#MeCarthynism: Costs, Cons, and Conartists

McCarthynism: the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence

For anyone with access to the internet hearing another accusation of assault or rape coming out of Hollywood barely raises an eyebrow anymore. Since Rose McGowan stepped forward to put the spotlight on the less than chivalrous actions of Harvey Weinstein, it seems that hardly a week goes by before another actress steps forward to say someone did  something to them. 

While this has the potential to do some good long term reform on the industry, it cannot be allowed to turn into a reenactment of the Salem witch trials. There are guilty people no doubt, but they need to be brought properly to the justice system, not the # system.  

But perhaps one of the reasons these accusations are coming forth on twitter and other media is not because they are seeking justice, but are acts of vindictive bitterness. There may exist no evidence for one reason or another. Without evidence a guilty verdict in a court would be near impossible. So it is instead brought to the court of public opinions where the reputation and livelihood of the accused is destroyed by mass acclamation. No reputation and no more work can be just as damning as a prison sentence. 

While Weinstein is unlikely to ever recover his throne, there has been tragic collateral damage. Rose McGowan's former manager, Jill Messick, committed suicide after being dragged through headlines and harassed with accusations of acting as an accomplice of Weinstein.  Messick's family has instead claimed that Messick tried to comfort McGowan after her encounters with Weinstein. Though according to Messick's family McGowan never called the encounters rape at the time (1997), not pleasant, but consensual. Its possible that McGowan did indeed consent to further her career which many women have done in the industry (as Sir Ian McKellen pointed out in a recent interview). But so long as the he said, she said keeps going we may never know the entire truth. Whatever it is, Messick will not be there at the big reveal.    

And given the awareness the public has of the child abuse that has occurred in Hollywood for decades, is it not surprising how quickly they believe in every assault/rape story? Multiple former child actors such as Elijah Wood and Corey Feldman have talked about the number of pedophiles in the uppermost echelons of the industry. The effects of such abuse followed many of its victims into their adulthood culminating in substance abuse, mental trauma, and in some cases, as with Corey Haim, suicide. The saddest part is the public knows who some of these people are and they live protected within their bubble. In a fair world, the likes of Roman Polanski, Woody Allen, and Kevin Spacey would already be in prison for their abuse of minors. In a fair world, a person would accept they made a mistake the night before instead of calling rape. But hollow hearted Hollywood is clearly willing to look the other way once you have an Oscar or two under your belt.