Even the kindly, aged Hollywood voice of trust? Yeah, him too

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/05/2018 (2161 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In the post-Weinstein era, it seems we can’t go a week without adding another once-beloved man’s name to an ever-growing list.

This week, it was Morgan Freeman.

The Oscar-winning octogenarian everyone wanted to narrate their lives was accused of sexual harassment by eight women. First reported by CNN, the alleged misconduct happened on movie sets, during press junkets and at his production offices. The news came less than 24 hours after TransLink, the Vancouver public transit authority, announced a promotional campaign that would feature Freeman-voiced ads on buses and SkyTrains. The ads were swiftly pulled.

“Him too?” my colleague asked as I read the news. Yeah, him too.

Which raises the question: is there anyone safe to love in Hollywood anymore? If we can’t trust Freeman — a man who carved out an entire voice-over career based on the trustworthiness of his timbre — who can we trust?

It’s hard not to feel disillusioned as a fan of, well, anything — especially when famous men who abuse their power start to seem more like the rule and less like the exception. That’s not just a disappointing realization. It’s a heartbreaking one.

But perhaps that’s an upshot of the #MeToo movement. Maybe, finally, #MeToo is starting to morph into #HimToo. Instead of women having to lay their trauma bare and publicly relive the worst days of their lives so that someone, somewhere, might believe them, we’re reaching a critical tipping point; we’re starting to believe that even the most cuddly, grandfatherly of figures could be capable of harassing and harming women.

There’s a certain cloak of protection afforded by the phrase, “He could never do that.” Couldn’t he, though? How are we so sure? Because he plays a nice guy on TV? Because he wrote a catchy song? Because he’s handsome and charming? Because he narrated a movie with cute penguins in it?

The truth is, we can’t say that for certain. We never could.

Learning that your heroes aren’t who you thought they were isn’t easy. Most people want to believe their favourite actors, singers, directors, writers and comedians are among The Good Ones. And, people will go to great lengths to defend, excuse and normalize the bad behaviour of the people they love, respect and admire — whether they actually know them or are just big fans of their work.

That point was underscored this week by a New York Times interview with the cast of Arrested Development, which includes actor Jeffrey Tambor. Tambor, you may recall, was fired from the Amazon show Transparent following allegations of sexual harassment and verbal abuse.

The cast was doing press for the fifth season of Arrested Development, which arrives on Netflix on Tuesday. And when his co-star, Jessica Walter, tearfully tried to talk about Tambor verbally harassing her on set, the other men in the cast were quick to leap to Tambor’s defence — Jason Bateman, in particular.

Bateman has since apologized, but his behaviour in that interview is an example of the ways in which a culture that breeds harassment is upheld. Tambor doesn’t need people in his corner. He needs people to tell him his behaviour is not OK and will not be accepted, or excused or defended. That yes, it is that bad.

For fans, the reckoning of #MeToo has meant taking a long, uncomfortable look at the pedestals we put certain people on, whose stories we believe and whose we discount, and who we defend and support and why. Under this lens, old stories are starting to get renewed attention.

In April, Times Up, the celebrity-founded movement against sexual harassment, threw its estimable support behind #MuteRKelly, a grassroots protest against R. Kelly, the R&B singer who has been repeatedly accused of abusing women and girls for more than two decades and yet, somehow, remains a revered artist.

But, as we’ve learned in the months of #MeToo, no one is untouchable, especially if we don’t make them so. And Friday, Harvey Weinstein — the man at the centre of the #MeToo movement — was formally charged with rape.

jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @JenZoratti