The Men of #MeToo Go Back to Work
In February, I spent some time on the set of Dietland, a new AMC show created by Marti Noxon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce). At that time, the number of high-profile men being publicly accused of harassment and assault had started to subside from its peak at the end of 2017, after two bombshell exposés about Harvey Weinstein in The New York Times and The New Yorker had set off something that seemed like a revolution. But Dietland still felt like a potent encapsulation of a cultural moment. Its story—in part about a guerrilla group that kidnaps and murders men who hurt women—felt uncannily attuned to its times, in which women were publicly protesting abuse and assault like never before.
In September,. AMC, in a statement, praised the “bold, original, and brave” show, but the critical praise it had received apparently couldn’t make up for low ratings. A little over half a million people watched the season finale, which drew 0.08 percent of viewers aged 18-49 (who are particularly prized by advertisers). Two weeks later, though, AMC curiously renewed , a similarly well-reviewed and little-watched dramatic series starring
