Weinstein scandal will accelerate Oscar housecleaning
Amid the film and TV producer’s sex-abuse case, Hollywood will never be the same again
As the Harvey Weinstein sex-abuse case continues to unfold, with more shocking revelations almost by the hour, it’s clear things will never be the same again for the Hollywood realm the disgraced mogul thought he controlled.
Young starlets have long been prey to powerful men like film and TV producer Weinstein in the kingdom of the “casting couch.” The situation was most tragically illustrated in the 1932 suicide of despondent abused actress Peg Entwistle, 24, who threw herself off the “H” of the Hollywood sign. Many people claim her ghost still haunts the famous hillside marquee.
But change is coming to Tinseltown, most immediately evident in the other big symbol of moviedom: the Oscars. The ouster of Weinstein from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this past weekend was a very big deal, since it was only the second time in the Academy’s 90-year history that a member was declared too toxic to tolerate.
The previous expulsion, in 2004, involved an elderly actor who’d been caught selling his watermarked screeners of films which studios send out for awards consideration. This pales in significance to the reported transgres- sions of Weinstein, 65, who faces allegations of sexual abuse — including several of rape — from more than two dozen women.
Having voted to expel the thuggish Weinstein, whose films have received more than 300 Oscar nominations and 81 golden statues and who many considered the ultimate Oscar whisperer, the Academy must now answer this question, posed by trade papers and others in the industry: What does it plan to do about other infamous members, among them convicted rapist Roman Polanski and accused rapist Bill Cosby?
There are no answers yet, but why stop now? A housecleaning is already underway, as the Academy moves to address long-voiced complaints about a membership that’s too old, too male and too white — the latter highlighted by the #OscarsSoWhite online campaign of recent years, which has proved effective in prompting change within Hollywood’s most self-entitled club. In the past two years, the Academy has invited 1,457 new members to join its ranks, with many of the new recruits being younger than the 60-plus norm of Oscar voters, and more likely to be female and/or persons of colour. Women now account for 28 per cent and people of colour 13 per cent of the nearly 7,500 members of the expanded Academy.
These are historic highs, and the trend toward greater gender balance and diversity will continue. The Academy has pledged to double the number of women and people of colour in its numbers by 2020. At the same time, it is restricting the voting privileges of mostly male older members, a controversial but necessary change.
The diverse new Oscar recruits include Gal Gadot, the Israel-born star of Wonder Woman; Barry Jenkins, writer/director of the most recent Best Picture winner Moonlight; Dwayne Johnson, star of The Fast and Furious action franchise; Canadian Inuk director and producer Zacharias Kunuk, who made the celebrated Inuktitut film Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner; and writer/ director Jordan Peele, one of this year’s rookie sensations with Get Out, a racially potent horror film.
Peele’s inclusion is all the more noteworthy because he’s the first Black writer/director to earn $100 million (U.S.) at the North American box office with a debut film.
Get Out is being touted by many critics and Hollywood insiders as a potential Oscar nominee for Best Picture, Best Director and other Academy honours. It’s something that might have been unthinkable in the not-so-recent past, when a movie like Get Out would have been dismissed by many as being not of Oscar calibre (read: not white and mainstream enough) to be seriously considered for gold.
The revolution seems likely to continue, as Hollywood is prodded by the Weinstein case and other emerging scandals to change its abusive and exclusive ways.
And other associations are taking note, among them Canada’s Oscar counterpart, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, which on Sunday tweeted its condemnation of all human predators:
“This is a reality many women face around the world and in all walks of life. As a society we must hold any and all persons who belittle and abuse women in such manner accountable,” the tweet read in part.
The Canadian Academy pledges to uphold “the high standards to which we hold ourselves and the commu- nity we represent.” It calls upon on “all our partners to take every action” to create a safe working environment and to maintain “a zerotolerance policy against abuse and sexual harassment, regardless of power and position.”
After much reason for dismay about the entertainment industry in recent days, it’s encouraging to see signs of necessary renewal. Peter Howell is the Star’s movie critic. His column usually runs Fridays.