What Weinstein’s downfall means for other predators
AFTER DECADES OF OPERATING WITH IMPUNITY as one of the most powerful men in entertainment, Harvey Weinstein has been brought down by a flood of chilling sexual harassment and assault claims, more of which may yet come to light. Power seems to have been his noxious aphrodisiac. Power was why some women acceded and others clammed up, why his employees helped facilitate his assaults and why so many in Hollywood looked the other way for decades. Power was the means, the motive and the cover-up. And power is exactly what he has lost, in a downfall that spans two coasts, several industries and dozens of klieg-lit names.
Weinstein spent decades building his fiefdom on the grounds of a pervasive “see something, say nothing” culture of capitulation. But at the same time, and apparently beyond his view, women were inching their way toward greater social, political and professional power. How fitting that it is their voices breaking the silence and shattering Hollywood’s glass houses. In the rubble of Weinstein’s empire, we find artifacts divulging so much about our values, our culture and ourselves. The story they tell
