Harvey Weinstein allegations; who's next when it comes to allegations? (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

http://time.com/time-person-of-the-...utm_medium=social&xid=time_socialflow_twitter

 

[Jake Lipson]

Good choice, Time!

 

[Stan]

Probably very "politically incorrect" but I'm starting to become very skeptical of these stories.

All these people, women and men, just jumping on the bandwagon bringing up "supposed" things that may or may not have happened decades ago.

Some are true and careers are being ruined, but some of the claims I really question.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Stan, I was expressing a similar sentiment also a few pages ago. I think that stopping serial predators is important, but it's also important not to get into a witch hunt mentality where careers are being destroyed for no reason.

On another note, more fallout for TWC as they are facing a class action lawsuit over Harvey's behavior.

http://variety.com/2017/film/news/harvey-weinstein-sexual-harassment-lawsuit-six-women-1202632040/

 

[Ruz-El]

I don't think I've seen anyone that's been railroaded. I think the numbers are bonkers because this is a common area of abuse with people in power. Any of the stories I've seen that had me question the legitimacy of the claim, more people came forward.

I don't doubt that many of these guys think they didn't really do anything wrong saying things like they would like a clitoris with their egg or if it's okay if they take their clothes off and masturbate to women, that's it's just harmless fun or a flirty environment, and I guess that's why they got to go.

 

[Brent Reid]

I don't doubt that many of these guys think they didn't really do anything wrong saying things like they would like a clitoris with their egg or if it's okay if they take their clothes off and masturbate to women, that's it's just harmless fun or a flirty environment, and I guess that's why they got to go.

Bull. You really think they talk to their mothers, daughters, grandmothers and nieces like that? These are rich, powerful and accomplished men we're talking about, not idiots. They knew.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Granted, just about all of these guys are getting what's coming to them. From my perspective, I can't judge all them equally as I think there are various levels of guilt here. Like some have expressed here, I'm having difficulty sifting through the accusations and the individuals involved. With that said, make no mistake about it, there are some bad hombres being exposed to what they are and what they did to other people so that is a good thing.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Granted, just about all of these guys are getting what's coming to them. From my perspective, I can't judge all them equally as I think there are various levels of guilt here. Like some have expressed here, I'm having difficulty sifting through the accusations and the individuals involved. With that said, make no mistake about it, there are some bad hombres being exposed to what they are and what they did to other people so that is a good thing.

Take this accused person for instance. For his sake, I hope he behaved himself over the last 25 years, otherwise, he's going to be toast. If he doesn't have any further incidents since getting his three month suspension in 1992 when he was 25 years old, then I don't think he should be punished again. However, let's see if more women come forward since 1992, if so, bye, bye job.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/m...-tirico-olympics-harassment-article-1.3681209

 

[Jake Lipson]

Not really abuse-related at all, but since we were already discussing Bryan Singer's termination from Bohemian Rhapsody in this thread in the context of allegations, it's wort noting that Fox has replaced him with the much less well-known Dexter Fletcher:

http://deadline.com/2017/12/dexter-fletcher-replaces-bryan-singer-on-bohemian-rhapsody-1202221696/

 

[Jake Lipson]

A few pages ago, we were talking about still liking works that people who have come under accusation have done in the past, or not, and whether we can bring ourselves to watch them.

I watched A Bug's Life tonight. This has the double whammy of being directed by John Lasseter and stars Kevin Spacey as the voice of Hopper. As I said before, it has always been one of my favorite films ever since it was released 19 years ago (almost 20.) This is the first time I have seen it since the current issues relating to these two men have become public, so I was curious if that would impact my viewing or reception of the film in any way.

Fortunately, I can say it did not. I was still able to watch and fully appreciate the film as I always have without thinking about their personal issues during it. Perhaps that's because, in animation, I was never actually looking at Kevin Spacey. (I have yet to see a live-action film of his since the scandal broke.) However, this is also, I think, a credit to the film, its characters and and its worldbuilding. It's really easy to get swept up in it. This was also Pixar's first use of the 2.35:1 ratio, and they really rose to the challenge and delivered a stunningly beautiful film which still holds up visually almost two decades later.

I don't mean to turn this into a movie review thread, but thought I should note that, controversies or not, this film endures -- which is a good thing, and a relief, since I wasn't totally sure if it would or not, given the stigma newfound around two of its most important figures. But it absolutely does. It's easy to watch, and a total pleasure to do so.

 

[Tony Bensley]

A few pages ago, we were talking about still liking works that people who have come under accusation have done in the past, or not, and whether we can bring ourselves to watch them.

I watched A Bug's Life tonight. This has the double whammy of being directed by John Lasseter and stars Kevin Spacey as the voice of Hopper. As I said before, it has always been one of my favorite films ever since it was released 19 years ago (almost 20.) This is the first time I have seen it since the current issues relating to these two men have become public, so I was curious if that would impact my viewing or reception of the film in any way.

Fortunately, I can say it did not. I was still able to watch and fully appreciate the film as I always have without thinking about their personal issues during it. Perhaps that's because, in animation, I was never actually looking at Kevin Spacey. (I have yet to see a live-action film of his since the scandal broke.) However, this is also, I think, a credit to the film, its characters and and its worldbuilding. It's really easy to get swept up in it. This was also Pixar's first use of the 2.35:1 ratio, and they really rose to the challenge and delivered a stunningly beautiful film which still holds up visually almost two decades later.

I don't mean to turn this into a movie review thread, but thought I should note that, controversies or not, this film endures -- which is a good thing, and a relief, since I wasn't totally sure if it would or not, given the stigma newfound around two of its most important figures. But it absolutely does. It's easy to watch, and a total pleasure to do so.

Perhaps one way of looking at it, is from the perspective of a town or village. Like any town or village, no matter how pleasant, any sizable cast and crew for any given project is bound to have a few bad apples within their population. It doesn't necessarily mean moving from that town, or forsaking a beloved film. Other factors tend to come into play.

 

[Ruz-El]

Bull. You really think they talk to their mothers, daughters, grandmothers and nieces like that? These are rich, powerful and accomplished men we're talking about, not idiots. They knew.

1+1=11

 

[Jake Lipson]

Dylan Farrow has an op-ed today in the LA Times regarding Woody Allen:

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-farrow-woody-allen-me-too-20171207-story.html

On the other side of the coin, J.K. Rowling, David Yates and David Heymen are defending their decision to continue working with Johnny Depp on The Crimes of Grindlewald.

http://deadline.com/2017/12/jk-rowl...r-amber-heard-gettert-grindelwald-1202221941/

I mentioned the Depp issue in the movie's thread too, but thought it warranted mention here, too, because it is an opposite outcome to several of these recent cases, which have ruined careers, and in this case the creatives are choosing to stand by their originally chosen star. It's an interesting counterpoint to all that has been going on lately.

 

[WillG]

May be late to the party on this, but apparently the Bryan Singer allegation (the one that may have presumably had been making him to fear enough to flee from the Mercury biopic) seems to be out.

X-Men" Filmmaker Bryan Singer Accused Of Raping 17-Year-Old Boy On Yacht
The man alleges that the filmmaker cornered him in a room aboard the yacht in 2003 and forced him to perform oral sex before raping him.

Posted on December 7, 2017, at 7:58 p.m.

Bryan Singer, the big-budget filmmaker behind multiple X-Men movies, has been sued for allegedly raping a 17-year-old boy on a yacht, and then using his position in Hollywood to threaten him into silence.

In the lawsuit, Cesar Sanchez-Guzman alleges that Singer offered to give him a tour of the yacht during a boat party near Seattle in 2003. Once cornered in a room, Singer allegedly forced the teen to perform oral sex before raping him, according to the lawsuit filed in Washington state court.

The lawsuit states that the yacht was owned by wealthy tech investor Lester Waters, and that the party was attended by a number of young gay men. Sanchez-Guzman states that he was 17 at the time of the party and did not know Singer except that he was a friend of Waters.

After the alleged assault, Sanchez-Guzman states in the lawsuit that Singer threatened to ruin his reputation if he came forward.

Representatives for Singer did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News' request for comment. However, rep for the filmmaker told TMZ the lawsuit was filed by the same lawyer who represented Michael Egan, who several years ago accused Singer and others in the industry of sexual misconduct, only to withdraw the claims.

"Those claims were dismissed by Egan himself, and he later went to federal prison for lying in a fraud case," the rep told TMZ.

Singer was recently fired from the set of Bohemian Rhapsody, in which Rami Malek is playing the late Queen singer Freddie Mercury, after the director failed to return to London, where the movie is filming.

He is also just the latest powerful Hollywood figure to face allegations of sexual assault and harassment, including movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and film producer Brett Ratner.

Weinstein is already facing multiple civil lawsuits regarding allegations of sexual assault. And he faces potential criminal charges in California, New York, and the UK.

The tide of allegations and resulting fallout against men of power in multiple arenas — including politics, media, and tech — were sparked earlier this year after the New York Times and the New Yorker published stories detailing some of the allegations.

 

[Jake Lipson]

No, Will, you're not late to the party on that. It just dropped, and thank you for posting it. This is unfortunate, because Bryan Singer is another filmmaker whose work I have admired for several years, but it definitely feels very much like this is the other shoe dropping from the incidents that led to his firing from the Queen movie.

 

[WillG]

No, Will, you're not late to the party on that. It just dropped, and thank you for posting it. This is unfortunate, because Bryan Singer is another filmmaker whose work I have admired for several years, but it definitely feels very much like this is the other shoe dropping from the incidents that led to his firing from the Queen movie.

He got fired from dissappearing from the set. Why is the question, and it looks like this, or something else like it is the Occam's razor explanation.

Singer is a talented filmmaker but this kind of smoke has dogged his career (he was mentioned in the "Open Secret" documentary as being an attendant at boys parties that that software development company used to throw). I know in this thread we were supposed to avoid speculation, but is anyone really surprised by this development?

 

[TravisR]

I know in this thread we were supposed to avoid speculation, but is anyone really surprised by this development?

Nope. Like you said, it's no secret. If people like you and me know about it, the industry certainly does and his leaving the Freddy Mercury movie made it clear that he was done for.

 

[Jake Lipson]

If we assume that between his unprofessional behavior on the Queen set and the rape allegation, Singer is never going to get hired again -- and I don't think that's a difficult assumption to make -- that makes X-Men: Apocalypse his final film, which is kind of depressing, artistically, and a low note to go out on. He should've quit that series while he was ahead with Days of Future Past.

I really don't get why treating people with decency and respect, and being professional in a work environment, are difficult concepts for such talented and obviously smart people.

 

[Edwin-S]

This tripe is unbelievable.

 

[WillG]

I really don't get why treating people with decency and respect, and being professional in a work environment, are difficult concepts for such talented and obviously smart people.

As far as I know, no one was accusing Singer (for the sake of arguement discounting the Apt Pupil allegations) of improprieties on movie sets. But as reputation goes, he was a well known hedonist. Supposedly his pool parties were legendary. I liked some of his films, that won't change. I never liked him.