Harvey Weinstein abused women and then bribed them to keep quiet. He was well-known to be a bully — and he seldom failed to get his way. Bullying was a successful strategy, after all. The man produced “Pulp Fiction,” begging the question of whether one can untether the man from his fruit.
The Hollywood industry knowingly and repeatedly honored Weinstein (and his products). His depraved behavior with women also flourished for years. For that extended period, Hollywood insiders knew of many of his misdeeds but remained silent, either because they themselves benefitted materially or because they had too much to lose by taking a stand.
As the saying goes, if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything. This is the fate of a culture that values self over everything.
A 2015 study by the group Vocativ showed that industry actor award winners thanked Weinstein more often than God. People in Hollywood will sell their souls, their very virtue — that which each of our Founding Fathers pledged in order to form a “more perfect union” — down the tubes, if it means financial or commercial gain.
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And who can blame them? Our schools teach survival of the fittest. Virtue doesn’t stand a chance. The motto of Hollywood is: “What can you do for me?” Me, me, me. It’s the selfie culture.
But now, women are coming forward to decry the horrible depravity of Harvey Weinstein, the human hurricane that left a wide swath of destruction and payoffs in his wake — wake, as in path, not the celebration of his death. He’ll be back, but the question is, will the American public?
Hillary Clinton might denounce him, but she’ll keep his money. And he’ll take “full responsibility” for his actions, while claiming he didn’t know any better. The tears and pleadings on the DA’s tape might argue something different, but under survival of the fittest, those choked entreaties for him to stop only acknowledged his virility. He interpreted, “Don’t! Stop!” as “Don’t stop!”
And who can blame him? Not the people declaring men are women and women are now men.
Related: Exclusive: Sorbo: ‘I’m Hoping Faith Will Find Its Way to Hollywood’
Who sets the standard? Not Lisa Bloom, yesterday’s feminist flag-bearer, who proclaimed straight-faced on national television that her client Weinstein was working through his issues. She bolted when the charges extended to rape. Apparently, her shamelessness is limited only by her survival skills.
Harvey, Harvey, Harvey! He had the chance to come clean, but he thought he could “piecemeal it” like Clinton.
Harvey, Harvey, Harvey! He had the chance to come clean, but he thought he could “piecemeal it” like Clinton. He may still. Bill Clinton and Roman Polanski are celebrated by a Hollywood that now despises Harvey. For those playing at home, if it is perceived as wrong, it is wrong — unless you can get away with it. In that case, it’s survival of the fittest.
All of Hollywood accepts the casting couch, but they didn’t want their hypocrisy laid bare. So the mainstream media blinked, blank-faced, when the failing and ironically named Gray Lady (The New York Times, of course) screwed over the movie mogul and Democrat darling by partially exposing his peculiarities. (Didn’t she know he preferred full exposure?)
Related: Exclusive: Kevin Sorbo on Modern Hollywood and Teaming Up with Sean Hannity
Finally, full frontal is what the rest of the media, only bowing under a byline burden, tendered. Aggravated at their embarrassment, they chastised Weinstein and compared his transgression to …Trump (not to Bill Clinton).
Now Hollywood will attempt to save face, similar to the NFL’s backpedaling — and pretend to care about the body electorate. Concerned with the NFL’s bottom line, Roger Goodell even tried to convince audiences to turn football games back on by coming out against national anthem-kneeling players himself (though he said the league has no plans to force players to stand).
“Everyone should stand for the national anthem. It’s an important part of our policy and the game. It’s important to honor our flag and our country, and I think our fans expect that,” said Goodell in a recent press conference.
He doesn’t particularly care about the anthem — it would have come faster and fiercer if he did. Caught in the survival conundrum, he tries to honor false virtue, but the patriotic football audiences will not be easy to fool. They do actually stand for something.
Related: Sorbo: Being Christian in Hollywood Can Be a Career ‘Death Sentence’
For Hollywood, the road back is also not easy, perhaps because “back” means back to the hypocritical values of a corrupted culture that is led by greed and selfishness. That doesn’t mean there are no good people in Hollywood — but it does question the definition of good. If there is no moral standard, of what “good” is that adjective? Many cultures in the world justify rape and pedophilia, but supposedly, in our Judeo-Christian culture of equality, “no means no.” Except in Hollywood — where it apparently means “for a price.”
For Hollywood, the road back is also not easy.
Now, the virtue of middle America has crept into the debate and is holding up a true standard. Who will back down first — the standard-bearers, i.e. the churchgoing public, or the standard-setters, those in the media and Hollywood who claim they know better than the rest of us but then pretend they didn’t when it becomes clear that they just didn’t care?
Fully grasping now the terrible depravity much of Hollywood hides and sells in its products, will middle America strive to maintain a moral standard set by our Creator — or will they reaffirm Hollywood’s survival of the fittest?
Sam Sorbo is an actress, writer, and talk-radio host. She has been married to Kevin Sorbo since 1998, and they have three children. Sorbo stars in, and co-wrote, the upcoming film “Let There Be Light.” More information on it can be found here. Her official website can be found here.
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