Movie reveals fallout of #MeToo
Last week, I went to a special screening of the new film “Bombshell,” which tells the true story of the downfall of late Fox News honcho — and verifiable sleazeball – Roger Ailes.
Having worked inside the corridors of Fox myself years ago, Jay Roach’s stylized, nuanced and biting portrayal of the Ailes era felt very familiar. I know the stories. I personally know many of Roger’s victims, as well as the culture that pervaded that network.
And yet, I still managed to find some astonishment that this all happened as it did, in this century, this decade even.
As one of the first major feature films to deal with the #MeToo moment, “Bombshell” does something important and truly revolutionary: It shows us, in just two hours, exactly how layered and complex systemic sexual harassment in the workplace can be.
Ailes’ grip on the women of Fox News wasn’t simple or straightforward. It was never as easy as trading sexual favors for upward mobility. Like all sexual harassment, it was about power: He had it, they did not. He was intent on keeping it, and wielding it over others.
It was also very clearly about humiliation. He relished making women grovel for some semblance of stability, frequently pitting them against one another to keep them insecure about their positions.
It relied not only on his victims’ continued fear of very real consequences, but that of bystanders and outside observers. Many people helped enable Ailes, whether out of self-interest or self-preservation.
With so many of these stories coming out, we now know how people like Ailes, Harvey Weinstein and many other powerful men successfully built a sexual harassment industrial complex that entrapped so many women for so long. Discussions about HR practices, empowering more women in higher positions, ending non-disclosure agreements and more are being worked through a national vetting process that will invariably lead to progress.
But “Bombshell” exposes a lesserdiscussed thread of sexual harassment that we haven’t really tackled as thoroughly: the way this pernicious behavior continues to punish its victims even when their perpetrators are exposed and brought to justice.
Consider the fact that many of the women who accused Ailes are no longer working in the high-profile jobs they once had. Some aren’t working at all.
Some are now identified almost solely as #MeToo advocates, their earlier careers seemingly washed away by a single public act of bravery.
That’s an enduring obstacle in the ongoing revolution. Women fear coming forward because they justifiably fear that making themselves the center of attention in this way will define them in ways they don’t want to be defined. It’s ironic: Even as powerful men like Donald Trump claim women come forward just for money and attention, the truth is, many women don’t come forward because attention attached to these types of claims is the very last thing they want.
And so, many women still feel like the cost of coming out and accusing a powerful man isn’t worth it.
There’s no guarantee your job is safe, no insurance that you’ll get to continue doing the thing you love, and a very real likelihood that your identity will be completely subsumed by the news, especially if he is a public figure. Your family life might be completely upended as whatever allegations you make are picked apart.
I know, because I’ve weighed these very calculations myself.
When does a woman get to name her harasser and then go back to work the next day? When does she know she can fight for her basic safety and dignity at work and still get another job? When can she call out a perpetrator without her name becoming synonymous with his?
These are the hurdles we still face. So many brave women told their stories, and we are safer today because of them. But we’re still being punished and silenced – which means that men like Ailes are still winning.