Harvey joins company of ruined stars
Power leads to lust, greed
Harvey Weinstein is just the latest sordid chapter of an old, old story.
A film producer who cast one of the biggest shadows in Hollywood, his is one more tale of how the high and mighty can be consumed by their own lust and greed.
That’s what’s proving to be the ruination of Bill Cosby, one of the most beloved of all Americans, and Bill O’Reilly, who occupied arguably the most prominent bully pulpit on cable TV.
It’s impossible to find any redeeming aspect to Harvey’s selfdestruction, save one: The alleged victims of this purported lecher are not being subjected to the added trauma of being trashed and disbelieved, not the way Bill Clinton’s accusers were, remember?
Dismissing the painful testimonies of Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey, et al., Clinton spokesman James Carville pooh-poohed it all, suggesting, “Drag a $100 bill through a trailer park and there’s no telling what you’ll find.”
But Ashley Judd, Rosanna Arquette, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, et al., are not that easy to dismiss, so his erstwhile sycophants are letting Harvey twist in the wind, which is exactly what this reprobate deserves.
The man’s a beast who lived by the law of the jungle, which holds that the strong devour the weak. If all he desired was carnal pleasure he could have purchased it with the indifference of someone ordering a pizza.
But he wanted more than that. He wanted the rush of knowing he could have whoever he wanted whenever he wanted her because, hey, he was Harvey, the creator of stars, a boon to careers, so why shouldn’t he demand instant gratification for his lascivious appetites?
A simple transaction could never compete with the delight of a personal conquest.
Getting what he wanted was sweetened by the way Harvey got it.
He probably even envisioned himself as a prized Lothario, never for a moment identifying with this observation by the great songwriter Kinky Friedman: “Money can buy you a fine dog, but only love can make him wag his tail.”
Harvey had money, and absolute power, which is more important, and now he’s losing it all, reaffirming Lord Acton’s contention that “absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
If you have a mother, sister, daughter, niece or granddaughter, Harvey Weinstein is someone whose self-destruction ought to delight you, just as Bill Clinton’s escape from ostracization should have made you sick.
It’s simple. Everyone matters, so when people in positions of power regard the powerless as expendable, that’s as ugly as it gets.
Indeed, it’s as ugly as Harvey Weinstein.