The Unveiling of Immoral Hollywood

Hollywood is currently going through a shake-up in which its dirty secrets may not be so easily swept under the rug. Not only is the entertainment world being forcibly required to deal with the egregious abuse of power by Harvey Weinstein, the world of movie critics and cinema chains is having to come to grips with the fact that Honest Trailers creator Andy SIgnore, Ain't It Cool News founder Harry Knowles, and blogger Devin Faraci have all been accused of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. 

Devin Faraci was a blogger for the site Birth.Movies.Death, which is aligned with Alamo Drafthouse. He was surreptitiously brought back to write for the blog amid (and despite) the allegations against him. Alamo Drafthouse CEO TIm League tried to justify bringing him back: “Seeing the work that Devin has been doing to acknowledge his faults, to address his addiction, and to better himself, I thought it was important to contribute to his recovery process by helping him with some means to earn a living," League says. "Once it became clear that his efforts were sincere, I offered Devin copywriting work at Alamo Drafthouse and have recently expanded that to include writing blurbs for our Fantastic Fest festival guide." 

This is the complete opposite of what The Weinstein Company is currently going through. Not only did they lose four board members only days after the New York Times ran the article that blew the lid off the story, they decided to fire Weinstein himself. Even though Alamo Drafthouse fired Faraci again after the uproar from fans, they seemingly had the attitude that it was absolutely okay to ignore what Faraci had been accused of doing. They believed no one would notice, and they were dead wrong. 

Then there is the case of Andy Signore and Harry Knowles. Both achieved great success by creating something movie fans came to love. Yet both used the power they earned to manipulate and demean women. Signore even went as far as asking one woman to dress in a Toddlers and Tiaras costume. 

None of these actions should come as a surprise. Hollywood has always turned a blind eye to this behavior, even letting some continue to work, like Roman Polanski. He had to flee the United States because he was being charged with sexual assault of a 13-year-old. Yet he still makes movies that star the likes of Kate Winslet, Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly, Jodie Foster, Ben Kingsley, and Adrien Brody.

Hollywood will appear shocked and horrified when its major players knew damn well this was happening. It will be interesting to see how fans react to all of this or if will they simply ignore all of these cases just like they have in the past. 

Header photographed by Lloyd Dirks
Header image layout designed by Mateo Granados