In the immortal words of the great prophet Dave Chappelle, “You played yourself.”
From this time forward, when any insipidly sanctimonious Hollywood star comes forward to lecture us on Marxist agitprop masquerading as do-gooderism, the rest of America that does most of the living and dying around here can simply dismiss such virtue signaling with the following two words: “Harvey Weinstein.”
How ironic is it that in 2016, Hollywood deservedly awarded its coveted Best Picture award to the fantastic movie “Spotlight,” about the journalistic quest to break the long-hidden child abuse scandal within the Catholic Church — when many, too many, of those in attendance at the Oscars that evening were knowingly concealing a sexual predator of their own, masquerading as a movie mogul.
In fact, the “Los Angeles Times” wrote a feature about those 2016 Oscars and how rare it was for the “Diet Coke swigging, chain-smoking master” (as they described Weinstein) to be shut out from Hollywood’s biggest night. Absent from that piece was any mention of how Weinstein turned the already infamous casting couch into his personal hunting ground.
Of course, in fairness to the Times, no one is going to publish such an explosive story about such a powerful figure without eyewitness testimony. And many in the liberal media have done yeoman’s work these past few days not only blowing the lid off this story once some finally came forward, but also demanding that Democratic politicians like the Clintons and Obamas come clean about their cozy relationship with Weinstein.
Yet at this point in the story, I feel compelled to defend Hillary Clinton’s reluctance to publicly condemn her friend and neighbor Weinstein. After all, if you spent 30 years publicly covering for a predatory lout of a husband such as hers, you wouldn’t have much credibility in condemning Weinstein, either.
But I digress.
Many of the same questions once asked about the Catholic Church must now be asked about Hollywood. Even many fellow believers couldn’t reconcile the Church’s historic stance on the sanctity of human life and justice with its systemic willingness to aid and abet pedophiles. And now I would imagine there are many liberals, who truly pride themselves on egalitarian feminism and social justice, wondering how so many of their biggest celebrity spokespeople for those causes befriended and did business with a creep like Weinstein — while knowing this all along.
Politics aside, as a father of two daughters, let alone a fellow human being, it’s heartbreaking to read actress Rose McGowan’s Twitter feed the past few days. She attempts to reconcile the irreconcilable, while confronting and outing all those in Hollywood who betrayed vulnerable women like her for years.
But then there’s the cognitive dissonance displayed by actress Jessica Chastain, who starred in a movie about the alleged evils of guns and gun owners last year.
Chastain now admits she was “warned from the beginning” about Weinstein. Then why star in a movie about disarming the law-abiding? What sense does it make to know there is systemic abuse of women going on in your industry and then advocate for disarming them? How many women whom Weinstein intimidated, scared, and abused over the years would’ve liked the means to defend themselves from such a powerful man if need be?
Speaking of cognitive dissonance …
Sadly, the worldview and activism promoted by liberal Hollywood allowed a creep like Weinstein not only to rise to power, but to use his powerful pedestal to become a full-fledged predator. For when you are applauding the life and death of Hugh Hefner one week, but then mortified at Weinstein taking Hefner’s life work to its most problematic conclusion the next, it’s clear you believe you live in a world where two plus two doesn’t equal four.
The elevation of recreational sex to the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The removal of absolute moral standards. Believing justice can be achieved publicly without first confronting the injustice afflicting us personally. Seeing life as simply a matter of materialistic successes, and if you have red in your ledger you can make up for it on your own with good deeds (like Weinstein trying to make penance last week by going after the NRA). The notion that he who has the gold gets to make all the rules, and it’s okay to compromise your personal value system for self-actualization or success.
This is Hollywood’s DNA.
However, this is where the comparisons between Hollywood and the Catholic Church’s coddling of predators comes to an end. For the Catholic Church stained its reputation by betraying the iconography on its stained glass windows. On the other hand, Weinstein is the embodiment of the humanist stain that Hollywood has become.
That’s why Weinstein was so successful and made others so successful in that town, too. Weinstein wasn’t swimming against the Hollywood tide; he was spawned from it. (For more from the author of “Liberal Hollywood Destroys Any Credibility It Had Left” please click HERE)
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