A large and looming question coming up as the curtain has been raised on sexual harassment and assault in Hollywood, is how will this affect the future of the industry? Are these daily stories and public shamings of the aggressors enough to stop the decades old boys club? The question is unanswerable at the moment as we have never really witnessed this kind of seismic shift. Where do the years ahead lead? Are we entering a new phase where actresses and really just female industry players will finally be treated with, not just respect, but equality?
“Top of the Lake” filmmaker Jane Campion seems to think so. Speaking at the Screen Production and Development Association Conference in Wellington, New Zealand, Campion compared the times we’re living in to a “fairytale” for women adding that, “Women are being believed and the men fired. This is breathtaking. I have never seen anything like this solidarity and call to action in my life. The more we speak out, the less it will happen.”
Of course, it all started with the allegations against Harvey Weinstein coming to light, and Campion has had a history with the Miramax mogul over the years, especially since he gave her the breakthrough she needed with her landmark film “The Piano” winning Oscars. Campion addressed the Weinstein connection and said that they had a falling out during post-production of the 1998 film “Holy Smoke.” However, she added that she did not know the extent of his behavior. Campion also said that the election of Donald Trump as U.S. President was the “pinnacle of the capitalist macho movement,” but might just be its “downfall.” Trump’s “gross display of macho domination and power is also a lightning rod of revulsion. Never has the macho man been so exposed, so idiotic or so dangerous.”
That does make sense, doesn’t it? I mean, it looks like a shift in power is happening, albeit at a minimal pace. People are not just believing women, but they are backing them up in droves. The days of turning a blind eye to such things seem to be over, for now. There are certainly many more men all around the industry nervously wondering if they might be next in the endless draining of the swamp, pardon my Trumpism. The cleaning house in Hollywood is far from over. [Deadline]
