#MeToo: Steven Soderbergh Says “Diversity Wins In All Of These Situations”

The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements are far from over, and while there hasn’t been a full blown backlash yet, there are some absurdly worried opinions being tossed around. There are those who think that women being asked not be treated like objects and humiliated will lead to a work environment where dudes can’t just like, be chill and relax, and casually flirt. C’mon, it’s totally harmless! It’s a compliment! (Sarcasm, obviously). Of course, level heads realize that kind of environment is exactly what opens up boundaries being crossed to that the extent these movements are necessary today. However, Steven Soderbergh ponders if the backlash — should it come — will close doors instead of open up a new era for women.

” My fear is that, men being men, going forward, as opposed to changing their behavior, they’re just going to stop hiring women,” he told The Daily Beast. “In everything. In every business, in every part of the culture. Like I said, knowing men as I do, I think for a lot of them, that’s going to be their initial reaction, as opposed to a reassessment of how they’ve behaved. It’ll just be: let’s not hire women, because, you know, they talk.”

“But over time, that’ll be a bad play,” Soderbergh added. “Because diversity wins in all of these situations. If you become a company that, for instance, decides—tacitly or explicitly—to hire fewer women because you don’t want any problems, you’re going to get beat by other companies who do continue to hire women, because they’re going to have a better result. Again, it’s very early days. And I think the intensity of it is the result of many, many, many years of pent-up frustration coming out. That’s why it feels so all-encompassing. There’s just been this pressure that’s finally being released. If you step back and look at it from a sort of social-anthropology point of view, I find it fascinating.”

It’s comforting to hear from an industry veteran that diversity is the recipe for success, because it’s a message that needs to communicated over and over again. Nobody gains by limiting creative voices. As for what future of the #MeToo and #TimesUp will bring, the filmmaker hopes the scope expands to include those who many not cross a sexual line, but nonetheless act inappropriately.

“…the good news is, I think that shit’s over. That [Harvey Weinstein-esque] behavior is done. And it’s one of those things you see in society occasionally, where there’s something that needs to change and everybody knows it and yet it never changes until very suddenly it does. This is one of those. It’s a completely new landscape now. That’s the good news,” Soderbergh said. “It’ll be interesting to see where the new equilibrium ends up, and whether or not this will expand beyond gender-driven harassment into a more general discussion about people who are assholes. Because there are plenty around. After this takes a shape that seems like it’s going to settle in, I’d love to see a discussion just about abusive behavior in general that has nothing to do with sexual harassment, but just bad behavior.”

Indeed, there’s a lot more cleanup to do in Hollywood.

Soderbergh’s HBO series “Mosaic” is now airing, and his upcoming “Unsane” will premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival and opens on March 23rd.