PBS doc ‘Weinstein’ studies why alleged sex misconduct persisted
NEW YORK In making a documentary about disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, PBS’ “Frontline” wanted to focus less on what he did than on how the alleged sexual misconduct went on for so long.
“Weinstein” airs Friday on most PBS stations, two nights before the Academy Awards. Its richness comes in detailing the combination of fear, intimidation and selfinterested passivity that papered over allegations of harassment and assault dating back nearly 40 years, involving the famous and obscure alike.
More than 100 women have come forward since stories about the influential film producer’s behaviour were first published in The New York Times and New Yorker magazine last fall. Weinstein has denied some of the allegations. Several women speak to “Frontline,” their stories unfolding with numbing similarity, usually starting with an unwanted request for a massage.
To illustrate how long this has been going on, PBS interviews two women who worked on Weinstein’s first film in the early 1980s, back when he ran a concert promotion business in Buffalo, New York. Suza Maher-Wilson and Paula Wachowiak kept their stories to themselves because they figured no one else would care, or that it typified how young women were treated in the entertainment industry.
Actress Sean Young said she rebuffed Weinstein when he exposed himself. “I upset a few important men and the trajectory of my career...” she said, her hand motioning downward.
“Frontline” also speaks with two former Weinstein employees, Paul Webster and Tom Prince, who illustrated with their own inaction how things continued. Webster said he knew Weinstein was a dangerous character when he took a job there in 1995. “But I knew he was in the epicenter of where I wanted to be,” he said.
Webster seems to wrestle on camera with his conscience. He said he knew Weinstein was a philanderer and bully, so it should not have been a reach to think those traits could lead to predatory behaviour. Looking back, he said, “I did know and I chose to suppress it. I chose to hide from that fact.”