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Harvey Weinstein A New Trial Gets Underway, Hollywood Considers The Implications

Harvey Weinstein

The latest sexual assault trial for infamous former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has started with opening statements.

Weinstein, who has significantly lost weight and is apparently in poor condition, has returned to Los Angeles and is being held in jail while he awaits trial for rape and sexual assault.

Following Weinstein’s conviction in New York for further sex offenses—though that case is now appealing—this court case was brought.

He claims he has never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity. On Monday, Deputy District Attorney Paul Thomson informed the court that eight alleged victims of Weinstein’s attacks will be present.

He cited one of Weinstein’s claimed victims who said, “Part of me was thinking I should just dash it, but he’s a huge guy,” about the alleged assault.

The prosecutor told the court that another alleged victim had stated:

“I was afraid that if I didn’t play nice anything could happen in the room or out of the room because of his power in the industry.”

Weinstein, who was wheeled into court dressed in a black suit, a blue tie, and glasses, listened to the prosecutor with imperturbable attention.

The accusers were lying, the defense’s Mark Workman told the jury. The other two Jane Does, he claimed, had only engaged in “transactional sex” with the former producer, while two of the accusers had made up their supposed encounters with him.

He asserted that Jane Doe Four, an accuser who went by the pseudonym, was “simply another bimbo who slept with Harvey Weinstein to get ahead in Hollywood.”

The Los Angeles trial is prompting many in Hollywood to reflect on and evaluate the #MeToo movement’s progress.

Although 83% of respondents felt that progress had been made since 2017, a startling 69% of respondents stated they had personally encountered abuse or misconduct at work since the movement’s inception, according to a recent poll by the advocacy group WIF (Women in Film, Los Angeles).

The fight for women’s equal rights and representation has “lost momentum,” according to WIF CEO Kirsten Schaffer.

Filmmakers with experience frequently request that their actors shoot sex sequences on the first day of production. This prevents actors from changing their minds about nudity midway through a movie when recasting would be costly.

Five years after reports of widespread sexual assault and harassment shook Hollywood and sparked the #MeToo movement, that still occurs there.

However, it’s now likely that an intimacy coordinator will be present on set to ensure that performers feel secure and at ease while simulating sex.

Schaffer goes on to say “I believe there is progress. It’s not as dismal because of this, she continues, noting that five years ago there was a strong reaction to #MeToo, with “so many people caring about it, putting new policies in place, starting programs.” “.

And a lot of people in Hollywood claim that the policies are effective.

Actresses claim that more intriguing roles are being offered to them, and there are more opportunities for women to work as crew members, writers, and directors.

One of Harvey Weinstein’s earliest accusers, Rosanna Arquette was on the Screen Actors Guild committee that helped bring intimacy coordinators to the set so that everyone could feel at ease during any sequence requiring nudity.

Many individuals opposed the intimacy coordinators, but, as Ms. Arquette told the BBC, “a lot of abuse did happen that way.”

Many aspiring actors claim that the industry has improved. Five years ago, when we visited an acting class, numerous students told us terrifying tales about the anxiety they experience before auditions—the very real concern that they would be sexually abused or approached in exchange for a role.

Aspiring actors talked to the BBC this week at the Michelle Danner Acting Studio about their experiences going on auditions and acting in low-budget movies in the hopes of landing their big break. Apart from a few unscrupulous approaches, the majority claimed to have received respectful treatment.

The casting couch will never completely go away, but Ms. Danner, who heads the acting studio and makes movies, thinks that people are much more cautious now.

With monitors and restrictions on the number of individuals allowed in a room, auditions have significantly improved in terms of safety and formality. And many people are now taking them over video phones because of the pandemic.

“The anxieties are real,” declares Ms. Danner, adding that employees feel more empowered than ever to speak up if there is workplace misbehavior.

“There is no turning back from what the #MeToo movement sparked. You can never, in my opinion, finish what has been started.”

In response to criticism of Hollywood, the Academy of Motion Pictures has considerably increased the diversity of its membership by encouraging more women and people of color to join the organization that organizes the Oscars.

But it can only go so far, and the numbers for women in movies may be rather depressing.

Female characters made up just 35% of prominent characters in the top 100 grossing movies in 2021, down three percentage points from the previous year, according to the Center for the Study of Women in Film and Television.

Additionally, the proportion of women directing top-grossing films fell in 2021 after rising to historic highs in 2020. In the top 100 movies, the proportion of female directors decreased from 16% in 2020 to 12% in 2021.

But 32% of producers—up from 30% in 2020—are women, which is an increase.

Reese Witherspoon is just one of several strong female actors who have launched their production firms to create the movies and TV series they want to watch. The entire industry has caught on to that impulse.

Actresses Josephine Hies and Meitar Paz have begun producing in addition to acting at the Danner acting school so they may have greater control over the stories they tell.

Producers have “a different power in how they tell tales,” according to His, as well as control over which stories are told.

The collapse of Harvey Weinstein has finally been captured on film. Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan play the New York Times reporters who looked into Weinstein’s allegations of sexual harassment and assault in the movie She Said. It’s scheduled to open in US theaters in November, and Weinstein’s attorneys were unsuccessful in their bid to prevent it from opening because they believed it would influence the jury that had just been selected against him.

Many of Weinstein’s accusers, some of whom had parts in the movie, were present at the movie’s New York premiere, where the stars mixed with them.

Weinstein’s former assistant Rowena Chiu, who claims he sexually harassed her and forced her to sign an NDA, says she hopes the movie would encourage more productive workplaces.

She came out to share her story 20 years after the alleged assault because she felt it was crucial to emphasize that not just Hollywood actors were the targets of harassment.

“Supporting the judicial system is crucial. Only a few of the many women he attacked who can testify, “She spoke.

“I have no connection to Hollywood. I am not employed by Hollywood, “She spoke.

It’s crucial to share our stories.

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