How Many Harvey Weinstein Movies Is Too Many?
Given the size and scope of the story of Harvey Weinstein’s abusive behavior, it’s not surprising to hear that studios have a movie based on him in the works. But three movies? That seems excessive, even for a story like Weinstein’s.
First up, Casting JonBenet‘s Kitty Green has spent the last near-year gathering stories from those who worked with Weinstein to craft a fictional(ish) story told from the perspective of an assistant to the mogul. According to THR, the woman the character is based on isn’t named, but those who worked for Weinstein say she’s “easy to identify.”
Green told Deadline, “What was perhaps the hardest part of all my researches and discussions was the repetitive nature and banality of Weinstein’s reign, which lasted over thirty years, over the hundreds of young people – and specifically women – who came to his companies ready to start their careers. When you actually imagine and then live through even one day of what it must have been like, it’s terrifying.”
That’s certainly a more compelling idea than a movie told from Weinstein’s perspective. It will be interesting to see, though, if the film explores the complicity Weinstein’s assistants–especially his female assistants, who were reportedly used to make women feel at ease during his predatory hotel meetings–were responsible for.
There are also two documentaries in the works: Weinstein (formerly titled Citizen Harvey), which is still looking to sell its U.S. distribution rights, and The Reckoning: Hollywood’s Worst Kept Secret.
Of all of those, the Devil Wears Prada-type take, from Kitty Green, who has explored gender, exploitation, and objectification in documentary form, does sound interesting. Even so, the very idea of a Harvey Weinstein movie feels icky.
As we’ve seen over the last year, as more and more stories have come out, Weinstein was not an outlier in his industry (or any industry, really). Any movie made about him within the existing mainstream Hollywood system is being made by (and making money for) the system that has long made it possible for power-abusing predators like Weinstein to thrive. That abusers and those complicit in abuse will be making money off of a story of abuse is unavoidable here, and while that might not be unusual, it feels especially gross in relation to Weinstein’s story.
(image: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
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