What if they know the truth, but don’t care? This is the biggest problem of our post-Trump world, isn’t it? We used to assume that if people just knew the truth, they’d think like we do. That mindset has certain merit; personally, I believe Rupert Murdoch has done more to damage democracy than any other ten historical people combined. But his is an enterprise that still profits mostly from lies. There is still more to be said for the evolution from “I didn’t know” to “oh, I knew; I just didn’t care.” It’s the difference between the criminal know-nothing bubble world of MAGA morons who stormed the capitol on January 6 and those who knew the truth and spurred them on anyway, like Trump and Fox News [read: Rupert Murdoch].
She Said doesn’t delve much into that question; but it’s the most important among the questions it asks as it shows the historical downfall of Hollywood mogul and billionaire rapist Harvey Weinstein.
Part of both the power and weakness of She Said is the choice to make the plot entirely about Harvey Weinstein while Harvey Weinstein himself is barely a character. We never see Weinstein’s face and he’s only described to us directly through angry phone calls. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) and Megan Twokey (Carey Mulligan) are both reporters for the New York Times; Kantor gets a tip that Rose McGowan was sexually assaulted by Weinstein, and this is the first lap at the shoreline sand castle an hour before high tide.
Within minutes, screen-wise, Kantor and Twohey are neck-deep in Weinstein rumors and lists of people who know a lot but won’t talk about it and people who know less, but won’t shut up about it. This is a frustrating film because we know it reflects real life: people who are sexually assaulted or flat-out raped generally don’t talk about it because of patriarchal blowback. The more public and powerful the figure, the likelier such is the case. We need look no further than Christine Blasey Ford or Jean Carroll to know this is true.
And, of course, the more public and powerful the figure, the more likely the accuser will get ugly death threats from (mostly RW) trolls. Given how humiliating the experience is, how much PTSD is involved, how often rapists are not convicted, and how little punishment convicted rapists see, it’s a wonder anybody goes on record to talk about their experience. It’s pretty much just a matter of time before Kantor and Twohey question why they traveled this road in the first place.
It is important to know that putting Harvey Weinstein away is landmark stuff. It showed the rarest of rare: that a rich and powerful white man can be held to account. As a society, we find this doubly frustrating because we assumed this would now be the rule. However, mountains of credible evidence later and Trump still hasn’t been indicted of anything as if this writing.
Now … for a film about such a charged subject describing the actions of and reactions to such a charged figure, She Said was strangely paint-by-numbers. It comes off as sort of a matte version of All the President’s Men. She Said avoided the titillation of Bombshell
, which is –again- both good news and bad news. The good news is a lack of exploitation in the form of social justice; the bad news is Kantor and Twohey come off as sadly interchangeable. Like Women Talking, She Said is another film that’s important without being necessarily good
Did the #metoo movement start with the prosecution of Harvey Weinstein? More importantly, has the #metoo movement been a net source of good? These are questions that I would love answered. The cynic in me sees the imbalance so clearly; take the case of race relations vis-à-vis police enforcement: Step 1: Racist cops kill a black man for little more than being black. Step 2: BLM happens. Protests happen. Calls for “Defund the police” happen. Step 3: Counter-protests happen; violence at protests happens (might have been BLM instigated; might NOT have been BLM instigated) Step 4: Public reaction, once sympathetic to a dead black man, turns in the other direction because of deliberately muddied waters. Step 5: Asshole politicians elected. Gerrymandering to minimize black voting power intensifies; suppression of education regarding black history intensifies. Policing justified. Net result: More likelier to see the unjustified killing of a black person than there was before we began.
That’s a simplification, and it deliberately ignores progress, but is it basically true or false? This is the worst part of the propaganda era: it’s not that the truth isn’t getting out. Sometimes it is and we just don’t care. Every time the assholes win, films like She Said become extra necessary.
There once was a mogul named Harvey
Who thought sexploitation was marvy
With process uncouth
Finally, the truth:
He was lower than maggot larvae
Rated R, 129 Minutes
Director: Maria Schrader
Writer: Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Genre: Topics I shouldn’t joke about
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: #metoo
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Harvey Weinstein
