What, No Harvey Weinstein?!

We have made it through the entire day without a post relating to the Harvey Weinstein/Hollywood/Democratic Party scandal. That is much too long. So let’s lead off with a Michael Ramirez cartoon. Click to enlarge:

We should never lose sight of how tightly connected Weinstein is to the Democratic Party, not only through his contributions but on account of the liberal bent of the industry that he dominated. Nor should we forget how closely Weinstein’s appalling and, allegedly, sometimes criminal behavior resembles that of Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy and other prominent Democrats.

Another aspect of the Hollywood scandal that has been lurking in the back of my mind was brought to the fore by a speech by the actress Jennifer Lawrence:

“When I was much younger and starting out, I was told by producers of a film to lose 15 pounds in two weeks,” she said, revealing another actress before her had already been fired for not losing the weight fast enough.

But it did not end there, she said.

“During this time a female producer had me do a nude line-up with about five women who were much, much, thinner than me. We are stood side-by-side with only tape on covering our privates,” she added.

“After that degrading and humiliating line-up, the female producer told me I should use the naked photos of myself as inspiration for my diet.”

Lawrence, now 27, says she was “much younger and starting out” when this happened. She began acting as a teenager. There is more:

Lawrence said she tried to stand up for herself and told another producer she thought the weight loss demands were not appropriate.

“He said he didn’t know why everyone thought I was so fat, he thought I was ‘perfectly f—able.’”

This is obviously not a normal industry. But what is going on when a teenage girl obliges with a nude photo lineup, and doesn’t protest when a middle-aged man tells her she is “perfectly f***able”? One imagines the teenage Miss Lawrence coming home after a hard day in Hollywood:

Mom: How was your day, Jennifer?

Jennifer: Oh, it was awful! I had to stand in a naked lineup with four other girls while someone took pictures.

Or:

Mom: How was your day, Jennifer?

Jennifer: It was great! A Hollwood producer told me I am not too fat, I am perfectly f***able!

I struggle to imagine conversations like this in my household, or any other normal family. And Ms. Lawrence isn’t the only one. Other actresses have stepped forward in recent days, recounting harrowing incidents that took place years ago. Many of their stories raise similar questions.

It seems that the Hollywood rot runs in more than one direction. Harvey Weinstein was an appalling lecher, but his career as such appears to have been largely successful. Nor is he, by any means, the only one. Why? In part, at least, because there evidently was a steady stream of young (sometimes very young) women who were so desperate for a career in show business that they were willing to endure the advances of obese middle-aged men like Weinstein rather than telling them to get stuffed, or calling the cops.

To the extent this is true, it is a measure of the moral decline of our liberal times as much as it is an indictment of a rogue Hollywood producer.

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