Photo Courtesy of
Pixers.us
Next month marks the anniversary of
The New Yorker article (2017) that broke the story of Harvey Weinstein’s
alleged history of sexual assault, and in the eleven months since,
approximately 100 men in the entertainment industry have had sexual assault
allegations leveled against them. Ten months ago, one of those men was comedian
Louis C.K., and in one of the few instances of an accused man doing so, he
acknowledged, in a statement that was also published in The New York Times,
that the allegations against him were true, and he concluded said statement by
writing that, “I will now step back and take a long time to listen” (The New
York Times, 2017).
That
appears to be what he did for ten months before appearing, unannounced, at a
comedy club at the end of last month.
Yes, he lost corporate sponsorships and his film I Love You Daddy were
dropped by its domestic and international distributors, but charges were never
brought against him. Instead he was
allowed to retreat from the public eye for less than a year, before making a
return to the literal spotlight on his own terms and without the prior knowledge
of his audience, leading to several women walking out of the venue and a few
others sitting stone-faced through the entirety of his set (Vulture, 2018).
Within the
#MeToo/Time’s Up era, C.K. serves as a sort of bellwether given that he has
acknowledged the accuracy of the allegations made against him, and his return
to the public eye, along with steps being taken by several other accused men
highlights the power that the “boys club” still has over how and to what extent
powerful men are, or are not, punished for the harm they do. That was also evident in the social media
response to C.K.’s unannounced set, with several notable male comedians,
including Michael Ian Black, calling for understanding of C.K. having “done his
time,” or expressing their outright excitement for his return, while many
female comedians expressed their anger, frustration, and even resignation
regarding an admitted abusers return to the spotlight.
Credit: Tweet by:
@michaelianblack
Credit: Tweet by: @aparnapkin
I admit to
having none of the answers (numerous opinions yes, but no answers) regarding
how long abusers should be out of the public eye, but getting to step back from
the judgment of the public without facing legal consequences strikes me as
hollow, and making his return through an audience who was not informed, and
therefore unable to consent to said return is a blatant continuation of the
issues with not seeking consent that precipitated C.K.’s (and countless others)
fall from grace in the first place.
Abusers must be held accountable because if they aren’t, they will never
change, and as a society we send the message to others that their actions are
acceptable, and that is unacceptable!
Written by: Margaret
Brennan, M.A.
References
C.K., Louis (2017, November 7). Louis C.K. responds to
accusations: “These stories are true.”
The New York Times. Retrieved from:
Farrow, Ronan (2017, October 10). From aggressive overtures to sexual assault: Harvey
Weinstein’s accusers tell their stories. The New Yorker. Retrieved from:
Harris, Hunter (2018, August 29). “Two women describe Louis C.K.’s “uncomfortable” Comedy
Cellar set.” Vulture. Retrieved from: http://www.vulture.com/2018/08/louis-ck-comedy- cellar-women-describe-rape-whistle-joke.html?utm_campaign=vulture&utm_source=tw&utm_medium=s1
No comments:
Post a Comment