Long way to go on #MeToo, Sorvino says
Mira Sorvino believes the key to eradicating sexual misconduct lies more in preventative education than in “naming and shaming” the perpetrators.
The Oscar-winning actress was one of the first to come forward with allegations of abuse against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and her resilience has not wavered.
She wants to work with students to make them understand consent and their physical rights.
“So we don’t raise boys — because it’s mostly boys who do this, some girls, but mostly boys — who turn into men who commit these heinous crimes,” Sorvino said during a recent interview while promoting the new season of the Sony Crackle series StartUp.
Sorvino agrees that the culture has changed over the past year but feels there’s a long way to go, especially when bad behaviour is validated in entertainment.
“That was sort of taught to us by like ’80s movies culture like Sixteen Candles or Porky’s or Animal House, which made it OK to commit date rape and it was the women’s fault because she was drunk rather than, ‘That’s date rape. How could you possibly take advantage of somebody who can’t even speak?’ ” she said.
“That’s not cool. That’s not fun. But that’s what my generation of guys were brought up on. I mean I was brought up watching those movies, so we’ve got to change the culture. It can’t just be punishment and naming and shaming, it’s got to be prevention because that’s what we really want. We want no one victimized.”