So, consider this my philanthropic P.S.A. to all the newbies coming to town. After reading this, you will have been warned and oriented.
Can we get real for a moment? I refuse to kid myself. And I advise you not to kid yours. When have you known Hollywood to "not" have a (not-so-under) underbelly of sex, power and powder? I mean, mesmerizing CNN performances and riveting NYT investigative reports aside, can we talk?
Harvey is just one big, nasty, cancerous boil cut off of the buttocks of Hollywood. Good riddance. But how are you going to prevent a big, hairy, nasty "him" from growing back? I applaud the head-hunting chemotherapy approach that's going on. But, you cannot fix a problem if you refuse to get real about what's growing the problem. And the problem is culture –– Hollywood culture. If Hollywood were a person, and I was an Oncologist. I'd put my arm around Hollywood and say, "Hey pal, the surgery was successful. Congrats. We cut the nasty thing out. But you have a lifestyle problem that's gonna lead you right back into my office with a relapse, if we don't address it."
Listen.
Hollywood, as a subject of study, isn't Astrophysics. We don't need Neal Degrasse Tyson to figure this one out. It's simple. Math is just math. "This element," plus "that element" = a whole lot of that "other unmentionable stuff." It's in the water. It's in the culture.
Put less than gorgeous, mega-powerful entertainment execs in the same room with overly-beautiful actors and actresses, and, well, the inevitable will happen. Its as predictable a phenomenon as that pesky law of gravity under Newton’s tree. Translation: It’s all gonna go down, my little friend. Especially if Newton has fermented some of those apples at said event. Unsavory advances will likely be made. Unseemly transactions will too often ensue. And, yes. Sorry to rain on your parade, neophyte. Blah... Blah... I know that no one likes a realist. And speaking for realists worldwide, we generally don't care who likes and doesn't like us. So this is kind of perfect. I can freely keep it real with you.
Think about what's in that room. Think about the elements. Both parties thirst and lust for what the other has. Both parties have pipe-dreams dangling before one another. And in many instances, both are there to shoot their best shot with the other. Each is holding each other's wildest dream.
The unattractive powerful entertainment exec has a green light in their pocket –– one that could potentially change an actor or actresses life overnight. The overly gorgeous actress or actor has goodies near and around their pockets too. It ain’t money. It for sure isn’t a green light. But it's still power. Enough to make a lust-filled exec –– whom could never score this beauty outside of their executive title –– propose or “subliminally suggest” some of the most vile sexual favors in exchange for stardom. Sadly and well beyond cliche', many of these pathetic power brokers literally want their magic-wands fondled before they wave it. Ta-dah!
Welcome to the part of Hollywood that isn't on TV. Still wanna be a star?
"Many more women in Hollywood, and elsewhere, have suffered more than you will ever know about. Let's not add the inbred pride of assaulted men to the equation of the silent and victimized."
Section 4: Boy Toys on Casting Couches
Assuming you were alert during the paragraphs above, I hope you noticed the intentional use of the equal-opportunity terms, “actress” and “actor”. That should have made at least one of your eyebrows do a distinctively perfect arch. However, if you happen to be a tinsel-town convert, i.e. transplanted resident with considerable tenure, your eyebrow didn't flinch an inch. You, on the other hand, most likely released a dismissive inner “amen” like a Joel Osteen congregant on a post-Harvey Houston Sunday. The other "Harvey," of course
Hollywood insiders know that current poster/piñata-boy, Weinstein, is just the tiny tip of a humongous iceberg. The true volume and mass of this problem lurks beneath the SOCAL Pacific Rim like a stealth Russian nuclear sub. [Enter smart, pithy ‘Red October’ reference for me here, please and thanks.]
I must ALARMINGLY stress again that Harvey’s egregious accused behavior is indicative of a much, much deeper cancerous culture in Hollywood –– affectionately known as “the casting couch.” And, face it, the shame, disgust and sometimes criminality of that couch has more IMDB credits than Jack Nicholson has frown lines. And Jack has been movie acting and scowling since before Sunset Blvd. was a paved road. That means that dirty couch has been freshly re-upholstered for re-use so many times, it could snatch a new sale on the floor-room of the Burbank IKEA, today. True story.
And though that well-worn, lusty love-seat is still up to traditional exploitation, thanks to Harvey and friends, the most famous piece of furniture from the props department has actually added a new twist these days.
[NOTE: Hollywood Neophytes, you might wanna punch up the brightness on your computer screens for this one.]
Predatory sexual propositioning no longer just happens to aspiring female talent. Purportedly, it’s happening to aspiring males –– and likely at numbers no one is willing to admit to. Hollywood’s “in-power predators” have brought a bit of gender equality to that famed little couch. If you want that star-making role, leading man or leading woman, all too often, its 's for grabs. Pun sadly intended.
As we already know, sex crimes are the kind of crimes that largely go unreported. This is because the victim first suffers the assault, then must suffer the public shame of the assault if they report it. Further, if the victim is female, she often faces systemic pushback from a power structure full of male minions. Many more women in Hollywood, and elsewhere, have suffered more than you will ever know about. Let's not add the inbred pride of assaulted men to the equation of the silent and victimized.
Well beyond neophyte reading; while we are on the subject of "silent populations," you should know that there is another distinct group also afoot in this cultural morass. They could be called reverse-predators. I figure... Why should we keep it 99.9% real, when we can round it up all the way to 100?
Neophyte discretion is advised for the following truths. You may not want to hear this. I don't want to disturb your high from the bliss of your ignorance to these things. Personally, I miss those days.
Here are the unwanted facts. There's a whole silent mass of actors/actress you will NOT BE HEARING FROM during these Harvey months –– the ones who worked that dirty little couch to ambitiously advance themselves. Yeah, them. They are more complicit in this matter than you know. They are the ones who made all the small, medium and large Harveys think that what they were doing was okay, before they propositioned you. TV, Film or music, this is the ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS after all. Do you know how many groupies say "yes" before that one or two who says "no"? You don't want to know. That's the part you don't realize is greatly contributing to this toxic soup. And all this time, you were wondering how the one girl you see on all those auditions, with subpar talent, keeps getting the callbacks.
Think about it. If Harvey was cute, female, had fetching T&A, and the same moral portfolio with the same ambitions to make it to the summit of Hollywood, what do you think his despicable self would do? I rest my case.
Digression done.
"...males are less prone to be forthcoming about what they’ve done, what was done to them or what they were propositioned to do –– by another male –– and a powerful one. In fact, just weeks ago, I was abruptly reminded of this fact."
No one knows to what degree males are also getting couched because males are much less prone to be forthcoming about what they’ve done, what was done to them or what they were propositioned to do –– by another male –– and a powerful one. In fact, just weeks ago, I was abruptly reminded of this fact.
During the immediate aftermath of the Harvey detonation, a talented actor friend inadvertently entered the popular pop-up Weinstein confessional during our impromptu conversation about something completely different. In this town, all conversations somehow lead back to Weinstein, these days. My friend's unsolicited testimony intimated his real reasons for disembarking the Hollywood un-merry-go-round a few years back. He kept it super real. He kept it super courageous. I will only summarize and do so with anonymity. But suffice it to say, for him, it was the last Hollywood straw.
According to testimony, it all became too much when another Harvey type, a powerful Hollywood producer, poached him from the wings of another powerful name in Hollywood –– but for nefarious purposes. At first he thought he was being drafted by this powerful man solely for his glaring talent. Soon, however, he realized he was being poached for an entirely different reason. Like, entirely.
Apparently, it was way more than his thespian talent that caught the eye of the powerful producer. Compliment after compliment, veiled comment after not-so-veiled comment, it reportedly became 20/20 clear. He was the new male-on-male eye-candy around the producer’s office –– candy the producer reportedly had strong plans of unwrapping for a taste.
My actor friend explained that once he became aware, he felt betrayed and he was having absolutely none of it. Like ZERO. He courageously walked away from a dream opportunity –– an opportunity which seemingly disembarked him from a speeding train to the A-list. He left it all behind. After all the years and successes he put in to this town, he was just done.
"Harvey even had President Obama's eldest daughter interning at his company in New York, so, you do the math. When the most powerful man in the world sees having his daughter work at your company as a 'dream opportunity' for her, that's power."
For those outsiders who don't know, Hollywood is just a big, shiny, super rich, small town. Greater L.A. is just the sprawling urban mote around it. Being approached by one of these super rich and super powerful above-the-law predators is more than daunting.
In the superficial backlot landscape that Hollywood is, these people hold so much pervasive power, all because of their deeply entrenched relationships. Bruise the ego of one of these power obsessed megalomaniacs and all they have to do is press a button. Your career could be over. Your professional life could be stalled and dead in the time it takes to create and send a group text on an iPhone. Potentially no company will touch you to stay in the good graces of the powerbroker. And being that Weinstein was reportedly connected to nearly 300 Academy Award nominations, the honor, pageantry, influence and power that comes from such a pedestal (in Hollywood terms) can easily be compared to any 20th Century third-world dictator –– calling in favors to make pests, nuisances, the opposition, and the non-compliant go away. We're talking "Power."
Harvey even had President Obama's eldest daughter interning at his company in New York, so, you do the math. When the most powerful man in the world sees having his daughter work at your company as a "dream opportunity" for her, that's power. Thankfully, she's off to Harvard now and away from the implosion happening at The Weinstein Company. The casualties in this debacle are mounting daily on all sides.
Why did I say all of that? I've said all of that so that you could understand the courage of the actresses and actors who are coming out publicly. They put their livelihoods, and the livelihoods of their families, on the line.
"Neophytes beware. Neophytes, be wise. If you happen to read this, take the naive twinkle out of your eye. No, that's not really a joke. Don't come with that starry-eyed look in your gaze."
Section 5: Neophytes, Um... Don't Be A Neophyte
There are lessons to be gleaned here. Are you gleaning them?
For those for whom acting is truly their one ability and one gift to offer the world, consider their plight. For those who sacrificed everything, leaving their small town home, perhaps in a distant country, to pursue their highest aspiration –– consider their plight. These people just want to work. They don't want to be sexually propositioned, exploited or assaulted by gate-keepers just to do their art.
Predators at every level of the Hollywood chess game need to be dismantled, but potential future victims need to be schooled.
Neophytes beware. Neophytes, be wise. If you happen to read this, take the naive twinkle out of your eye. No, that's not really a joke. Don't come with that starry-eyed look in your gaze. You'll be the first one propositioned –– and that'll just be from the 60-year-old guy now valet parking at The Beverly Hills Hotel –– who once worked as a PA on Sanford & Son. That guy.
And if you think he has credibility because of that, he might work you for that belief –– all to get some attention/affection favors from you. Yes, I'm talking about all of these Sugar-Daddy candidates. You've met him before. He wants to make so-called "introductions" for you to the president of ACME BIG DEAL MOVIE STUDIOS LLC. Right? Yah, yah, blah, blah... whatever. I'll park my own damn car, old-timer.
The smartest ladies will take their male companions along with them to those after-business-hours meet-ups with producers –– that is –– if the producer doesn't block them from doing so. And now, smart males need to take their "larger" male compadres along with them to after-business-hours meet-ups with some of these predatory producers. It's real in the world today. If your starry-eyes aren't because of the free makeover you just got from the MAC counter at The Grove, you're gonna have a problem out here. Sober up. Fantasy may be Hollywood's #1 export as a lucrative product, but you don't need to be in a fantasy about Hollywood. Keep it completely real for yourself so you can win with your dignity in tact.
Personally, I've had to counsel too many newly arrived bewildered female aspirants telling them which parties to attend or not –– which to leave before the after-party –– and certainly to not get caught in the mansion during the after-party, after, the after-party. You don't want that. It's just the way Hollywood is. And it’s enough to make anyone flee this town and throw their dreams away –– male, female or unisex Martian. [See how I called that all the way back to Neal Degrasse Tyson? Sigh. Skills.]
"I'll be putting my money on the probability of an Aaron Sorkin penned Oscar winning film named 'Harvey' released in 2020. That'll most likely be Hollywood's contribution to the war on sexually predatory practices in the glitter capitol –– versus substantive change."
Listen. Jokes aside.
While we're waiting on the culture of Hollywood to change, life will go on. Movies will be made. New, young aspiring talent will show up via plane, train or automobile. A good measure of them will have that non-MAC counter starry-eyed naive gaze. A good measure of them will have never heard of Harvey Weinstein. Just, the facts here.
Some say Weinstein's departure will signal a permanent cultural change in Hollywood. I'm no so wide-eyed. I think that where there is great desire, there will always be someone there waiting to exploit that desire. And there will always be great exploitation of those who are not firmly rooted within themselves. It's the nature of nature.
Of course, Weinstein himself will likely never return to his former glory and stature. But, again, so what. One wolf defanged means little when the real problem is a Wolfpack.
Don't get this realist wrong. I would passionately love to see some Change.org, just like you. But, honestly, how do you regulate slime in slime-ball human beings? Let me know when you get an answer. I already asked Google. Crickets.
Meanwhile, I'll be putting my money on the probability of an Aaron Sorkin penned Oscar winning film named "Harvey" released in 2020. That'll most likely be Hollywood's contribution to the war on sexually predatory practices in the glitter capitol –– versus substantive change. I mean... c'mon. The show must go on. Right? One predator never stopped it before (cough, Polanski). How the hell will this one? Let's just hope they don't go so far as to actually let Harvey produce the damned show.
"People, protect yourselves. Power, predators and desire are loose in the same small town."
People, protect yourselves. Power, predators and desire are loose in the same small town. It's a toxic little cocktail. Every trap imaginable will be awaiting the wide-eyed and naive. Be alert, when you send your daughters or your sons. It's tinsel-town. Everything that glitters is far from gold. But everything does glitter –– it’s just that most of that glitter is –– well –– glitter glued on some gold-plated bullsh*t.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
