The #MeToo campaign has taken center stage the past few weeks, inspiring countless women to come forward and share their experiences with sexual abuse and harassment, especially in the entertainment industry. Story after story has left me wondering: Why? Why now? And why this industry?
One of the latest in the realm of exposed sexual aggressors is the famed comedian Louis C.K. Last week, five fellow female comics came forward to The New York Times to bring to light his inappropriate behavior behind the scenes, involving a number of grotesque instances where he masturbated in front of these women without their consent. Since the story gained momentum, his movie has cancelled its release and both HBO and FX have cut all ties with Louis C.K. and his production company.
In the light of the Harvey Weinstein case, it has become very clear that women in the entertainment industry are not putting up with this harassment any longer.
The entertainment industry is a tricky one. It produces the optimum spell for the male superiority complex to wholly take over. Misogyny is easily fostered in the field because of the power struggle between people of superior positions — who tend to be men — and those less recognized. Not only that, but a vast majority of entertainers are men, influencing a greater power struggle between genders. Furthermore, many females are already altering themselves and their craft to cater towards male audiences. Men and women intermingle and work in very close, often intimate environments, and as our current capitalistic society continues to fall to chauvinism, the male gaze is profitable. When combined, all of these factors create the perfect breeding ground for sexual harassment.
Louis C.K. truly hit the nail on the head with this one, and only further revealed the disgusting prejudice that exists in the entertainment industry in his mediocre “apology” to the five women. The most significant and summative section of his response is as follows:
“I also took advantage of the fact that I was widely admired in my and their community, which disabled them from sharing their story and brought hardship to them when they tried because people who look up to me didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t think that I was doing any of that because my position allowed me not to think about it.”
Here, Louis C.K. is clearly scapegoating his superiority complex, blaming his high position in the comedy world for disorienting him and muddling his morals. From there, it was this delusional confusion, which was forced upon him of course, that did the dirty deed. Does this have anything to do with his character? With his personal morals? With what constitutes sexual assault? The nature of Louis C.K’s apology seems to suggest he has nothing to do with it. It was his ego masterbating in front of these women, not him.
Louis C.K. continued with his second-rate “apology” by further victimizing himself: “There is nothing about this that I forgive myself for. And I have to reconcile it with who I am.” Are we supposed to feel bad for him? Thankfully he’s pursuing a tumultuous path as repercussions of his actions, but this statement seems as if he is trying to save face in front of his fans.
If it weren’t for all of the sources of Louis C.K.’s future income, fame and celebration dropping their support, I would be concerned that he was going to get out of this scandal unscathed. There are no policies that judicially reprimand sexual assault in the workplace besides punishment being left up to the employer. However, when you are your own employee and employer, and on top of that, the fact that your self-representing brand is broadly recognized and famed, self-loathing is practically the only side-effect.
Perhaps this is another reason why sexual assault is so prevalent in the industry. Taking everything into consideration, it is no surprise that sexual assault is so conveniently common. All of these aforementioned ingredients, combined with the fire lit by the #MeToo campaign, explains why it is now that these incidents are coming to our news feeds.
