future papers... what i'll cover

            This semester, I’ve decided to focus my writing on call-out culture, the #MeToo movement and associated topics. I feel like there’s a lot to cover on these topics. It seems like every day, unfortunately, we hear of another public figure – often associated with Hollywood or showbusiness – getting “called out” for sexual misbehavior and racism. From some of the most prominent people in the business like Harvey Weinstein and Les Moonves on down, creepy men are getting exposed as predators or bigots.

            I feel like most people who are not super naïve have known or at least had an idea that these powerful figures have been abusing that power, probably ever since the Hollywood machine has been in play and of course even before that whenever there’s a power dynamic in which a woman is in a lesser social or economic position to a man. There’s a book called “Hollywood Babylon” that was published in 1965 that, while full of factual inaccuracies and some downright fabrications, highlights some of the seedy stories and rumors that have been a part of the fabric of modern showbusiness from the beginning.

            Now with the reach of the internet and social media, thankfully the stories of people who have been abused by politicians, celebrities and powerful business people are able to be told. And the extent of call-out culture runs all the way down to “regular” people who are not big stars. I often see things posted online warning people to stay away from individuals because they have acted in a predatory or racist manner in the past, with photos and personal information included in these posts.

            For example, when I was living in Santa Cruz and playing in a band there, stories and photos began to circulate online regarding a band called the Highway Murderers. These posts included screen grabs of band members’ Instagram accounts showing Nazi paraphernalia, anti-Semitic memes, and fans of the band displaying swastika tattoos and seig-heiling. In other words, a least some members of the band were obviously into some racist shit in their personal lives, even if their lyrics were not explicitly racist. Some people in the music scene, including the guitar player of my band, called for a boycott of the band in posts online. A bunch of their shows were canceled. This led to threats of violence from fans/members of the Highway Murderers. Some fans showed up to a gig that my band was playing trying to cause trouble but they were outnumbered and nothing really happened. And a chance run in at a local music rehearsal studio between my band and the Murderers themselves ended with some harsh words and threats thrown around but thankfully no violence (they are big and scary dudes).

            Now I’m pretty sure this band is unable to get gigs anymore. Their reputation is ruined in the music scene. But it amazes me that people are dumb enough to post things like that and not expect to get pushback or criticism for it. And when they’re caught they act like the victim when, in cases like this, they created the problem themselves.

On the whole, I am really happy that this culture exists and has become more prevalent. I think it’s a net positive in the direction of making our culture more aware of issues of abuse and bigotry and letting people know it’s OK to stand up against those who would try to abuse their power or position. But I have a lot of questions about where the movement is going, some potential abuses of the movement, and general feelings about how some figures seem to get a pass and suffer few consequences when called out.

Some have said that the sheer number of accusations being brought forth nowadays has the potential to cause fatigue and lessen the impact of those accusations. It’s kind of like President Trump having some new scandal going on every day so that there’s no time to process the last scandal and take him to task on it. I don’t know if I really buy that, but I understand the argument.

The James Gunn controversy is interesting to me as it has been reported that his “call-out” for posting offensive and tasteless pedophilia jokes on Twitter 10 or so years ago came from people displeased about his criticism of Trump. Now the “Guardians of the Galaxy” director has been fired by Disney. Basically he was fired for making bad, offensive jokes and I personally think this is an example of the #MeToo movement and call-out culture gone too far.

The Gunn controversy is especially weird when we examine the case of Woody Allen. While these is no real proof that he molested his daughter, the story seems plausible and his well-documented creepiness (for example marrying his adopted daughter Soon Yi) doesn’t exactly make him seem like the most sexually well-adjusted person. But, since he has a long history of critical and box-office success, he still makes movies. He’s suffered little repercussions and indeed has released a couple of movies since being accused of abuse. Why does he get to continue his career while Gunn gets fired?

Another aspect to explore is the idea of those being accused (and sometimes admitting fault) making their way back to the spotlight after laying low for a while. Louis CK, the comic who was accused of, and admitted to, masturbating in front of women against their will on numerous occasions, recently returned to the stand-up stage after about a six month break from public appearances. Sure, it was a low-key and unannounced stand-up set, but he at least was allowed by the managers of the club to go onstage. Is this too soon? Should he return at all? What’s the “sentence” for those tried in the court of public opinion? Roseanne Barr was fired from her super successful TV show recently for making racist tweets. I would bet that she will be back soon.

Something else that could be tied in to this whole discussion is the separation of art and artist. I personally find it easy to do so in many cases. I’m a fan of rock and roll, and the history of the genre is chock full of man behaving like real pieces of shit. John Lennon supposedly beat his first wife. Led Zeppelin allegedly engaged in horrible, degrading sexual antics with groupies. Rick James was actually convicted of sexual and physical assault, and the details of his case are pretty disgusting. Yet I can overlook this behavior and enjoy their music. Maybe it’s because their heyday was in the past, and I wasn’t around to experience them being accused of anything at the time. But even though I was a big fan of Louis CK’s comedy and TV work, if he returns to the spotlight I don’t see myself rushing to view his new material. Seeing the accusations/events unfold in real time has soured me on him unlike the accusations toward older “classic rock” type people, or director Roman Polanski who was convicted of statutory rape.

Anyway there’s a lot of complex stuff going on with #MeToo and call-out culture, and new developments every day. I’m going to have plenty to chew on here.