Hollywood Hypocrites

It takes Hollywood to descend to this level of hypocrisy. The high-school dropout brigade is now in the highest dudgeon over sexual predators. They have morphed into culture warriors, dedicated to bringing down any man who has been accused of a sexual transgression. Except when they defend men who have been accused of the worst sexual transgressions.

Obviously, they are grandstanding. They are drama queens. They have found a new cause and a new role. They have never been paid to think, so they do not know how to think.

Take Scarlett Johansson—yes, I know, you would be happy to take ScarJo. Piers Morgan explains that ScarJo is so outraged about James Franco that she denounced him at Saturday’s Women’s March as a sexual predator. Judge,jury and executioner, ScarJo has certainly damaged the Franco career. Yes, I know, you are not going to miss the Franco career… but still:

Scarlett Johansson’s absolutely furious.

‘I want my pin back!’ she screamed from the podium at Saturday’s Women’s March in Los Angeles.

The target of her rage is fellow actor James Franco, who’s been accused of sexual misconduct by five women, and who sported a ‘TimesUp’ pin on his tuxedo at last month’s Golden Globes.

‘My mind baffles,’ steamed Scarlett. ‘How could a person publicly stand by an organization that helps to provide support for victims of sexual assault while privately preying on people who have no power?’

She wants her pin back! The ultimate insult, I would say. Was she pinned to Franco? 

I especially like the grammatically absurd, “My mind baffles” because it is fun seeing someone who barely has a mind trying to engage in thought. It does not merely baffle the mind. It boggles it too.

Morgan is not the first to object to the lack of due process for men being accused of felonious assaults. But, he goes on the record about it:

The truth, in matters as serious as rape and sexual assault, should be established by due legal process after all evidence has been considered. Otherwise what are we – a kangaroo court with trial by Twitter?

But Scarlett Johansson thinks otherwise; she’s already decided James Franco is guilty and she is outraged about him.

And yet, Morgan continues, ScarJo is not at all bothered by Woody Allen. She loves him. She respects him. She admires him. She does not care that he was accused of sexually molesting a 7 year old or that he seduced his son’s adoptive half-sister, when she was, I believe 17.

Morgan quotes her:

In 2007, she said of the director: ‘I’d sew the hems of his pants if he asked me to.’

Think of it, a modern liberated women, freed from the shackles of patriarchy, dropping to her knees … to sew the hem of a man’s pants. You’ve come a long way, baby!

When Dylan Farrow wrote a letter explaining how Woody had molested her when she was 7, ScarJo replied:

Johansson, when asked about Dylan’s letter, told the Guardian: ‘It’s not like this is somebody that’s been prosecuted and found guilty of something and you can then go, “I don’t support this lifestyle or whatever.” I mean, it’s all guesswork. I don’t know anything about it. It would be ridiculous for me to make any kind of assumption one way or the other.’

Oh, how the times change.

Then again, Morgan reminds us of a touching scene when ScarJo sidled up to notable child rapist Roman Polanski:

And even if Woody Allen HAD been convicted of child molestation, I doubt it would have made any difference to Scarlett Johansson.

At the 2014 Cesar Film Awards in Paris, she found herself on stage at the same time as Roman Polanski.

She went over to him, placed her hand affectionately on his shoulder, smiled broadly and whispered something that made him smile too.

An odd reaction, you might think, from a woman outraged by powerful men preying on vulnerable women, towards a convicted child rapist that fled America to avoid being held accountable for his appalling crime.

ScarJo’s kind of guy!

But,she is not the only self-righteously hypocritical virtue signally actress who fawns over Polanski. Add Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet to the list:

‘Saint’ Meryl Streep gave Polanski a standing ovation at the 2003 Oscars, and called Harvey Weinstein ‘God’ from another awards podium.

Kate Winslet, star of recent Allen movie Wonder Wheel, was asked by the New York Times: ‘Did the allegations against him give you pause?’

‘Of course one thinks about it,’ she replied. ‘But as an actor in the film, you just have to step away and say, I don’t know anything really… you put it to one side and just work with the person. Woody Allen is an incredible director.’

Then, unprompted, she added: ‘So is Roman Polanski. I had an extraordinary working experience with both of those men and that’s the truth.’

Let’s not call these actresses moral beacons. OK?