The New Rambler: On movies, escapism, ignorance and Harvey Weinstein

This weekend I went to the movies with my friends. We saw “Blade Runner 2049.” At first I was skeptical of the movie. I wasn’t a huge fan of the original “Blade Runner,” but I did enjoy the novel it was based on. I was also still upset the crew originally hired Johann Johannsson (my favorite modern composer) and then decided to use Hans Zimmer instead. But in the end, the movie was fantastic and the soundtrack worked well. You win this round, Hans Zimmer! I promise this digression is important to my argument.

Like most people, I have been receiving endless updates about Harvey Weinstein. I will be completely honest: I had no idea who he was before The New York Times article came out.

Before writing this article, I did a quick Google search and found out some truly astonishing information. Weinstein produced basically every Quentin Tarantino movie: “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Gangs of New York,” “Sin City,” “Good Will Hunting,” “Princess Mononoke,” “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and even “Air Bud”! Chances are, some of your favorite movies have his name lurking in the credits.

However, his financial assistance with the movies you like isn’t a good thing. From now on, whenever you see his name in the credits, you will feel a little twinge of disgust. The movies we loved are not the same anymore.

Most people use movies as an escape from reality. Who doesn’t wish they could dance with Fred Astaire, get drunk with Captain Jack Sparrow or play basketball with Air Bud? One of my friends said he loved “Blade Runner 2049” because it allowed him to forget about life for three hours. But because I am an over-educated analytical busybody who can’t take a break, I analyze the movies I am watching. If Weinstein had produced the movie, would I not feel differently towards it? Wouldn’t my opinion of the movie be compromised?

Whenever a corporation does something scandalous, people usually boycott them in some way. I imagine a good number of Bill O’Reilly’s viewers refused to watch him after hearing about his past. While I haven’t heard of any boycotts of Weinstein’s movies, someone is probably thinking about it.

But what do I do? I am disgusted by the man’s actions but I also really like some of the movies he has produced. The answer to this question will be different for everyone.

Last year, I wrote an article about how Bill O’Reilly’s termination showed our culture was moving in the right direction when it came to holding people accountable. I also wrote that it is hard to come to terms with the allegations.

I grew up watching “The Cosby Show.” I have probably seen every episode. Now, whenever I’m channel surfing and I stumble upon some reruns of it, I get a little repulsed. I know that Bill Cosby’s character is fictional, yet I can’t help but cringe whenever he speaks.

Most of us probably wish we could live in a constant state of ignorance. Not necessarily Nozick’s experience machine, but something closer to the memory-erasing neutralizers from the “Men in Black” franchise. One of my favorite hardcore songs’ refrain is “Ignorance is bliss, isn’t it?” screamed over and over.  But as both I and the artist realize (Caleb Shomo of Beartooth, for those who were wondering), a life of blissful ignorance is not a life.

Weinstein’s termination teaches us two important lessons. 1) Whatever you do will catch up with you. That one ill-advised tweet, that comment made on the T to a friend, or even something as simple as a Facebook like, will come back to haunt you. The lesson is not to censor your thoughts, but to remind you not act horribly. Most insults aren’t worth the oxygen wasted to say them. And 2) The question that’s in the air nowadays is not “Why him?” but rather “Who’s next?”